Workplace zen

Staying injury-free at work ...

"Work is a big part of our lives. Our financial stability, and sometimes even sense of self, depend on it.

Unfortunately, the day-to-day tedium of paperwork, deadline stress, and office drama can take their toll on health and happiness.

"If you work eight hours a day, that equates to a third of your total life," said Pedram Shojai, a licensed acupuncturist and president of Vitality Health & Wellness in Irvine, Calif. which offers a corporate wellness program to employers.

"That's too much time to blunder away by being unhealthy, unhappy and unfit."

There are several aspects of a typical work environment that can be adjusted for an improved day and job life. We've compiled expert advice in four areas related to work life: ergonomics, employee nutrition and fitness, workstation organization and design, and relaxation amid stress.

Hopefully, these tips can help your work hours come a bit closer to what your free time is like.

BREATHE AND BOND

Your neck and shoulders are knotted and painful. You're losing sleep over your latest project. And you're desperate for a vacation.

In about six seconds, you'll be bursting from all the stress.

"As we know from science and research, stress-related disorders account for about 60-90 percent of office visits to physicians," said Ryan Seay, clinical psychologist at The Center for Optimal Health in Irvine.

So relax ... with these tips.

» Get chummy with co-workers through social activities outside work, Seay says. Recent research has shown people with strong family and friendship ties are generally happier, he said.

» If you're having trouble with someone at work, try communicating with that person, said Gena Kadar, corporate wellness director for Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center in Orange, Calif.

» Having a positive attitude about life and self is a great way to create luck and opportunity.

» Breathe yourself into a meditative state. When feeling stressed, take five minutes to sit up straight and breathe down into your lower abdomen. When you catch your mind wandering, acknowledge it and return to the breathing.

» Let go of perfectionism, Kadar said. For many of us, everything has to be done flawlessly, but sometimes flawless isn't necessary."    (Continued via Lansing State Journal)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Workplace Zen

Coping with laptop shoulder strain

Dealing with pain from laptop use ...

"Over the years, the laptop computer has maintained a steady visibility, emerging today as the most effective business tool. But owners are increasingly focusing their attention on safety measures, writes IKECHUKWU EZE
Tunde is a young computer scientist who works for a Lagos-based advertising agency. His job of designing advert copies often keep him in the office until very late in the night.

However, all that changed six months ago when he acquired a laptop computer. His new acquisition means that he could close early and take some tasks away to complete at home. But convenience sometimes comes at a cost; the pain of carrying the system around town. The weight of the laptop; its accessories weighing up to five kilograms, in a hold-all bag dangling from his shoulder is indeed a serious cause for concern.

"Sometimes I experience sharp, numbing pain on the shoulder," Tunde told Business Day, adding that he had devised a way of reducing the pain by resorting to a backpack which instead distributes the weight.

Like Tunde, Kenneth is a young journalist who is yet to own his own car. "Buying a laptop has made my job a lot easier," he said. Instead of coming to work early and leaving late which had been a tradition for him, if he is to work with one of the office computers he now writes most of his stories at home.

"The machine (laptop) has become an essential aspect of my dressing. I really cannot step out of my house without it. Any day I step out without the computer bag hanging from my shoulders, I actually feel there is something missing."

But the only drawback, according to him is the pain of dragging the computer to assignment venues before reporting to the office in the evening.

"To avoid the pain and strain of dragging the machine, some people leave theirs in the office. But to me that already defeats the comfort of mobility and flexibility, which the laptop conveys. I will rather suffer the shoulder strain than to leave it at home or elsewhere."

... The computer engineer identified the following as the necessary measures all users of laptop should pay attention to:

• Maintaining neutral postures will reduce stress and strain to the musculoskeletal system;

• Incorporate mini-breaks every 20 to 30 minutes to break up repetition and static postures;

• Maintain a comfortable viewing distance from your screen; about 18-30 inches;

Keep your head and neck in a neutral posture; avoid excessive neck flexion or rotation;

• Angle the screen so that it is perpendicular to your line of sight, if lighting permits;

• Position the keyboard at elbow height, and keep your wrists straight while keying. Experiment with table height, chair height and keyboard angle to maintain neutral wrist postures"    (Continued via BusinessDay)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Basic Ergonomic Principles

History of ergonomics and reference to other articles ...

"Bernardino Ramazzini was an Italian physician born in 1663 who is considered to be the founder of occupational and industrial medicine. In 1700 he wrote De morbis artificum diatribe (Diseases of Workers). This study of 52 occupations outlined material and handling hazards as well as “certain violent and irregular motions and unnatural postures of the body, by reason of which the natural structure of the vital machine is so impaired that serious diseases gradually develop therefrom” (currently defined as repetitive strain injuries or cumulative trauma disorders). Ramazzini’s work laid the groundwork for advocacy of protective measures for workers and encouraged eventual passage of factory safety and workmen’s compensation laws.

