Millions of office workers are suffering from a new affliction if the results of a survey are to be believed

Researchers at NEC-Mitsubishi say the nation's office workers are being hit by "Irritable Desk Syndrome". They say long working hours, cluttered desks and poor posture are making many people ill.

The company, which makes computer monitors, says regular breaks and making desks more
personal could reduce the symptoms of this condition. Some 2,000 people were questioned as part of the survey. Of these, 67% said they are more tied to their desks than they were two years ago. Around 40% said they were infuriated by too much clutter and paper on their desks but could not be bothered to do anything about it. Another 35% said they suffered from back or neck pain because they knowingly sit at their desk in an awkward position.

NEC-Mitsubishi has teamed up with another company Open Ergonomics to produce a simple
"Deskology" guide to help people improve their work area. It advices workers to pay more attention to the way they sit and set up their desk.

"Deskologist" Nigel Robertson, a consultant at Open Ergonomics, urged workers to take the matter seriously. "What most individuals fail to realize is that desk symptoms typically escalate very quickly, from persistent discomfort to chronic pain which can end a person's career and reduce their quality of life in a wide range of ways." The two essentials for less stressful, more productive desk management are: don't endure - act today; and do it yourself - don't wait for someone else to fix it for you."

Richard Jones, head of technical affairs at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, urged employers to do more to ensure employees were not damaging their health at work. "Employers are required under the law to carry out a risk assessment for employees," he told BBC News Online. "If they carried out this risk assessment many of these problems could be avoided."

The whole thrust of the regulations are to improve the ergonomics of work stations. A proper risk assessment should make workstations as adjustable as possible."