5. Phone Work

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5. Phone Work essential tips

• Avoid cradling the phone handset
• Avoid planting your elbow while holding the
  phone
• Position the phone for easy reach
• If youre on the phone a lot, use a headset

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Phone Work - Avoid cradling the phone
Ouch!
Cradling the phone between your head and shoulder
to free one hand to write or use the keyboard or
mouse is one of the most stressful postures you
can put your body through while doing office
work. Routinely cradling the phone can cause
WMSDs of the neck and shoulder and it can also
play a roll in hand / wrist problems by
compressing nerves in the neck region that travel
to the hands. If you find yourself doing this a
lot, try using a headset or speakerphone!
Ergo Fun Fact A major ergonomic study involving
650 office workers tracked over a 3 year
period found phone cradling to be a more common
risk exposure for developing WMSDs than awkward
postures while using the computer.
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Phone Work - Avoid cradling the phone
Try the TLC technique to avoid cradling the
phone Take notes When on the phone with a
customer or coworker, try to avoid
researching excessive information on the computer
or in hardcopy files. This often leaves you with
only one hand free and the phone cradled on your
shoulder. Instead, take notes, get the key
information you need to do your research and
advise the person that you will follow up with
them with a return phone call or via email. Look
up / Locate Look up the information on your
computer or locate the hardcopy file and do your
research with both hands free and without being
tethered to the phone. Call back When youve got
the information on hand and/or solved the
problem, promptly return the call or better yet,
send them an email. The TLC technique can help
reduce your daily dosage by as much as an hour
per day. Use it wisely- you dont want to
aggravate your customers or coworkers.
4
Phone Work - Avoid planting your elbow
Another common problem associated with phone use
is planting an elbow on a hard surface while on
lengthy calls. This puts pressure on a
sensitive nerve in the elbow- your funny bone
nerve. Habitual planting the elbows can damage
this nerve and cause a loss of function in your
hand. If you find yourself doing this a lot, try
using a padded rest to lean on, or better yet,
try a headset to eliminate the need to hold the
handset.
Ouch!
5
Phone Work - Use a headset
Feels Great!
The use of a telephone headset is recommended for
anyone who frequently uses the phone,
particularly for long intervals or long daily
dosages (gt 3 minutes at a time or gt 3 hours over
the day). A headset allows you to free both
hands to write, key or use your mouse and
eliminates the need to plant your elbow to
support your phone arm. Many people resist using
a headset because it messes their hair, feels
awkward or it tethers them to their desk.
Fortunately, many newer headset devices are
small, lightweight, cordless and some even allow
you to answer the phone while away from your
workstation. Considering the risks involved in
not using one, a headset is certainly worth a try.
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Phone Work - Use a headset

• Notice how simple, easy and relaxed
• it looks to use a phone headset while working at
  the computer.
• No bent heads/necks
• No twisted or contorted trunks
• No planted elbows
• Even their hair looks good!

The cost of beauty
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Phone Work - Position phone for easy reach
If you frequently use the phone on the job, it
should be positioned close enough to your body to
reach without bending your trunk forward. Most
people prefer the phone to the left of the
computer so they can grasp it with the left hand,
keeping the right hand free for writing or
keying. Left-handed persons might prefer it on
the right. If your job entails making lots of
outgoing calls, placing the phone on the right
can be helpful for dialing with your right hand.
Left handed persons are likely to prefer it on
the left for outgoing calls.
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Phone Work - Position phone for easy reach
If you frequently use the phone at your job and
youre using a keyboard tray, you might find the
phone too far from your body to reach
comfortably. If thats the case, try bringing
the phone to the front edge of the worktop. If
surface space is not available, you might try
using an adjustable phone tray to bring it
closer to your body.
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Phone Work - Position phone for easy reach
Phone
Phone
Phone at front of worktop when a keyboard tray
is used
Phone on shelf right above the mouse in this
corner
In both of these photos the phone is placed
close to the persons sitting position for ease of
reach.
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Phone Work - Position phone for easy reach
At this reception station, the person handles 2
multi-line phone sets. In order to create a
comfortable reach, the person uses a small side
table to bring them in close. Note, the
receptionist also uses a headset to avoid the
risk of cradling a handset for this
phone-intensive work.