(Source: Ramazinni, B., 1717 and 1940, In W. Wright (trans.): The Disease of Workers, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

Wojciech Jastrzebowski was a Polish biologist who coined the term “ergonomics” in 1857. The word comes from two Greek words: ergon (work) and nomos (laws). Ergonomics is often defined as the practice of designing the job to fit the worker, not forcing the worker to fit the job. With the advent of the industrial age in the early 1900’s, “Scientific Management” applied ergonomic concepts with the goal of improving worker productivity and efficiency. And during World War II, the use of ergonomic principles flourished when it was shown that these principles could be used to reduce operator and pilot error on the emerging, complex war machinery.

Currently, the focus of ergonomics is to minimize work stressors, both physical and environmental to reduce the potential for bodily harm. These work stressors were clearly outlined in Ramazzini’s works.

The basic work stressors that promote repetitive or cumulative injuries include excessive repetition, forceful movements, and awkward movements and postures. General ergonomic principles help us to control these work stressors.

* Repetitive tasks may not require much muscular effort, but the velocity and range of the movements can cause muscles to fatigue quickly as the muscle never completely relaxes and never completely contracts. With insufficient rest time, recovery of micro-trauma to the muscles, tendons and joints is not complete. Gradually, injury builds until swelling and pain begin to limit activity.
* Forceful movements require excessive tension or pressure on the tissues of the body, increasing muscular effort, reducing circulation to the body’s tissues, and causing muscles to rapidly fatigue.
* Awkward movements and postures place biomechanical stresses on the joints, muscles and tendons, causing friction and inflammation at the stressed sites, reducing the body’s ability to perform work efficiently and comfortably."    (Continued via BellaOnline, Marji Hajic)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Steelcase rolls out Mayo doctor's 'walking desk'

New tredmill desk from Steelcase - exercise at work ...

"A treadmill designed with the help of a Mayo Clinic physician to help desk-bound employees develop healthy habits was unveiled Thursday.

Steelcase, a Grand Rapids, Mich.,-based office furniture manufacturer, unveiled Walkstation, a work station with an integrated treadmill, based in part on the research of Dr. James Levine of Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The work station, designed primarily for sedentary workers in corporate work environments, combines Steelecase's knowledge of ergonomics and workplace deisgn with Dr. Levine's research on non-exercise activity thermogenesis, meaning the energy expended during everyday activity, the company said in a news release.

The new product will be available in late November.

Levine's research suggests that increased physical activity among sedentary workers may benefit the workplace environment and increase the overall health, focus and productivity of a workforce that is typically desk-based.

"For office workers, the majority of the workday is spent sitting in front of a computer. The premise of this Walkstation is simply to increase movement while working, and for users to enjoy the health benefits of that movement," Levine said.

Designed to encourage more movement by walking slowly at work, Levine estimates that users of the Walkstation have the potential to increase energy expenditure by 100 calories per hour when walking at a 1 mph rate."    (Continued via Post-Bulletin)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Mayo Desk

E-textiles to monitor your health

New way to measure health and injury ...

"Virginia Tech researchers have been busy developing efficient e-textiles — electronic textiles and clothing with embedded wires and sensors — for six years now. Their computerized clothing can monitor your movements, sensing if you’re walking, running, standing, or sitting down. Of course, this kind of clothing has a wide range of applications. The Hokie Suit, which exists for 3 years, will lead to other garments which could measure when you’re about to fall and your location, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and a variety of other statistics. As the researchers have been focused more on computer engineering than aesthetics, don’t expect to find e-clothing available in retail stores before several years.

... Before going further, what are e-textiles? Here is the definition given by the E-Textile Research Group. “Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that have electronics and interconnections woven into them, with physical flexibility and size that cannot be achieved with existing electronic manufacturing techniques. Components and interconnections are intrinsic to the fabric and thus are less visible and not susceptible to becoming tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. An e-textile can be worn in everyday situations where currently available wearable computers would hinder the user. E-textiles can also more easily adapt to changes in the computational and sensing requirements of an application, a useful feature for power management and context awareness.”

Now that we know exactly what are e-textiles, it’s time to look at what the researchers did. “One of the primary pieces they have built, dubbed the Hokie Suit, can sense the gait of the person wearing it, and is then able to detect change in speed and direction of motion. The wearer is able to move around naturally in the suit and the wires and sensors are woven in as part of the fabric. The sensors can then be removed and the suit with the wires can be washed. The steel used in the suit is so lightweight and fluid that it appears as fabric material rather than metal. ‘We can tell whether you’re walking, running, standing, or sitting down,’ Martin said. ‘One student could even figure out what dance you were doing.’”

And the data collected by the sensors embedded in the fabrics can be sent to various computer devices, such as a monitor checked by someone taking care of your health. This sounds good, even if we don’t see this kind of clothing in our regular stores before years. Anyway, the researchers are already working on Hokie Suit 2.0. “They’re making a more tightly woven garment in the form of a jumpsuit so it can be worn more easily. The jumpsuit has more benefits than the pants and vest; for example, it can sense when a person is laying down. The pants in the Hokie Suit were unable to tell the difference between lying down and having legs propped up."    (Continued via ZDNet)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Hokie Suit

The ergonomics of driving

Driving position important to comfort ...

"If you're heading out of town this weekend, chances are you'll be driving.

