How To: Reducing Non-Neutral Neck Postures

Today, I will begin a series that will serve as a primer on how to reduce or eliminate non-neutral body postures. Non-neutral body postures are one of the two key drivers of ergonomic issues in the workplace (the other being excessive force). This first post will focus on the neck.

There are 4 different postures that the neck can assume outside of the neutral position. They are: flexion (bending down), extension (looking up, neck bent back), side-bending, and rotation (looking over your shoulder).

If the operator's neck is in any of these positions more than twice in an average minute, non-neutral neck postures are an ergonomic issue in your workplace.

The following suggestions may be overly general, and may not be feasible depending on the workplace in question, but they are meant to serve as a general guide, and they should be utilized if it is at all possible to do so.


Neck Flexion (looking down):



PROBLEM: The object/work surface/fixture is too low.

SOLUTION: Raise the work surface so that the operator can engage the object/work surface/fixture without bending the neck more than 20 degrees downward.


Neck Extension (looking up):



PROBLEM: The object/work surface/fixture is too high.

SOLUTION: Lower the work surface so that the operator can engage the object/work surface/fixture without bending the neck upwards.


Neck Side-Bending:



PROBLEM: The object/work surface/fixture is off-centre from the operator, or a physical barrier between the work area and the operator forces them to assume this posture.

SOLUTION: Re-align the work area or the operator so that they are directly in front of the area in question. Remove or reduce the physical barrier, or move work to area of the facility where physical barriers do not pose a problem. Use mirrors to allow the operator to see the work area while keeping their neck in a non-neutral posture.


Neck Rotation (looking over the shoulder):



PROBLEM: There are work objects that require the operator to look to the side in order to complete their tasks.

SOLUTION: Bring controls closer and/or in front of the operator so that they do not require the operator to look constantly to the side. Have all important objects within a 12" reach, and all other objects within 18". For drivers, where checking over the shoulder is a necessity of operation, share driving with another operator, or if alone, take a break from driving once every 2 hours for 10 minutes.