Office workers risk health problems as communications technology makes them slaves to their desks.

So says research from cordless communications outfit, GN Netcom, which found that a third of workers are tied to their desks for more than seven hours a day.

Two thirds of those quizzed blamed health problems on being chained to their desk, with half claiming they suffer from stress and four in ten complaining of neck and shoulder ache.

The research also found that email now takes up almost as much time as telephone calls for the majority of the UK's office workers.

Six in ten people spend more than an hour per day on emails with a third spending up to three hours a day ploughing through their inbox.

Ann Brooks, principal consultant at Ergonomics in Practice, said: "Many people now multi-task while on the telephone, which usually means wedging the phone between ear and shoulder while they type or write.

"This posture is extremely bad for the neck and shoulder, especially if held for long periods, and can result in discomfort in these areas, sometimes leading to longer-term injury," she said.

Earlier this month the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) warned that too much texting could lead to RSI-type injuries. ®

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