Chances also are the way you sit in your car -- especially on long drives -- will have a noticeable impact on your body. Everything from how your mirrors are set up to where you put your hands on the wheel play a role in how you'll feel when you eventually step out of your car.

"Most people drive, and so many people feel pain from driving," says Shona Anderson, a certified Canadian professional ergonomist and owner of Calgary's Anderson Ergonomics Consulting Inc.

"I do a lot of ergonomics for driving in industry -- oil companies, for example. They notoriously have back and shoulder pain," she says. "I've even had people call me because they've gotten a new vehicle and need help because it's just not comfortable."

Even if you don't drive for a living, logging long hours in the car on an extended drive can cause muscle tension and soreness, especially in the upper back and shoulders.

To make sure you have the right setup when you hit the road this weekend, Anderson provides the following tips. Follow the instructions, which range from before you start driving to once you arrive at your destination, to give your body the best chance at feeling good this long weekend.

After all, who wants to be sore for a weekend in the sun?

Driving in comfort

Before you get into the car, you should always take your wallet out of your back pocket. "Putting a wallet in the back pocket puts a lot of pressure on the lower back because it raises one side of the pelvis and puts it in a bit of a twist," says Anderson.

Now that you're sitting, check to see where your knees are in relation to your hips.

"Ideally, people's knees would be at the same level of their hips or slightly lower," says Anderson."    (Continued via driving.ca)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Driving Ergonomics

The Truth about Safety Incentives

Getting the right safety incentive program ...

"What does it take to motivate employees to work safe?

One of the great debates in workplace safety today is the role of incentives. Two philosophies seem to exist. One says that workers will not work safe unless we give them incentives to do so. The other says that incentives should not be required for workers to do their jobs without injury.

Interestingly, safety and operational supervisors, managers, and directors who are working hard to find a way to focus employees on reducing injuries fuel the debate.
The Problem with Most Incentive Programs

The biggest problem with safety incentive programs is that they do not work the way people expect them to. Programs that reward employees with monetary or tangible rewards for an expected level of performance can be challenging when it comes to safety. The reason is this: They tend to cause under-reporting, particularly when the performance is related to lagging indicators like reduced incidents or severity rates. Managers and employees alike confirm this, no matter the industry.

People tend to focus on the reward rather than the outcome of going home every day without an injury. Under-reporting causes information to be buried, which can lead to dangerous behaviors or hazardous situations not being properly addressed.

Sure, there are examples of how incentive programs have helped organizations turn their safety performance from negative to positive. This may be the case for the short term, but over a period of time, safety incentive programs can become:

* Ineffective – They lose their appeal to employees and it becomes too much work to keep up with the required paperwork.
* Entitlements – Employees come to expect the incentive no matter what the outcomes are, particularly when monetary rewards are involved.
* Routine – When the program remains the same year after year, people don’t really pay attention to the expectations and the rewards.
* Punitive – When group rewards are part of the program, employees can be very punitive to one another when an incident occurs that “messes up” the reward.
* Irrelevant – Often employees do not see why their company leaders think they have to pay them to work safe. After all, isn’t safe work behavior part of the job?

Think about other problems you’ve seen in your own company. What’s going on with your incentive program if you have one? It may be time to consider a different approach."    (Continued via Occupational Hazards)    [Ergonomics Resources]

New Report Considers the Importance of the Human Factor in Rail Safety

The role of ergonomics in railroad safety ...

"In recent years, for reasons connected to the organization of the industry, technical developments, and major safety concerns, rail human factors has grown in importance at an international level. Despite its importance, however, supporting literature has
been largely restricted to specialist journal publications and technical reports. Rail Human Factors addresses this imbalance by providing the first fully comprehensive overview of the area.

The volume includes contributions from leading ergonomists, psychologists, sociologists, management scientists and engineers whose common theme is to investigate, understand and design for people on the railways, including staff, passengers and the general public.

Every area of ergonomics/human factors is covered: physical design of work and equipment in maintenance; cognitive ergonomics in driving, signalling and control; organizational and social ergonomics in the way teams are formed, plans are made and organizations are structured and run. -0- Topics covered include: - Systems views of rail human factors - Driver models and performance - Train and cab design - Network and train control systems, including ERTMS - Signals and signal - SPADS - Signalling and control center design - Signaller performance - Control center interfaces - Workload, situation awareness, team working - Human error and reliability - Timetabling and planning - Maintenance planning and work - Safety climate and safety culture - Passenger comfort and behaviour - Station design - Public information systems - Level crossings - Trespass and vandalism - Ergonomics standards and guidelines - Human Factors integration."    (Continued via PR-Inside)    [Ergonomics Resources]

At Busy Airports, Only Laptops Go Through Security Screening Quickly

Queing theory shows that service times are not random ...

"Long lines of passengers have an effect on the speed with which airport security screeners do certain aspects of their jobs, according to a study by researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo.

The study's findings demonstrate empirically for the first time that security screeners do speed up when lines are long, but only when inspecting laptop computers.

While the effect of long lines seems to be small, the researchers say, the fact that it exists at all has potential relevance for queues in all kinds of other settings, too, from supermarket cashiers to tollbooths and border crossings.

