A monitor manufacturer has just discovered what most of us have known all along: that computers make you sick and we're all going to end up blind and crippled as a result of excessive keyboard pounding, irishnews.com reports.

According to a survey carried out by CTX, which polled 450 workers across Europe: "Three out of four office workers are suffering from health problems because they are not being trained properly to use their computers." Ailments cited include back problems, sore eyes and headaches.

CTX product development manager Jordan Popov said: "The use of computers in the workplace is only going to increase, so businesses have a responsibility to supply their staff with suitable, up-to-date equipment and the training needed to use it safely and appropriately. It may seem basic, but showing people how to sit properly and explaining how to adjust their monitor should be a priority for human resources and IT departments."

Quite right too. What is not noted, however, is the detrimental effect on workers' health of downloading XP SP2 and then finding that two-thirds of your applications won't run. A quick check of El Reg staff discovered high levels of stress, elevated blood pressure and - in one severe case - steam venting freely from both ears as a result of this exposure to Redmond-style PC improvements.

The solution? Well, CTX reckons that "employers should make sure workers took regular breaks from sitting at their desks". Spot on. I'm off to the pub. Goodbye. ®

Related stories

Net porn good for you: official
PCs throw nine sickies a year
Mobile phones drive us mental: official
Work induces catatonia: official