Selecting The Right Office Chair

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/business/10260522.html

The link above leads to a very through article on selecting the right office chair. Before it gets into the nitty-gritty details though, it drops a statistic from a study by the Office Ergonomic Research Committee (OERC). By both acquiring properly-sized ergonomic office furniture, and by training the employees on how to adjust them (very important), productivity increased by 17.8%, or by $367 more income generated per employee.

Scott Openshaw, Human Factors and Ergonomics Manager for Allsteel, who is the resident expert in this article, suggests the following checklist for selecting an office chair:

1. Promotes healthy movement while working and allows you to move easily
2. Has adjustments that are intuitive and easy to find and operate
3. Supports your body while you work comfortably at your desk
4. Provides armrests that support your arms so your shoulders do not get tired while keyboarding
5. Supports your seat with even pressure so you are comfortable while you sit
6. Allows you to keep your eyes on your work while moving, without needing to readjust the seat, keyboard or monitor position
7. Adjusts to your individual body type, so you can have the support and comfort that you need
8. Adjusts to the desk or workstation and accessories you use to work so you can be productive and comfortable

If you're about to replace your creaky, sad excuse for a seat, give this article a full read by clicking the link at the top...

Duke University Gets It: Workers Are The Experts

The operator is the expert. This statement alone can turn around an ergonomics program that has stalled in the workplace. When management tries to dictate change to its workers without consulting them, it often ends up changing little, either because it doesn't properly address the main problem, or the workers, enamoured to their chosen routine, reject it out of hand.

At Duke University in North Carolina, the Ergonomics Division has set up Ergonomics Committees in many of the school's departments. These committees are constituted of workers, and are advised by ergonomists from the Ergonomics Division. In a news article published by the school, the policy of tapping the worker for essential information is illustrated:

About a dozen similar ergonomics committees have formed in other departments across Duke. The committees are overseen by the Occupational & Environmental Safety Office’s Ergonomics Division.

“The goal is to train the peers on the committee so they can serve as our frontline and do the initial assessment,” said Tamara James, ergonomics director. “The committees will help raise awareness and help reduce work-related injuries by improving the physical work environment.”

(...)

“It helps to have the committees as our partners,” James said. “They give us valuable input and provide a resource for their co-workers.”

Worker participation is the key to making your ergonomics program a money-maker, rather than a money pit.

CTS and Computer Use: Not as Bad As Previously Thought?

It seems that computer use doesn't pose as much risk as previously thought. In a recent study by The Journal of the American Medical Association, they concluded that "computer use does not pose a severe occupational hazard for developing symptoms of CTS." (JAMA, 2003;289:2963-2969).

However, it is important to note that in the same abstract that while there was no statistically significant association between keyboard use and Carpal Tunnel Sydrome (CTS), a positive correlation was made between mouse usage exceeding 20 hrs/wk and the development of CTS.

So what do you think? Is CTS risk overblown in computer-driven workplaces, or are there aspects of the issue that aren't being adequately addressed?

Back From Flu-Shot Induced Sickness! Topic of The Week: Why Are We Hurting Our Kids Through Cheap And Bad Design?

Sorry about not posting for a week. I got my flu shot last week, and I got sick for a couple days following it (go figure), so it messed up my routine!

But I digress.

Back to ergonomics ... it seems we are setting up our young people for muscloskeletal injuries before they even enter the workforce, by forcing them to sit in desks that aren't made to fit them properly:

Griffith University researcher Neil Tuttle found that lack of good seating is behind majority of the back and neck pain experienced by students.

(...)

"If the seat width and seat height of an armchair were made to fit the average dimensions of a population, the chair would be unusable for most of the population," ABC Online quoted Tuttle, as saying.

Not only is the folly of designing for the 50th percentile person (i.e. "the average
person") causing discomfort, pain, and eventual injury, it seems outmoded Victorian ideals concerning The Right Posture are also rubbing salt in the wound:

Tuttle also said that teachers should not ask students to "sit up" or "sit still".

He added that leaning back in chairs with legs extended should not be considered a ‘lazy’ attitude.

"If you want to change one attitude it's that there is a correct posture," he says, adding that students should be allowed to wiggle in their seats.

There is no "right posture". In fact, it is a well-worn cliche in ergonomics circles that the best posture is the next one. We also need to lose the notion that a squirming student isn't necessarily a disruption or a potential ADD case. It is merely a symptom of a case of design where good fit is a distant afterthought.

Source Article: http://www.topnews.in/poor-chair-designs-be-blamed-neck-and-back-pain-school-students-23603

October Is National Ergonomics Month

It's already 8-9 days into October, but I just noticed tonight that October is National Ergonomics Month. Sponsored by the HFES in the United States, it aims to spread awareness of the importance of our field to both the business community, and the public at large.

Surf over to http://hfesnem.org/ and get involved if you can. Ergonomics has the power to transform our society as the internet, biotechnology, and nanotechology are currently doing. In order for it to do so, the public must know what we're all about!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving + Some Kitchen Ergonomic Links (So You Don't Hurt Yourself Cooking The Turkey)

Just checking in on this fine holiday weekend up here in Canada (it's Thanksgiving here, and no we don't start shopping for Christmas immediately after!) Due to the long weekend, posting has eased off, so rest assured that I haven't nodded off again with regards to this blog.

So if you're Canuck like me and you are in the kitchen cooking up a holiday storm, or if you are just a cooking nut (also like me), here are a couple ergonomic-related "in the kitchen" links* I found using a quick Google search:

http://www.kitchens-and-more.com/articles/2007/06/ergonomic-kitchen-tools/ - article on a few basics on designing an ergonomic kitchen. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Ergonomic-Kitchen-Tools-6-Fork/dp/B0002E14XG - a pistol-grip fork. Just when you thought you saw the pistol-grip handle on every conceivable tool application, something like this surfaces!

Ergo Web Article Alert: The Ultimate Guide to Workstation Ergonomics: 10 Easy Tips (and a Huge List of Resources)

Rich McIver from HR World sent me over a link to their recent article concerning office ergonomics. It is one of the most concise and informative overview articles on the subject that I have seen. This is coming from a guy who has read his share of newpaper/magazine pieces that can be summarized as: "golly gee, ergonomics = chairs!", so head on over and check it out!

http://www.hrworld.com/features/workstation-ergonomics-guide-100107/

Ergonomics On The Web - Building the Ergonomic Guitar

As you may know, ergonomics is the applied science of adapting work to the physical and mental limitations of the people who perform it. Therefore, it can (and should) be applied to any vocation under the sun ...

... even if you're a rock and roll musician!

Enter Robert Irizarry, blogmaster of the weblog Building the Ergonomic Guitar (http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/). After suffering an RSI in his job as an IT professional, he decided to look into ergonomically-friendly guitar designs, as pain from the former injury, as well as back troubles had begun to impede his ability to enjoy his hobby. After conducting some inital research he decided to put the two together, and thus, the quest for the ergonomic guitar began!

Keep tabs on his ongoing efforts at http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/ .