How many hours a week do you spend sitting in front of your computer, at your desk? Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty? If your answer is that you'd rather not think about it, think again! That's just what you should be doing — taking note of the risks, and putting in place some sensible, daily practices to minimise the potential long-term health problems!

As you probably know, our offices can be the source of many risks. Poor seating can play havoc with your back, dodgy monitors can give you eye-strain, constant mousing and keyboard usage may lead to that crippling problem, RSI.

We're fortunate today that much research has been done, and that most offices make an effort at least to provide workstation equipment of a reasonably high standard. Some of us may even enjoy state of the art desks, chairs and ergonomically-designed kit.

Even so, just sitting for hours on end can give your body problems, even if your chair is perfectly designed. The good news is that there is still much you can do — and should do — for yourself, to prevent future problems.

Research the requirements

Make it a priority to schedule an audit on your workstation — whether you bring in experts to assess your offices, or whether you do it yourself, following expert guidance. Plenty of advice exists online, so set aside a few hours to gather this valuable information, and try to implement all you can.

Start with the Health and Safety Executive, the Government body responsible for setting laws and standards on workplace health. The website (www.hse.gov.uk) is packed with advice and free downloadable booklets.

Your employer has a duty under the law, so far as is reasonably practicable, to protect your health, safety and welfare at work. They must ensure that your workplace equipment is suitable for its purpose, and is properly maintained. But don't forget, that you have legal duties too, to co-operate with your employer on health and safety, and to take reasonable care of your own health and those around you, by making sure what you do at work does not adversely affect others.

Check out the specific guidance for office workers, at www.hse.gov.uk/office/index.htm This handy site should be bookmarked, as it gives up-to-date guidance on display screen equipment, RSI, stress management, and much more. Make sure your equipment is the best it can be, and that you have set it up correctly. There's no point in having a super new PC if you're constantly stretching over your desk to get to the keyboard, or turning your head at an angle to view the monitor.

The Department of Trade and Industry also has an extremely useful website, Business Link. Designed principally for SMEs, it is a mine of information on most subjects to do with running a business, and it provides clear guidance on workplace equipment, too.

Look at www.businesslink.gov.uk and follow the link to Health, safety, premises. Here you'll find plenty of advice for setting up safe offices, with everything from first aid requirements, to avoiding RSI.

Is your desk a disaster?

Other sources of good advice can be found on suppliers' websites. A useful exercise is to follow the free online workspace evaluation from 3M, a firm which has invested greatly in ergonomic studies of the workplace. The assessment (at www.3m.com/us/office/myworkspace/w_workspace.jhtml) takes you through desk organisation, seating, screen position, etc, and explains the ideal scenario, in just a few minutes.

The Frequently Asked Questions, at the same site, also cover useful information, such as posture at the desk, eye checks, radiation from monitors, and foot rests. Granted some of the advice is to buy a particular 3M product, but the wealth of practical information available makes the site worth a visit.

That giant of office life, Microsoft, also offers free online advice. The "Healthy Computing Guide" (at www.microsoft.com/hardware/hcg/default.html) offers excellent tips on protecting yourself on a daily basis. A quick, easy read, it is packed full of useful information.

Once you have sorted your equipment out to the highest standard your organisation can afford, booked your eye test, and taken account of the wealth of advice on healthy workstations, you need to organise your own daily exercise routine. Keeping mobile is vital to counteract the effect of those hours spent rigidly sitting at the desk. And a small amount of effort can really pay off.

At the very least, take regular breaks, and change your position as often as you can. Stand to answer the phone, walk to the coffee machine instead of taking the lift, get up and do some filing, and so on. Avoid being crunched into a chair for hours on end — your back will really start to complain. Perhaps not now, but in the future.

Stretching your imagination!

Some fun advice on stretching at the desk is given by an American university (so you have to forgive the section on "Firming up your fanny"!). Visit www.ucop.edu/humres/eap/exercizes.html and you'll find a range of "Deskercizes" all designed to be done in the office, to help keep you flexible and mobile during the day. Depending on whether you work in an open plan office, and on your relationship with workmates, you may feel a little odd standing and reaching for the ceiling, or pulling your leg up behind you to your buttocks. But for the sake of your body, why not give it a go? You could always get the others involved too, and have "stretch breaks" for everyone who can join in!

One thing is for sure, complacency is not an option. Many excuses for not taking action will crowd your mind — you feel fine, you do regular exercise anyway, you're too busy, your boss would think you were mad, etc, etc. But think of the future. A career of sitting at a desk will take its toll, and small things you do now, will make a huge difference later in life.