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Journalism of Courage
Rajesh Joshi has been a computer operator for 15 years now. His job, which sometimes sees him work 15 hours at a stretch, is responsible for his chronic backache.
Sudarshan Iyer has also put in an equal number of years in the same profession. He now has a blurred vision, severe backache problem and suffers from acute mental stress.
32-year-old Nikhil Chopra has been working as a graphic artist in a computer firm for six years. He has developed pink patches on his eye due to constant exposure to a computer in a multimedia environment.
Sucheta Gupte works as a visualiser in an advertisement company. Working long hours on computer has caused her mild arthritis in the arms joints. Besides, she also suffers from what is called the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome TS.
Don8217;t dismiss these as aberrations. The spooky news is that these constitute the beginning of an altogether new line of common health disorders in a country which believes it is already becoming a major stopover on the information superhighway.
Muscle pain, depression, chronic eye fatigue, blurred vision, cervical spondilytis and bouts of headache are only a few disorders that are being exported as part and package of our computer world.
In India, where everyone wants a place in cyberdom, a completely non-existent8217; status of occupational health safety guidelines are increasingly putting to risk a large number of population.
Almost all working places in the country have a computer environment which ranges from the inadequate to hazardous. Worse, there are no prescribed standards which ensure the safety of such a large work-force.
And in India, the problem begins at the bottom. 8220;The seating arrangement is one of the biggest contributory factors to computer-related health disorders. Inadequate chairs, sitting postures and inappropriate distance proportion between keyboard, screen and chair can alone cause cervical spondilytis problem in the long run. This is apart from a host of other backache related problems,8221; says Dr S.S.Bhutada, director of Dr Ramazini Research Institute of Occupational Health Services at Pune.
Internationally acclaimed, the institute, which is a scientific and industrial research organisation functioning under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is doing pioneering research work in the field of occupational health and safety measures.
8220;Professions such as those of typesetters, visualisers, graphic artists etc, where one has to constantly focus the vision on screen and simultaneously perform with the hands, leads to both strain in eyes and mental stress,8221; warns Bhutada, also a senior member of International Commission of Occupational Health ICOH.
A nationwide survey of people working in computer environment, conducted by the Centre of Research in Environmental and Biological Sciences CREBS, Hyderabad, supports this argument.
The survey, in which nearly 2 lakh people were medically examined by a team of of over 200 eye specialists and general physicians, has reported that Indian people areat a greater risk to serious health disorders due to inadequate working conditions.
8220;The more one works for long hours on the computers, the more is one susceptible to disorders ranging from blurred vision, headache in mild cases to hypertension and even total blindness,8221; says Dr C.P. Kamle, director of the national body of environmental scientists and physicians. One of the most common disorder reported in the survey is RSI Repetitive Strain Injury. In this case the functioning of fingers and arms is adversely affected due to continuous operation of keyboard and mouse.
Ninety per cent of the computer operators are found to be suffering from the syndrome called CTS Crpal Tunnel Syndrome in which the median nerve does not function normally due to excessive stress on three fingers and the nerves while operating the mouse. Such a condition hampers the functioning of hand and wrist and, more so, when it is compounded by an occurrence of muscoskeletal disorder in which the medial nerve becomesnumb.
8220;Normally, the solution for such an injury and disorder is the administration of medicines. But in the case of a serious disorder, surgical remedy is the only answer,8221; says Kamle.
The biggest threat is posed to the eyes through the computer vision syndrome CVS defined as complex of eye and vision problems experienced during the use of computers.
The common symptoms of CVS include the occurrence of ocular migraine towards the front portion of the head during middle or end of the day, eyes taking a long time to change focus from near to distant objects and vice-versa, blurred vision to dim vision and chronic eye fatigue.
In very acute cases, the CVC may lead to squinting, depression and even near total blindness. As all these factors have direct effects on reading, comprehension and reaction speed mechanism, they directly affect and decrease the work output and efficiency.
8220;Eyes have a natural in-built mechanism of keeping itself fresh through the watering process. Concentrating for long onthe computer screen disturbs the eyelid-blinking process. This results in dryness of the cornea besides excessive strain on eyes,8221; says Kamle.
The blinking rate drops by 70 per cent while concentrating on the monitor screen. As a result, the eyes are exposed to 300 per cent more radiation than in normal cases which is extremely hazardous, says Kamle.
While the seating arrangement is one aspect, the root cause of CVC lies in the illumination of the work-place. The glare of the computer screen, the intensity of light emitted from source and its reflection 8212; all factors result in excessive strain on eyes as a cumulative effect.
Computers with multimedia applications and internet top the risk levels as in these cases the image keeps changing and so does the intensity of light emitted from the monitor. This virtually exhausts the eye lens as it has to constantly make adjustments to accommodate the vision.
Under ideal conditions the light, measured in a unit called lux, should not exceed beyond 200 lux,says Kamle, adding that even the anti-glare screens are of little help as they only reduce the glare by 15 to 20 per cent.In countries like the United States, there are separate bodies like Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics AOEC and separate departments such as Occupational Safety of Health Administration OSHA. Sadly, India has not yet felt the need for occupational hazard management.The subject is neglected in the medical education, as most of the medicine graduate syllabi either do not have anything to teach on the subject or just have a formal introduction in the form of a solitary chapter. This millennium bug is catching up fast. All ready to bite.
