What is Ergonomics?
Working safely begins with looking at the physical arrangement of your work space and the design of the tools you use. This draws from the science of ergonomics which strives to fit the work to the body rather than forcing the body to conform to the work. As logical as this may sound, it's actually a pretty recent point of view.
Ergonomics is being abused as a marketing term, being thrown around as easily as the word "natural" is with food. Suddenly everything is "ergonomically designed." A product will not be very ergonomic for someone if it is not used in the right way for right purpose. And since many ergonomic products are adjustable, it takes training to take advantage of what they have to offer. Otherwise they can be just as uncomfortable - or injurious - as your old furniture.
One of the most common scenarios seen today is the company which buys new furniture with a wide range of adjustability but doesn't teach its employees how they operate or on what principles to adjust them. There are examples of companies where cumulative trauma problems increased after installing ergonomic furniture. Imagine their surprise! The answer is training.
You need to understand the principles behind ergonomic design. It's really very simple. The goal is to prevent unnecessary muscular effort, and avoid postures which put strain on the body. In short, to make you comfortable.
An Ergonomic Relationship
"Ergonomics" per se is not the entire solution here. The finest chair and desk in the world will not provide for a meaningful and satisfying use of computing by themselves. Having an ergonomic relationship to your work takes in larger questions about your general health and pleasure in life. It means paying attention to your body. It means giving real thought to the place of work in your life and just how much stress you are willing to endure. It means looking at the design of your job, department, or business and asking some often difficult questions about quality of life and work. These questions are all being flushed to the surface by this aggressive appearance of technology. They are being forced in front of us in ways they never have before. Suddenly people are getting hurt in offices! Suddenly stress is a running gag in our culture. The "Rat Race" used to be more about boredom. Now it's about burning out. That is much more dangerous.
So an ergonomic relationship looks beyond the furniture in an attempt to choose how we use these astounding new tools. We have a chance to redefine our society with the priority on health and fulfillment in balance with progress and prosper. Do you think these are mutually exclusive?
Additional ergonomics articles from Onsight
Initial Thoughts on Cumulative Trauma
Why is Cumulative Trauma Happening Now?
