Recommended Work Practices for Computer Users

Adherence to good work practices is essential in preventing many of the ergonomic-related problems associated with excessive and/or improper computer use. The following work practices are recommended:

• Individuals who perform moderate to intensive computer work must take frequent "vision breaks".  A good rule-of-thumb is to focus on a distant object for 15 seconds every 30 minutes or so.

• Individuals who perform moderate to intensive computer work must take frequent "posture breaks".  (link to exercises)

• If an individual with prescription eyeglasses (or contact lenses) has frequent eyestrain or headaches while working at a computer, he/she should consult with an eye care professional to determine whether the prescription is appropriate for computer work. In general, the typical focal length for reading glasses is different than that for computer work. If this difference is significant, visual discomfort and eyestrain is often the result.

• If an individual wears eyeglasses such as bifocals or trifocals and experiences frequent neck and/or shoulder discomfort, he/she should consider purchasing a pair of eyeglasses dedicated for computer use. Another consideration would be to lower the monitor height so that the user could view the monitor with the appropriate portion of the eyeglasses and yet keep the head and neck in a natural position (i.e. the user avoids tilting the head back).

• Clean the monitor regularly with a lint-free, nonabrasive cloth and a gentle, non-abrasive cleaning solution to minimize dust build-up and to improve the readability of the monitor.

• Adjust the font size on the monitor for best readability. If necessary, consider a large monitor (i.e. a 17").

• Adjust the contrast and brightness on the monitor for the best readability. The best way to find the optimum contrast and brightness level is to set both to minimum and gradually increase each to the point where it is comfortable to view the screen characters and it is easy to distinguish between similar characters (such as 8 and B, D and O, etc.)

• Experiment with computer screen colours:
• In general, avoid colours in the extremes of the spectrum such as blue-violet and red since this is where the human eye is least receptive.
• Avoid character colours which as too similar to the background -- for example, white on yellow.

• Switch polarity to see if it helps alleviate visual strain (positive polarity produces dark symbols on a light background; negative polarity produces light symbols on a dark background). Many people prefer dark symbols on a light background as it helps minimize the effect of reflection on the screen and it is similar to viewing paper documents.