The UB study found that the security screeners did not change their behavior regardless of how long the lines were when inspecting carry-on bags or plastic bins for overcoats, keys and other accessories.

UB researchers made more than 40 separate trips to a mid-sized airport, studying the correlations between how long lines were and how long servers took to inspect each type of item.

The research was presented earlier this month at the 51st annual meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in Baltimore. It also is in press with OR Insight journal.

"If you're going to have a speed-up anywhere, it's probably safest to have it with laptops because that's a more difficult item to hide something in," said Rajan Batta, Ph.D., professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and a co-author on the paper.

"We didn't see a speedup with carry-on bags when the lines were long, so that's reassuring," he said.

The researchers, an interdisciplinary group of industrial engineers, were interested in finding out if there is a "speed-accuracy tradeoff" in security screening when lines are long.

"We conjecture that the screeners are more comfortable speeding up inspections of laptops because that's an item they're well-trained to inspect and because laptops are more uniform, as opposed to carry-on bags, where there are many more variations," said Batta.

The UB researchers say that the study has implications for a subfield of industrial engineering called queuing theory, which, until now, has not looked specifically at how servers may change their behavior when lines of customers get very long.

"In more than four decades of mathematical and modeling research on queuing, there has been a general assumption that service time is a random function with known properties and that no matter how long the queue is, service time doesn't change," said Colin G. Drury, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Professor emeritus in the UB Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering."    (Continued via UB NewsCenter)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Study puts bums on seats

Designing ergonomic seating in schools ...

"It is the ultimate in cheeky research that could stop school being a pain in the neck, literally.

According to an Australian researcher, high school students are commonly suffering from neck and back pain and the humble school chair is partly to blame.

As part of his study, Griffith University researcher Neil Tuttle designed a bumograph, a device to measure the shape buttocks make when seated.

Tuttle, from the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, hopes his research will lead to the design of better school chairs.

He says chair design is complicated by the need for students of different ages and sizes to use the same chairs.

Students also have to undertake different tasks, such writing or listening, that involve different postures.

He says the design of a chair to provide the best fit for a school population is not simply a matter of making it fit the average size person from the population.

"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," Tuttle writes in the latest issue of the journal Ergonomics.

He says users with shorter than average knee heights would be unable to place their feet on the floor, while those with a wider than average pelvis would be unable to fit between the armrests.

Instead chairs are designed to ensure the "smallest can fit and the largest can reach".

He says research shows the most important factor in overall sitting comfort is posture, with comfort of the seat surface second.

"The contours of the front and back portions of the seat influence sitting posture and the whole of the seat contour affects seat comfort," he says.

"The contour of the seat affects the two most important factors influencing the comfort of the chair."

Importantly, the chair contours can be an aid in stopping students sliding forward on the chair.

In his study Tuttle used the bumograph to measure the shape of the buttocks of 16 students in five different seated positions: typing, sitting up, sitting back, slumped and writing.

The bumograph replaces the seat of the chair with a slab of high-density foam containing a grid of 96 sensors across its surface.

When he analysed the results, he found it was students' gender that affected the seated buttock shape more than weight, height or posture.

Males had a deeper narrower contour, while female students had a broader, flatter shape.

Tuttle says the gender difference in contour is not enough to warrant chairs for different sexes."    (Continued via News in Science)    [Ergonomics Resources]

The Bumograph

NECE - The 2007 National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition

Conference schedule now available in PDF ...

"The most important event of the year for professionals looking to improve productivity, reduce workplace injuries, and grow the bottom line.

With more than a decade of service to the ergonomics industry, the NECE has earned it's reputation for excellence. The conference provides the best in ergonomics education for the widest possible variety of workplaces: manufacturing, offices, warehousing facilities, call centers, healthcare and lab environments, assembly, construction, 24/7 operations, uncontrolled and virtual workplaces - and much more!

This year's show - featuring an expanded conference program and exhibition demonstrating more products than ever before - promises to be the best NECE to date!"    (Continued via ErgoExpo)    [Ergonomics Resources]

NECE 07

Physical Top Five Dialing Concept

New technology for cell phone input will help visually impared ...

"Designer Jeong-Kyun Nam noticed that elderly people do not like dialing a number (and now that I think about it, that’s pretty accurate) and created a concept phone that would dial a number based on a “tag” that would hold the picture of the call recipient. It’s a pretty good idea that is totally feasible with today’s technology. There are many ways of identifying a “tag” and it would just take a little pre-programming. That said, a photo-based screen interface might be closer to standard consumer electronics."    (Continued via Ubergizmo)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Tag Call

Americas Safest Companies Passionate about Safety

Safety requires a dedicated organization ...

"America's Safest Companies, founded in 2002 by Occupational Hazards, a Penton Media Inc. publication, is a corporate award honoring the safest companies in the United States. This year's honorees are BWXT Pantex, CH2M Hill, E. J. Ajax and Sons, Kroger Manufacturing, Louisiana-Pacific Corp., MB Herzog Electric Inc., Parker Drilling Co., Rea Magnet Wire, Southern Ohio Medical Center and WW Grainger. The awards ceremony will take place tonight at Chicago's Il Mulino restaurant.

