Ergo Tip of the Month

December 2005

Sandalwood Enterprises is a consulting firm that specializes in Ergonomics, Process Optimization, and Information Management. The Ergo Tip of the Month is offered to our customers and friends for the benefit of the Ergonomics community. If you choose not to receive future editions, contact us at ergotip@sandalwood.com

Productive Rest and Recovery: Another key piece to the office ergonomic puzzle
The ergonomic version of “The Big Three” are force, repetition, and posture. These big three are well recognized as the 3 major risk factors from an ergonomics perspective, which contribute to occupational discomfort and injury. Fortunately for computer users, forceful exertions are typically not a concern. As a result, ergonomists called into action to address issues at computer workstations focus their attention on posture and repetition.

In our September 2005 “Ergo Tip of the Month”, we provided a poster that examined recommended working postures for computer users. The understanding and use of proper posture is a key element of good ergonomic workstation design. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars are spent to deliver ergonomically designed

workstations to facilitate proper postures. Another key piece to the office ergonomic puzzle then lies with providing a break/change in posture to the working muscles. The musculature of the human body was not designed to sustain working postures (even ideal) for prolonged periods of time. So that is when we turn our attention to repetition.

Below are some tips to address the frequency or repetitive nature of office work.

  • Try left handed mousing. There is a bit of a learning curve when switching to your non-dominant hand, however, it facilitates an improved posture of the mousing arm and provides an opportunity for rest and recovery to the right side.
  • Use the adjustment features of your chair.This modifies your working posture periodically throughout the day – typically the most frequent user of the adjustment features of ergo chairs are those with bad backs - they know that changing their posture helps them throughout the day. Remember the effects of gravity on our spine during the day…we change so perhaps our chair should change too.
  • Complete some tasks while standing (eg. collating, reading
    procedure/training manuals, talking on the phone).
  • Stand up during a meeting – it’s not because you have a bad back, it’s because you don’t want one!!!!
  • Stand up and stretch at your workstation to change muscle length and posture.
  • Read from paper copy periodically. This is a break for the eyes relative to reading from a monitor.
  • Walk to printer/fax several times per hour if possible and do not save printing to be collected all at once.
  • Take a break from the monitor (eye strain) by looking off into a corner of the office periodically and force yourself to blink (eyes tend to dry out while looking at the monitor).
  • Take a walk during lunch to provide some much needed work/rest for the legs and back.
    •

    Try using one, two, three or more of these tips for productive rest and recovery and you will have a key piece to the Office Ergonomic Puzzle.

    Click here for more Ergo Tips of the Month

    About Us Contact Us Visit our Website