Majority of computer users said to be untrained
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most workers who use computer keyboards
have not been properly trained and, an expert says, six out of 10 use
incorrect keyboard techniques.
As a result, most computer users are ''working in discomfort, going
home physically sore, often with eye fatigue problems, pains in their
neck, wrists, and back, and, as such, may be susceptible to repetitive
strain injuries (RSI),'' said Robert Borsari, president of KeySoft(KS), a
Novato, Calif., division of software company Mindscape.
Most computer keyboard users often type with the hunt-and-peck
method involving two to four fingers ''and when you multiply their
inefficiencies over time, their companies' bills for lost productivity and
medical claims may be stunning,'' he said.
''Correct keyboarding skills,'' he said, ''cannot be self-taught. Every
'qwerty' (standard) keyboard is designed to be used in only one way
and that exacting fingering technique applies to both the alpha (letters)
and numeric sections of the keyboard.''
RSI causes 62 percent of all work-related injuries, Borsari said. In
1996, when the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
(NIOSH) toted up the annual corporate bill just for musculoskeletal
disorders, it came to $13 billion.
In addition to spawning thousands of injury claims, improper
keyboarding dampens productivity, Borsari noted. ''What we typically
find is that the same people who have poor keyboard skills also struggle
to meet quality and productivity targets,'' he said.
''If people are uncomfortable, they make mistakes,'' he continued. ''If
their eyes are tired after tens of thousands of focal points a day, they
make mistakes.'' Even a 1 percent keyboard error rate, he claimed,
translates into 84,000 errors a year.
In typical offices, employees spend two to three hours of their day at
the keyboard, Borsari said, and in the nation's 50,000 call centers, he
said, keyboard use may be continuous.
KS sells its Performance System services to companies by pointing out
that ''anywhere from one-third to one-half of their payroll budget'' is
gobbled up at the keyboard, so it's in their interest to have workers
keyboard correctly.
Borsari's team surveys a client's keyboard accuracy and speed rates
and reviews each employee's technique and touch skills as well as the
physical layout of his or her work station, and overall posture.
''We provide one-on-one intervention for each employee,'' Borsari said,
''as well as software they can use to become 'transparent' users, those
who ''no longer have to look at the keyboard to do their job.''
If management allows a computer operator to spend one hour a day
learning, Borsari said, they will become proficient in two to six weeks.
The KS program includes a regimen of stretches and other exercises
developed along NIOSH guidelines and reviewed by Liberty Mutual
Group, a prominent workers' compensation insurer whose ergonomics
specialists train KS's client employees.
KS client Jerry Mueller, senior vice president of Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of Connecticut, wrote, ''We already have realized a
first-year cost savings of $517,248 and a 6 percent production gain on
1.5 million claims.''
Borsari said KS guarantees at least a 50 percent boost in an
organization's keyboard efficiency. With the time saved, he encourages
employers to do more training and offer more rest breaks, ''so you have
happier, safer people, and happier customers.''
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