To be considered one of America's Safest Companies, organizations must demonstrate: support from management and employee involvement; innovative solutions to safety challenges; injury and illness rates lower than the average for their industries; comprehensive training programs; evidence that prevention of incidents is the cornerstone of the safety process; good communication about the value of safety; and a way to substantiate the benefits of the safety process.

"Some companies still believe that on-the-job injuries and illnesses are a cost of doing business. Our honorees see things quite differently," said Stephen G. Minter, editorial director and publisher of Occupational Hazards. "They understand that work-related injuries and fatalities are a cost - in human and financial terms - that no company should expect to incur. That's why they apply their management skills, ingenuity and resources to ensuring that their employees are safe on and off the job."

“Although we are willing to place safety above the bottom line, the fact is that safety and profitability are not the polar opposites that some companies perceive them to be,” says Erick Ajax, vice president, E.J. Ajax & Sons Inc. “E.J. Ajax has outlasted many competitors in a challenging manufacturing environment in part because of a workers' compensation rate that saves the company more than $1,000 per year per employee in insurance premiums.”

The 2007 America's Safest Companies care about the welfare of their employees and are committed to providing the safest work environment possible. At BWXT Pantex, which is a National Nuclear Security Administration contractor responsible for maintaining and dismantling the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, the strategic plan for the company states, “Providing work sites where workers believe their personal safety is a priority, and where there is knowledge that the company truly cares about their safety and health, is a major component of the BWTX Pantex safety program."    (Continued via Occupational Hazards)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Driving with poor vision becomes possible

Driving while visually imparted ...

"Spanish researchers have developed and successfully tested a computer simulator allowing visually impaired to drive. This system is called SERBA (short for 'Sistema Electro-óptico Reconfigurable de ayuda para Baja Visión'), which means 'Reconfigurable Electric-Optical System for Low Vision' in English. This innovative system is based on a reconfigurable device known as FPGA (or Field Programmable Gate Array). This means that it can easily be reprogrammed to be used under different circumstances. In fact, if his vision declines, a user of the SERBA system will just download a new version of the software adapted to him, without the need to buy a new device. Some companies are already interested in the system, but there is no information today about commercial availability.

The SERBA user interface

As you can see above, a driver using the SERBA system sees the road ahead of him through a transparent viewfinder, similar to those used in the army (Credit: University of Granada). You can see a larger version of this picture on the Spanish press release of the University of Granada, "Desarrollan un simulador informático que permite conducir a personas con problemas de vista."

Here is a short description of the project. "The main contribution of this project -- undertaken by María Dolores Peláez Coca and led by professors Fernando Vargas Martín and Eduardo Ros Vidal, all from the University of Granada -- is the implementation of a new optoelectronic platform (based on a reconfigurable device known as FPGA) which is easily reprogrammed so that it can be used in different circumstances. This device will help patients, among other things, to improve their vision when driving."    (Continued via Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends)    [Ergonomics Resources]

SERBA System

Ergonomics For Computer Desks

Basic ergonomics for selecting a computer desk ...

"An often searched phrase on the internet is people asking how to go about improving their ergonomics for computer desks. The fact that people are looking is obviously a good thing for everyone trying to improve their posture. For years we operated our computers without any idea what potential harm we might be inflicting on ourselves through repetitive injury.

If you spend 1 minute using your computer, it probably matters little what your ergonomics are. If you are using your computer like most people, however, the ergonomics for computer desks can really become more and more important. The size of your monitor, the type of keyboard and the type of mouse you use will all help determine what type, if any, posture problem that may develop.

Establishing good work habits on a properly set up computer workstation becomes even more important. While there are many good set ups out there, there is hardly one that is right for everyone. People come in all shapes and sizes, therefore, determining their perfect workstation setup will vary for each individual.

In addition, the way you use your computer will also be important in determining your ergonomics that will help you the best. Do you spend most of your time doing data entry? The most critical piece to your set up may be where you place the papers that you are using to get information in which to enter.

Spend a lot of time using your mouse for graphic design? Go the extra mile in setting up your mouse area and don't skimp on having a set up that will allow your hand and wrist to remain relaxed and loose."    (Continued via Ezine Articles)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Ergonomic Desk

Check-out Ergonomic Desk - Click On Desks.

Poor chair designs to be blamed for neck and back pain in school students

Chair design in schools ...

"Poor chair designs are partially to be blamed for neck and back pain in high school students, an Australian research has revealed

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

For the study, he designed bumograph, a device to measure the shape buttocks make when seated.

The device has 96 sensors, which are used to measure the contour of seated buttocks, and it replaces the seat of the chair with high-density foam.

Tuttle found that students' gender affected the seated buttock shape more than other factors like weight, height or posture.

While males had a deeper narrower contour, female students had a broader, flatter shape.

"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.

"The contours of the front and back portions of the seat influence sitting posture and the whole of the seat contour affects seat comfort," he says.

"The contour of the seat affects the two most important factors influencing the comfort of the chair,' he added.

Tuttle says an immediate solution to back and neck pain in students is for school authorities to buy adjustable and comfortable chairs."    (Continued via Yahoo! India News)    [Ergonomics Resources]

The Science of Ergonomic Laboratory Seating

Ergonomic seating in difficult environments such as a laboratory ...

