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How Cell Phones Affect Your Productivity (And Safety) At Work

cell phone use at work
Pixabay
More companies are implementing policies and methods to control the use of cell phones for personal use in the workplace.

A 2017 survey from staffing firm OfficeTeam found the average office employee spends 56 minutes per day using their cell phone during work hours for non-work activity, adding up to just under five hours a week of lost productivity, per employee.

And a more recent study conducted by Screen Education, EMI Research Solutions and Stark Statistical Consulting showed employees surveyed almost unanimously said the personal use of tech at work hurts organizational productivity. Many said it's also causing risk of injury and the accidental destruction of corporate property (especially in industrial settings).  

More companies each year are either banning the use of cell phones at work or implementing policies and methods to control the use of cell phones, in the office, warehouse, on the job site or on the manufacturing floor. 

Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss how cell phones affect productivity and safety in the workplace are Carl Heinlein with American Contractors Insurance Group and Director-at-Large with the American Society of Safety Professionals; Theo Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Riveted Labs, which has developed apps to control cell phone usage in the workplace and in the classroom; EMI Research Solutions Vice President, Insights, Brian Lamar; and Michael Mercier, president of Screen Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to mitigating the negative consequences of screen addiction through research and education.  

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.