By Oliver Mwanko
Impact of working from home and spending more time on laptop screen. [COURTESY]
In the COVID-19 pandemic
era, people across the country are working from home at unprecedented levels.
Although remote work has been on the rise for some time now, up until the
pandemic, the trend was relatively slow.
According to Mark Muoki,
The Talent hunter and Hiring manager in East Africa for Lapaire Group, the majority of hiring managers plan to keep
more of their workforce remote going forward.
“We believe that remote
work is hastening a shift that reduces hiring, screening, and monitoring costs
for managers and lessens burdens on workers to understand firm-specific
context. We’ve seen a mind-set shift around remote work. Hiring managers for
remote positions are now more comfortable interfacing with people they have not
met personally, opening the door to work from anywhere and to flexible hiring.
Firms have invested in virtual communications tools that make it easier to
troubleshoot problems remotely and give outside workers a way to interface and
get or give feedback.” Muoki comments.
He also reveals that
remote work and tools like Slack have forced companies to better define tasks,
codifying processes and specifications, making it easier to write
specifications that a worker with little firm-specific knowledge can
understand, which can enable opening up a company.
With more remote work
also comes more screen time. Should we be worried about the eye health and
sleep patterns of all of these new remote workers who are now spending more
time on their electronic devices?
In the current digital
world, technology has taken over people’s lives. Digital gadgets
especially phones, computers and tablets have become central to daily
activities that people engage in, for work as well as leisure or even for
educational purposes.
Eye health experts
caution that spending too much time with these digital devices is contributing
to a crisis in eye health among individuals.
Diana Langat an
optometrist at Lapaire Kenya noted that there has been an increased demand for
eye care and health over the past two years, attributing this to working from
home, which meant people spending more time on their screens. “This has
increased demand for computer protective glasses as patients come complaining
of other eyesight related issues,”
Patience Ahumuza, a
Digital Communications consultant says that she spends about 14 hours in front
of a computer every day.
“I am short-sighted which
means I am unable to see things clearly unless they are relatively close to the
eyes. Since the hit of Covid-19, my work became completely digital and I had
more clients so I would spend about 14hrs in front of a computer.
It was great in the
beginning at first until I started having blurry vision and severe headaches
even when I put on my eyeglasses. I visited my Optician to have a comprehensive
Eye test because I was suspecting a change in my prescriptions only to be told
that I had developed Computer vision syndrome.” declared Ahumuza.
Just two hours of staring
at a screen can cause eye strain. “People spend on average
around seven to eleven hours behind screens daily. Prolonged time in front of
screens can cause: Blurred vision, Tiredness, Headaches, Red/irritated eyes,
Eye strain, & Dry eyes.”
We live in an
increasingly digital world and with many industries being digitized, Eye
Experts say that they have seen an increased demand for computer protective
glasses as patients come complaining of other eyesight related issues.
Solutions to digital
Eyestrain
The obvious answer is to
stop looking at screens, but that’s simply not possible for most people.
Many jobs involve working
on computers and the widespread use of smartphones means we’re not putting our
screens down anytime soon.
Fortunately, there’s new
lens technology that helps to protect against the harmful
effects of screens; they are referred to as computer glasses.
Using these and taking
measures to help reduce the risks of eye strain (outlined at the end of this
article) will help prevent the adverse effects on your eyes of living in the
digital age.
Lapaire the pan African
Eyewear Company recently launched an awareness campaign on blue light to
educate the community on the impact of blue lights and computer vision
syndromes on the eyes as well as offer a discount of 15% Off on all
Photochromic blue-light blocking glasses for a duration period of one month.
Roseline Kilonzo,
Expansion Manager E.A at Lapaire Group.
It is paramount that we
protect our eyes from this blue light. Lapaire is making this possible by
offering 15% OFF on all photochromic, blue light blocking glasses that will not
only filter the blue light from but offer 100% protection from the Sun’s UV rays
as well.” Commented Roseline Kilonzo,
Expansion Manager E.A at Lapaire Group.