"In laboratory environments, it’s not uncommon for people to spend greatly extended periods of time working in seated positions. Unfortunately, neither is developing the bad seating habits which can lead to serious repetitive injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome, and associated work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The key to preventing them is employing ergonomic principles in workspace design, seating posture, and chair selection.

According to Ed Metzger, president of BioFit Engineered Products, a global manufacturer of ergonomic seating solutions, the first step in avoiding ergonomic problems is to work within an optimum comfort zone. To illustrate this point, Metzger explained his basic “dinner table” rules.

“Think about the way you set a table – everything should be placed within easy reach and range of motion. That’s the way a laboratory workstation should be configured,” Metzger said. “It’s the best way to avoid undue muscle strain and premature fatigue from overextending.

“In addition, seating must allow for different user seat and back sizes, and a range of ergonomically correct seat heights, as well as unique forward seat-tilt, seat-height, and backward-lean adjustments, while providing the right lumbar support for the task at hand,” Metzger said. “It’s all about understanding the subtleties of ergonomic seating and how they relate to different work environments, and people of varying stature.”

Jim Frobose, manager of engineering at BioFit, adds that laboratory employees also are looking for chairs that resist corrosion from contact with test samples. In that regard, chrome plating is one of several features that can help these furniture products withstand subsequent daily contact with anti-bacterial solvents.

“Vinyl seating is very popular because it cleans easily,” Frobose said. “On the ergonomics front, it’s important to remember that chairs should be made to fit the user and not the other way around. Everything should be adjustable, from the foot rings to the armrests. Waterfall seats are also important because they can help prevent circulation problems associated with sitting in chairs that have hard front edges."    (Continued via ALN Magazine)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Students using laptops risk 'persistent' pain

Kids also suffer from RSI ...

"Students who regularly use laptops are putting themselves in danger of persistent neck, back, shoulder and wrist pain, and they are often unaware of the risks they are taking until it is too late, according to new research.

Surveys carried out by ergonomist Rachel Benedyk and her team at University College London's Interaction Centre found that 57% of respondents had experienced aches and pains as a result of their laptop use, with 7% having pain a lot of the time. The survey involved 649 undergraduate and postgraduate students of a range of nationalities, and the majority said they had never encountered ergonomic guidance on laptop use.

The research is ongoing, but Ms Benedyk found the initial results so worrying that she decided to produce a preventative ergonomic-advice leaflet for students.

"I'd love to say: 'Don't make your laptop your main computer,'" she told EducationGuardian.co.uk, "but I'm also aware of the positives - how they fit so well into students' lives due to their mobility."

Instead, Ms Benedyk recommends that laptop users carry out prolonged tasks with their machine set up on a desk, with an external keyboard and mouse attached. This allows them to adopt a much safer posture, rather than the position a laptop forces them into.

"I'm not saying that sitting at a desk is the only way to use a laptop in a healthy manner when doing quick, 10-minute tasks. The problem is when students use their machines intensively for hours and hours in unsuitable postures," Ms Benedyk said.

Of those surveyed, 21% admitted to using their machines on their laps, 19% in bed, 13% while lying on their fronts and 9% while kneeling. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that many students go on to spend extended periods of their leisure time on their laptops as well."    (Continued via EducationGuardian)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Tales From Mouse Ward

RSI a real problem in Indian call centers ...

"Nothing about Vijaykumar’s daily schedule suggested any kind of health risk. For a young man, still pushing 33, he seemed to have an impeccably balanced lifestyle. He woke in the morning to drive to the Bangalore offices of IT major Cisco, where he worked as a programmer. He spent eight or nine hours at his computer, steadily tapping out code. His was a serious workday, but not an oppressive one, compared to the 14-hour shifts call centre workers clocked in over on Bannerghata Road. When he had time, he swam a few laps in the pool, and headed home to spend time with his family.

In 2003, however, something changed.

"It was a numbness in the hand," he recalls. "Then a cold sensation from my shoulder to my palm, and sometimes my hand became paralysed." We’re all getting older, he thought, gritting his teeth, and this must be the beginning of the inevitable wear-and-tear. And so he swam more to stay limber, tried yoga, ointments and pranayam to ease the pain. He relaxed his pace of work, moved the mouse from his right hand to his left. But that only shifted the pain to different places. The orthopaedist he consulted told him not much else could be done.

The condition progressed. A year ago, Vijaykumar stopped driving his car. Then he discovered he could not lift his kids—one and three years old—and carry them in his arms. "Five months ago, people started telling me I looked thin and worn out," says Vijaykumar. "And I realised I was living with a lot of pain, and barely sleeping at night.

... Our bodies can endure a certain amount of repetitive stress and bad posture before muscle, bone and nerves begin to come apart at the seams. Computer-related injuries (CRI) can be classified three ways: visual damage, orthopaedic trouble resulting from bad posture, and most prominently, repetitive stress injuries. Symptoms can appear anywhere in the body—from the eyes and the fingers, to the lumbar disk and the feet, so they are usually dismissed as the benign aches-and-pains of overwork and ageing. But in reality they have the potential to do acute damage to bodies and careers. And they are the fastest-growing occupational health hazard in India."    (Continued via outlookindia)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Office Overload

Foot Mouse / Slipper Mouse with pedals

When RSI will not let you use a mouse ...

