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NEWS

December 2011/January 2012 www.esb.ie/em

5K Facebook fans follow ESB ecars

ESB ECARS’ Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ESBecars, has attracted a total of 5,000 followers. During recent months, the number of fans joining the Facebook site has grown due to a focused advertising campaign and competitions, as well as promotion at ecar events and conferences. The site has an important ‘Questions & Answers’ function, so ecar fans can find out more and keep up-to-date on ecar news and new charge point locations. There are also a number of customised tabs that include frequently asked questions, the charge point map, a photo gallery and a link to ecar videos. A Youtube page www.youtube.com/ESBecars has also been launched, which hosts videos about ecars, events and testimonials from ecar drivers and enthusiasts.

Departed friends

ESB staff in Asia Games

(l-r): Sean Atkinson, ESBI; John Kelly, ESBI; Joe Melia, ESBI; Ollie Brogan, ESBI; Shauna Brady, BSC; Kevin Mannion, ESBI; John Gibbons (C) ESBI and Brendan Stafford, ESBI.

A NUMBER OF ESB staff participated in the recent Asian Gaelic Games which were held in Suwon city, South Korea on October 15th/16th. It was certainly no picnic with throw-in for matches on both days starting at 8.30 a.m. The Korean climate served up more changeable weather that we’d expect at home requiring everything from sunscreen to wellies and it necessitated an hour break in play to wait out a thunder and lightening storm which threatened to throw the fixtures into disarray but the show must go on and the organiser managed to get everything back on track.

The Bahrain team, Arabian Celts was well represented by a number of ESBI staff currently working in Bahrain. They reached the Men’s B Cup final but lost out narrowly. However, Joe Melia did us proud by bagging an All-Star award.

Shauna Brady from BSC was a guest player for the Vietnamese ladies team who narrowly lost their final to Malaysia.

This year’s tournament saw the first ever camogie match played at the Asian Gaelic games. Representatives from the visiting GAA teams made up the two teams for the camogie exhibit match. Ollie Brogan ESBI mentored one of the teams and in true ESB-stick-together fashion, Shauna Brady lined out for Ollie’s team but they couldn’t overcome the other team mentored by one very wiley Christy Cooney, Uachtaran CLCG!

COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS – DON’T LET THEM BECOME A PAIN IN THE NECK

DESPITE THE EMERGENCE of smart phones and tablet PCs there is none to compare to the Personal Computer when it comes to inputting and editing text, whether it be a lengthy email, word document or complex spreadsheet.

Here are a few tips to consider when setting up a computer workstation whether at work, at home or in college. These will minimise the risk of general fatigue, eye fatigue, musculoskeletal strain and stress.

Your seat should be adjustable in height. Its backrest should adjust both in height and tilt. Additional adjustments of seat pan tilt and arm rest heights are an advantage to allow for changed postures throughout the day.

1. Adjust your seat height so that elbows are approximately level with the desk edge. Your wrists should be in a relaxed, neutral position. If you have armrests they should support the arms so your shoulder height is in mid-range.

2. If your feet do not touch the floor, use a footrest to support them and ensure that there is not undue pressure on your bottom and / or thighs.

3. Adjust your chair back height for comfortable lumbar support. Adjust your chair back tilt for comfort and support, this should be fairly upright when typing.

4. Your keyboard should be approximately a hands length away from the front edge of your desk / table. There should be sufficient room to rest your arms in the space between the desk edge and the keyboard. Keyboards can tilt so try flat and tilted to find your most comfortable position.

5. Adjust your viewing distance and screen height to suit, but ensure a slightly downward viewing angle to the screen. As a rough guide, your eyes should be about level with the top of the display screen and your screen should be at approximately arms length.

6. Modern flat screens are not as prone to glare and reflections as older CRT screens. It should be possible to avoid glare and reflections by adjusting your screen tilt. The correct viewing position is with the screen at right angles to the line of sight.

7. Do not work at odd angles if it can be avoided; your body position should be parallel to the table. Therefore, the keyboard and screen should be directly in front of you. If you are copy typing, place the copy directly in front of you, preferably on a document holder.

8. Think about the positioning of other equipment, especially any items that are frequently used, including the mouse. You should not have to stretch excessively for the telephone, or regularly used reference material. Printers, however, should not be positioned close to users.

9. Organise your work so that you take regular short screen breaks e.g. collecting documents from the printer, filing, Posture changes and chair exercises, making coffee, etc.

10. When not engaged in intensive keyboard use, change your workstation and / or chair set-up (your chair should be lower relative to the desk when you are involved in clerical type tasks) so that through the day you adopt a variety of working postures.