Sarah Linehan is determined to help the island’s army of ‘weekend warriors.’

She is the owner of PSM Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Clinic.

She has introduced a new service of workstation assessments for employers at the clinic which has branches in Douglas and Port St Mary.

Sarah said: ‘We see many weekend warriors at our clinics afer they suffer sporting injuries, which are then made worse by working practices,or who suffer new injuries because of niggles picked up while sitting at their desk during the week.’

She added: ‘Often a muscle strain from a five-a-side football friendly will affect a person’s posture, which is then made worse by sitting at a badly arranged workstation. We are not going to march into an office demanding our client has a new chair, but our workstation assessments might include moving a telephone to avoid unnecessary twisting, or changing the seat tilt tension of anexisting chair.

‘Small changes which are not expensive.’

Sarah has this message for employers: ‘I believe that the PSM workstation assessments can save you money by helping to correct ongoing physical problems which are already causing lost working days and prevent new ones occurring. It might be a quick fix to buy fancy new chairs for all your staff, but that might actually be a waste of money, you could just need to adapt the ones you have.

‘Our workstation assessments could help you make that decision, save you money and improve the general office environment.

‘Your employees really are your best asset, so why not make the working environment as happy, healthy and comfortable as possible,for your benefit as well as theirs.’

Sarah says a ‘staggering’ 6.6 million days were lost in the UK in 2017 because of musculoskeletal disorders, which she says, works out at 14 days per person.

Workstation assessments include a full explanation to both employer and employee of the rationale behind any changes, and once everyone buys into those they are able to adapt to any change in circumstances, such as working from home or while travelling.

The assessments also include posture tracking with wearable devices which highlight and correct body posture.

Sarah said: ‘Our experience shows that the more individuals feel involved, the more likely they are to reap the benefits.’

PSM sports therapist Matt Harrison is a fully qualified display screen equipment (DSE) workstation assessor, a qualification accredited by the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.

Modern working practices often involve prolonged hours sat in front of a screen and Matt, who is also qualified in posture resetting through myofascial release, can carry out assessments of not just posture, but also the whole working environment. This can be as simple as lighting and temperature but could also include advice on office layout and foot-flow planning.