"Why a foot mouse?

1) Efficiency Booster (Time Saver):

Shortcuts or hotkeys are frequently used during designing and editing, forcing 2 or 3 fingers to dance around awkwardly and eyes to move back and forth between monitor and keyboard. This eye-hand coordination kills time and causes stress. Another situation is: When doing these jobs, most pros' hands are constantly occupied in juggling multiple input devices such as “hand” mouse, keyboard, input pen, or other devices on desk.

2) Pain Reliever (Hand/Arm Saver):

Hate that weak, piercing or numb feeling in your hands and arms? We feel your pain and got the solution for you. This epidemic (ex. carpal tunnel syndrome) is mostly caused by longtime and intensive use of various hand-controlled input devices. It hurts people's body, mood and work. Using our foot mouse, especially its mouse click buttons, can greatly reduce the stress and protect the nerves and tendons of hand and wrist. (Frequent finger tapping is the root of the pain.) When working with some on-screen keyboard software, our mouse even enables people to do typing by foot! Now, nothing can stop you from enjoying your computer."    (Continued via Bili Inc)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Slipper Mouse with Pedals

Ergonomic Chair Tips

What to look for in an ergonomic chair ...

"Finding the right ergonomic chair depends a lot on what kind of work you do. Choose an ergonomic chair with all the necessary features and adjustments that you can afford. It isn't always easy to get a cheap ergonomic chair or low cost ergonomic chair. You may be able to find one used, like the Aeron chair online or at eBay or some other Internet store. The features or components of ergonomic chairs and ergonomic office chairs are listed below.

Ergonomic Chair Cost

How Much Do Ergonomic Chairs Cost?

Good ergonomic chairs, ergonomic office chairs and ergonomic computer chairs usually start at about $400 new. Ergonomic chairs can cost as much as $1000. And some of the Aeron ergonomic chairs cost from $500 to more than $1000. You can think of it as an investment in your health.
Ergonomic Chair Casters and Baset

Use a chair with casters and a 5-point base to ease movement and minimize possible tipping. Generally, nylon carpet casters are standard, but soft wheel casters are available for hard surfaces such as linoleum. Rubber locking casters are useful on stools to prevent tipping.

Ergonomic Chair Seat Pan

The seat pan is the component of the chair that supports the majority of the user’s weight. It is important to purchase a chair which uses dense, small-cell foam padding or spring coils to retain its support and cushioning (this usually involves purchasing a chair over $250.00). The front part of the seat should slope down slightly (waterfall design) and allow a fist size gap between the back of the knees and the front edge of the seat pan to reduce pressure at the back of the thighs. Tilt adjustments are preferred to allow a forward working posture to be attained or a reclined posture. A seat pan with a sliding mechanism is also a beneficial feature. This allows small and tall users to adjust the distance from the back rest.

Ergonomic Chair Backrest

Adequate lumbar support is the most crucial element of a backrest. The backrest should either be small enough to fit into the small of the back, clearing the pelvis and back of the rib cage, or curved to provide adequate support. Many chairs come with a built-in lumbar adjustment which can be adjusted by turning a knob on the side of the chair. Inadequate lumbar support places excess pressure on the spine. Remember, a lumbar support cushion properly placed behind the small of the back can help to accentuate lumbar support. The backrest should also have angle, in-out, and height adjustments to achieve proper spinal alignment. The angle adjustment allows the user to adjust the angle of the back rest relative to the seat pan, as apposed to the tilt mechanism, which moves the seat pan with the backrest. When you change the tilt, the angle between the seat pan and the backrest stays the same."    (Continued via Ergonomic Chair Tips)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Mirra Chair by Herman Miller

Check-out the Mirra Chair.

Office Ergonomics 101 - Part 1

Tips for setting-up an ergonomic office ...

"You go home each day with a pain in your shoulder or neck, perhaps you wake up at night with tingling in your wrist or hand. You used to feel good all day long but now you hurt after just a few minutes at the computer. What to do? You have budget information to enter in spreadsheets, you have a stack of reports to do, and it seems you get two emails to respond to for every one you send. This means hours and hours glued to your keyboard and mouse.

More and more, jobs require a substantial portion of the day working with a computer. Very often pain and discomfort experienced at work or at home can be tied to easily identified risk factors. Most of us have heard the term ergonomics. Simply put, ergonomics is the study of how people physically interact with their work environment to perform their required tasks. A phrase often heard to describe ergonomics is “fitting the task to the worker.” Poor ergonomic conditions and practices cause more losses in terms of employee suffering, lost time, and productivity than most other types of injury in the workplace.

Three fundamental ergonomic risk factors are: position/posture, repetition/duration, and force. These can all be influenced by the work area setup and the activity being performed. The good news is these at-risk conditions that can cause pain and potential injury, can often be easily controlled if one understands basic ergonomic concepts and how to apply them. In this article and the next we will take a look at these factors and provide some practical solutions to help get you through the day pain-free.

