With the spotlight shining on ergonomics issues lately, the modern workplace has been labeled as "dangerous" by the press. Today's office workers.manning the new frontier in wired skyscrapers and small businesses.are learning the hard way about work-related health disorders.

Once worn only by telephone operators back in the 1950s, headsets are finding their way into offices across the world, and with good reason. Headsets are known to add many advantages to the workplace. According to a Santa Clara Valley Medical Study, headsets reduce neck, upper back, and shoulder tension by as much as 41 percent. An additional study by H.B. Maynard & Co., Inc. concluded that adding hands-free headsets to office telephones improved productivity by up to 43 percent. Headsets are also known to reduce the chances of work-related physical disorders, specifically injuries of the neck and upper body, resulting in reduced workers' compensation costs.

It is in the use of the telephone handset that the most significant work related disorders of the neck could occur. When the seemingly simple act of squeezing the handset against the shoulder and neck is performed routinely, or held for long periods of time, anything ranging from discomfort to structural tissue damage can occur.

The use of telephone headsets is beneficial for improving head and neck postures. With the freedom a headset provides, awkward and prolonged static postures of the head, neck and shoulders can be avoided. In an even greater sense, the freedom offered by hands-free movement allows workers extra mobility, reducing static loads on the entire body, and potentially contributing to greater worker comfort and productivity. Headsets also are known to alleviate stress on the neck for all-day users, as well as for those who use the telephone sporadically throughout the day.