It is important to be fully educated on the health and safety procedures to avoid needing medical care or prescriptions. Gaming and excessive screen time can be particularly damaging to your mental health and the brain and can cause symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. Follow the tips below to avoid eye and body damage, and to prevent mental health issues developing.  

• Maintain a comfortable posture and position your screen at eye level to avoid back strain. You can use an adjustable chair and desk setup to protect your back and wrists. 
• Take regular breaks to stretch your whole body and rest your eyes.  
• For eye rest follow the 20-20-20 rule and ensure to focus your eyes on something other than a screen to avoid computer vision syndrome developing. 
• Avoid glare and adjust screen brightness to avoid strain, one may decide to use blue light glasses when using screens. 

• Ensure there is sufficient light in the room other than the light emitted from the screen. 
• Make sure that the screen is around an arm’s length from your face. You should adjust the font size to one which is comfortable to view. 
• Avoid slouching and sitting in awkward positions for long periods of time. 
• Incorporate stretching and physical activity into your screen time routine. 
• Stay hydrated with water and go to the toilet immediately when necessary. 

• Maintain a healthy sleep routine and avoid late night screen time as it can lead to fatigue and disrupted sleep patterns. 
• If you encounter stress, frustration, or mood changes while using screens, take breaks and seek support from friends and family, or professional help if needed.  

By following these health and safety precautions, you will feel more motivated, happy, and able to carry out your work or game with good health physically and mentally. It is important no matter what style of work, to always take breaks and stretch, especially with sedentary jobs that involve high use of screens such as programming.

iProtectU provides workplace inspection forms and allows a user to create, edit and document a risk assessment regarding gaming and screen use. 

iProtectU brings together the key resources and knowledge of three companies specialising in EHS software development, health and safety, business intelligence and data analytics. 

Our vision is to provide fully integrated, cost effective and simple to use health and safety software tools that enable our clients to engage their entire team.