Thousands of office workers at risk from neck pain, back pain and headaches if on phone for just two hours a day.

Hundreds of thousands of people who regularly use phone and a computer at work are likely to be suffering from muculosketetal health problems, which results in neck pain, back pain and headaches. The first detailed study of telephone users in the office environment demonstrates that there is a measureable health risk for anyone using the phone for just two hour daily.

The researchers, from the health sciences department at Surrey University, found that 50% of office workers in their study suffered from neck pain and 31% suffered from lower back pain. All participants were using the phone for a minimum of two hours a day. Surprisingly, 65% of participants also said they suffered from headaches sometimes or frequently.

In recent years there has been a signifcant increase in health complaints in the lower arm, shoulder and neck, which is now as common as back pain. While 'Phone Neck' - caused by the phone being gripped between the head and shoulders leaving both hands free to use the computer or take notes - is a common complaint amongst telephone and mobile phone users, until now there has been little scientific research into this condition.

This detailed two month study analysed the postures adopted to use the telephone. All participants used the phone and computer simultaneously during their work. In a cross over study, each participant was monitored during a four week period using the traditional telephone headset (control condition) and four weeks with a Plantronics headset (intervention condition).

Nearly two thirds of respondents said they rarely or never had a headache when using the plantronics headset. In addition, the research found that using a Plantronics head set reduced neck pains by 31%, lower back pain by 16% and upper back pain by 9%. Headaches were reduced by 27% when a headset was used.

Elizabeth Simpson MCSP, SRP author of the study and a practising physiopherapist, said: "Unlike manual worker safety, the issue of occupational injury among office staff is still not taken seriously enough by employers. This is partly because the injuries caused by bad telephone habits cannot be seen and take time to manifest. This study has shown that the use of telephone headsets can reduce neck pain, back pain and headaches in subjects who use the phone and computer simultaneously for a minimum of two hours a day."

Paul Clark, International Marketing Director of Plantronics, said: "The real value of this study is that it provides a comprehensive real-life picture of the postures associated by telephone use in the daily office environment. Although legisation requires that risk assessments of computer workstations should be conducted regulary, in compliance with the 1992 DSE regulations, telephone use has been overlooked. We will be presenting this research to the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that future legislation takes telephone use into account.