In light of the federal government's recent overturn of the ergonomics standard recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), we thought it would be interesting to see what sorts of ergonomic initiatives entrepreneurs around the country are currently implementing. We posed the question: "What do you do, in terms of education, training, and/or equipment, to address the ergonomics issues in your workplace?" Take five of the responses we received:

"At C-Care Inc., we outsource customer care services, so our employees spend a great deal of time at their computers. We've taken an aggressive stance on ergonomics issues because we believe it makes good business sense. Not only do our employees say they feel better, we think they're more productive and more energetic as well. It didn't cost us much to do basic research and reconfigure our office space so it's a little more ergonomically friendly. For instance, to alleviate eyestrain, we replaced single-tube fluorescent lights with the double-tube kind. We've also equipped our computer keyboards with wrist cushions in the belief this will prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. We encourage our employees to take frequent breaks and get up out of their chairs because sitting for long periods of time causes back strain. We say, get up, walk around, do a few stretches - you'll be glad you did."

Mamie Tyler Kincaid
President, C-Care Inc.
(E-mail address withheld)

"Repetitive stress disorders get all the attention, but 80 percent of my time is spent at the computer. My eyes (as well as all other Word 2000 users') are absorbing the stark white background, which can be too much light. In order to prevent eyestrain, I have changed to a blue background. This is an interesting technique for avoiding eyestrain, which involves changing the appearance of your documents so that the text appears as white on a blue background. How to make this change? Go to Tools, Options, and click the General tab. Check the blue background, white text box. It takes a little getting used to, but it is much easier on your eyes."

Randi Leifer, R.N.; KIDsultant®
President, KIDsulting sm
Freelance writer, public relations consultant, nationally recognized
childrens' health, safety, and wellness expert
TheKIDsultant@aol.com

"Educating people about ergonomics, which really boils down to good old-fashioned common sense, is half the battle. So I spent a Sunday afternoon surfing the Web, and I pulled off 40 articles on the topic. I selected three that were full of practical tips and had them photocopied for my 10-person staff. After everyone had a chance to read the articles, we had a meeting to talk about the issues and brainstorm on inexpensive ways to make the office a more comfortable place to work. One idea that has proved to be wildly popular is what we call 'heads up breaks.' Every 30 minutes, a timekeeper (me) calls 'Heads up!' and we look out the window for 30 seconds. This helps exercise our eye muscles and gives us a break from our computer screens. You might think these breaks would be disruptive, but really, they aren't. We have fun with them."

Gloria M. Lysinzki
CEO, Lysinzki Transcription Services
(E-mail address withheld)

"We have a corporate communications business (events, video, Web for Fortune 500 companies), and our people are moving a lot in the office and on site. But we do include in their intro orientation, 'ergonomics.' We also try to buy and set everyone up in a proper and comfortable work environment (keyboard heights, computer screen size, test task chairs, etc). We believe it's important for our team's health, and having them perform at peak performance."

Keith Alper
CEO and Co-Founder, Creative Producers Group
http://www.getcreative.com/

"Since I sit at my desk for long periods of time, I invested in a $1,200 office chair to improve my posture and protect my back. Also, I bought a 19 inch monitor to reduce eyestrain."

Ron LaVine
CEO, Intellworks Inc.
Sales Training for the High-Tech Industry
http://www.intellworks.com/