Skyscanner

I have known of the Skyscanner web site and have been using it online, along with Travel Jungle, for some time to find cost-effective flights at viable times. The Skyscanner iPhone app has just been updated and is now very quick and easy to use. It offers clear choices, stores previous searches and enables the user to share flight options via email. It also links directly to airline web sites to complete a booking. The only downside is that you have to re-enter all the data into some airlines’ web sites. However, this is a comparatively small price to pay for the ease of identifying the best flight option.   (N.B.  Don’t mix this up with Sky Scanner (two words), a different app that provides an augmented reality view of flights above you).

Rugby World Cup 2011

The free app for the 2011 Rugby World Cup is a brilliant resource whether you’re a dedicated fan or you just want to find what it’s all about. As well as team information, match times and pool lists, it is constantly updated with results, videos, news, and, for statistics geeks, there’s even real time territory and ball possession data! There are versions for all mobile variants: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/mobileapps/index.html

Which is better for RSI – a trackball or an ergonomic mouse?

Which is better for RSI – a trackball or an ergonomic mouse?  An innocuous enough question you might think but it’s a question we received last week and it started me thinking.  We deal with Health & Safety personnel, ergonomists, physiotherapists, OTs, Facilities Managers and Disability Advisors on a daily basis. But what if you have a musculo-skeletal disorder and you work in a small business without these resources – or you’re self- employed?  Where do you start?  It must be a nightmare!

Excluding colour and size variants, we currently offer more than 20 “pointing devices” on our web site and stock a handful of other products (which we don’t promote but hold to meet the demands of key customers).  We have reviewed countless other products but decided not to add them to our portfolio (see the “Innovation” item in our June 2010 eBulletin) and we have seen patent drawings, prototypes and pre-production information about products yet to come.

Many of these devices are accompanied by research-based claims.  Others are based on a hunch or the personal experience of the designer.  Many of the claims are conflicting.  The one universal truth is that the confidence of their marketing bears little relationship to the credibility of their assertions!

Whilst I would love to be able to say “here is the definitive answer”, it is an ergonomic imperative that no one product will address all needs.  The best I can do is to suggest a series of questions that will help an inexperienced individual to think logically about the issues.  Then, with the help of a knowledgeable person (such as one of our outstanding Customer Service team!) it is possible to arrive at a single product or a short list of products that will be most likely to address the individual’s needs.

The questions:

• Where is the pain/discomfort (finger, thumb, hand, wrist, forearm, elbow, shoulder)?
• Left or right side or both?
• Are you left- or right-handed?
• Is the pain constant or intermittent?
• If intermittent, is there any specific activity that brings it on?
• What do you do on the computer (standard office programs, email, graphic design, accounts, PowerPoint creation, war games, poker, CAD/CAM, etc.)?
• What pointing device do you use at the moment?
• Where do you use it (right or left side of keyboard, beside the monitor, on the arm of the sofa, etc.)?
• If you use a computer at home for long periods, which of these questions would you answer differently for that setup?

Further questions that may or may not be relevant:

• How important is appearance?
• Do you have a budget?

These questions address only input device issues.  If your chair is rubbish, your workstation layout diabolical or your general posture is poor then that should also be addressed as part of the process.  Take a look here for really good general posture guidance and then, when you’re ready to “talk pointing devices”, email info@ergonomics.co.uk or click here to request a call back.

BulkSMS

I’m not at all keen on bulk texting as a marketing medium but this is a bulk texting App with some other very useful capabilities. For instance, it’s really handy if I need to advise or prompt members of my team about an upcoming event or emergency (I used it to advise colleagues about traffic conditions around the office when we had snow).

In my view, its most useful feature is the ability to schedule single or multiple texts.  This is ideal for wishing people Happy Birthday, setting reminders or waking myself up in time to get off the train back from an afternoon at Vinopolis!

It works on the iPhone and iPad – search for BulkSMS in the iTunes App Store.  There are also online variants and you can share purchased texts between media.

 

Vinopolis

Although it’s in my Discoveries section, this is more of a rediscovery.

My recent visit to Vinopolis was my third and it seems to get better every time.

I understand there’s been a change of management since my last visit and I like what they’ve done.  I love wine but I’m no expert.  This opportunity to learn more without being patronised and also get to make my own discoveries is a great way to spend a few hours.

Before or after, you’re also across the road from the fabulous Borough Market and some excellent places to eat. We ate at Roast this time and I can recommend it highly (booking essential).

Office Seating – What’s all the fuss about?

This needn't happen!

The problem with office seating often starts with the fact that most people don’t realise how little they know about their posture.  ”I don’t need to be told.  I’ve been sitting all my life” is the prevailing attitude.

Recent publicity about the BBC’s move to Salford summed it up.  The poor old Beeb is always on a hiding-to-nothing with this sort of story but a perfectly sensible (and employer’s legal obligation) plan to ensure that personnel have the right chair and know how to use it was met with this brilliantly ill-informed comment from John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee: “This is the kind of thing that risks making the BBC a laughing stock. I think most people would feel capable of deciding how to adjust their chair without professional advice from an employee of the BBC”.

Even more laughable was the comment from Karen Garrido, leader of the Conservative group on Salford council. She said: “I can’t believe we need to teach people how to sit on their chairs. They aren’t children”.

These are two classic cases of the old politician’s adage “Don’t let ignorance stand in the way of a good soundbite”.

Coupling good chairs with well-trained users will help to minimise musculo-skeletal issues, aid breathing, improve wellbeing and enhance productivity.  We have provided thousands of chairs to individuals whose problems have been brought on by poor posture and the many physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths we talk to have countless stories about avoidable pain and discomfort.

The simple truth is that most of us lead very sedentary lives these days and too few of us think about our posture, our chair and how it’s set up.

iSleep

Every now and again an “App Geek” needs to be reminded not to take things too seriousl

(NB: if you follow the image link to the other T-shirts this company manufactures, you may be offended by the adult content and gratuitous bad language).

Peter Day’s World of Business

I listen to a lot of podcasts.  Peter Day’s World of Business is one of my favourites and includes recordings from his Radio 4 programme, “In Business”, as well as his BBC World Service “Global Business” series.  As with all BBC Podcasts, it’s available in a variety of formats.

The need to edit content into, typically, a 30 minute session ensures that sessions are delivered in a fast-paced, no-nonsense style.  The Global Business subjects are usually especially stimulating and explore ideas at the forefront of international business thinking.  Recent controversial topics have included Michael Porter’s “Creating Shared Value” and a challenge to the language of business, asking why it needs to be so pompous and full of jargon.

It’s always engaging and always topical!

QR Codes

I love these devices, which are appearing in advertisements and on product literature.  Invented in Japan in 1994, they have only started to appear in the UK comparatively recently.  On investigation, QR (Quick Response) codes can be used for a whole variety of clever tasks.  As well as pointing to web pages, they can be used to store telephone numbers, SMS messages, event data, text, Google Maps locations, even the contents of a complete business card.

There are several free QR reader apps in iTunes and readers can be downloaded for most smartphones.  Equally, there are several QR Code creator sites (many of them free) but we pay a small subscription at my favourite: QR Stuff.

Absenteeism & Presenteeism

Recent reports show that average sickness absence fell from 6.7 to 5 days in 2010, the lowest for over two decades. The EEF/Westfield Health survey also found that 45% of employees had no time off at all. Data from 454 employers demonstrated a number of factors, including the impact of the fit note, line managers taking greater responsibility for absence management and employers funding private health care.

What I cannot find anywhere is any recent data about presenteeism (lost productivity through people at work but feeling and performing below par). This is obviously hard to measure but it seems logical that, in a troubled economy (with increased unemployment and reduced job security), people might be concerned about taking time off. Can we then infer that some of the improvement in absenteeism statistics can be attributed to presenteeism? That is, people are still sick but just not taking time off. We may never know!

The presenteeism research that does exist suggests that its cost is dramatically higher than the cost of absenteeism.

There are many ways that ergonomics interventions can impact presenteeism and we are always looking for simple ways to assess their success (or otherwise). Such implementations should always enhance wellbeing and performance but their impact may be hard to measure.

The Work Screen tool (reviewed in our October 2010 webinars) assesses “Work Instability” using a unique scale incorporating both physical and psycho-social factors. This enables employers to identify those struggling with their workload and formulate an action plan to address their needs. Subsequently, further Work Screens can be carried out to assess the effectiveness of the interventions.