Position/Posture: The goal here is a neutral and balanced position. “Neutral” is typically thought of as the midpoint of range of motion for most joints (e.g. your wrist should be straight in both the up/down and side-to-side axis, your upper arm should hang comfortably from the shoulder, your back and neck should be straight and not twisted or bent). Balanced in the ergonomic sense is when a posture or position is such that one does not have to fight (much) gravity to maintain that posture or position.

Let’s look at some of the most common position-related complaints we see. These are often the easiest to correct and can have very dramatic improvement in discomfort in a relatively short timeframe.

Neck Pain: Your head weighs about as much as a bowling ball. Holding a bowling ball straight upright takes some effort. Now visualize you are balancing a bowling ball (your head) on a cylinder (your neck). If you begin to tip the cylinder, it becomes harder and harder to support. When you sit upright and are looking directly ahead your skeletal structure supports most of the weight. If you deviate from vertical, your muscles must come increasingly into play to support your head. Now imagine tipping and lifting that bowling ball hundreds of time a day – that is exactly what you are doing when working from hardcopy placed on your desk. Similarly, if your monitor is placed on the CPU so you must tip your head back to read (particularly problematic for those of you wearing bifocals) your muscles must support this off-balance posture. A much better approach is to place your hardcopy on a document stand between the keyboard and monitor. The monitor should be directly in front of you with the top of the screen just at or slightly below eye level. This way instead of repetitive up/down and side-to-side head motion one can look back and forth between paper and screen almost by using your eyes alone allowing you to remain in a neutral, balanced position.

Holding the telephone receiver cradled between your ear and shoulder while doing other tasks is also a classic cause of neck pain if you do so on a regular basis. Hold the receiver in your hand if possible. Use a speakerphone or a headset if you must speak on the phone while working, such as reviewing written materials or computer files while conversing."    (Continued via Forensic Magazine)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Adjustable Height Keyboard

Ergonomics & Common Sense - Reducing Awkward Positioning

Tips for posture in the workplace ...

"Although it is helpful to work with an ergonomic specialist who can show you ways in which to make your work less stressful on the body, a common-sense approach to activities can also make a difference. This multi-part series will offer some common-sense tips - based on the ergonomic principles of avoiding repetition, force and awkward postures - that can help you avoid pain while working.

Part 1 discussed methods of reducing repetitive movements in the workplace.
Part 2 discussed methods of avoiding excessive force during activity.
This is Part 3 - a discussion of methods to reduce awkward postures and positioning.

AWKWARD POSTURES

Recently, I assessed the workstation of a woman who was having shoulder, neck and arm pain. Her employer had purchased appropriate ergonomic equipment for her including a keyboard, keyboard tray, adjustable monitor holder, and vertical mouse. The woman’s pain lessened but did not completely go away. I was called in to see what else needed to be done. As I observed this woman working, I noticed that she centered the keyboard on the keyboard tray; however, she never used the 10-key of her keyboard, causing her to shift her chair to the left so she could more easily access her letter keys. As she shifted to the left, her forearm would hit the right arm support of her chair as she reached for her mouse. A work order was being processed to remove her right arm support. The mouse was on the same level of the keyboard on an attached mouse-holder. The keyboard tray was positioned in a negative tilt (good for wrist positioning) causing the mouse to slide down the slope (annoying and bad for productivity). Because of this, the woman would frequently place the mouse on the desk rather than the mouse support, causing her to reach forward, up and to the right. A relatively simple solution was to center the letter keys to the monitor and use a mouse bridge (with the ability to adjust for the negative tilt of the keyboard) over the number keys - allowing the woman to be centered to the monitor and keyboard tray and avoid awkward reaching for the mouse.

Methods of Reducing Awkward Positioning & Improving Posture

* Keep reaching to a minimum.

* Assure proper fit of the chair. There should be support for the lower back. Height should be adjustable in relationship to the work surface so that the shoulders are relaxed and the elbows are positioned at the side of the body (in-line with the shoulders). The work should be positioned at a height that allows the elbows to be open slightly greater than 90 degrees. A foot-rest should used when necessary.

* The work should be positioned directly in front of the body to avoid excessive reaching or turning."    (Continued via Bella Online)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Zeroing in on the Right Office Chair

Finding comfort in an ergonomic office chair ...

"Finding the right office chair isn't always easy. People come in different shapes and sizes, do different tasks and have different priorities when it comes to meeting their seating requirements.

Choosing a chair for the office has many considerations: one that's not too hard or too soft; too expensive or too cheap; or one that provides the right back support but doesn't have so many bells, knobs and whistles, that no one knows how to adjust it.

The facts are that office workers are more productive, as well as more comfortable and less likely to report injuries, when they sit in well-designed ergonomic furniture and are properly trained to use it.

A recent study reported by the Office Ergonomic Research Committee (OERC) found that employers who provided employees with a combination of good ergonomic furniture and training in how to use it realized about $367 per day more income per employee which translates into a 17.8 percent productivity gain.

According to a release by the OERC, Dr. Ben Amick of the University of Texas at Houston's Health Science Center said, "This study was one of the most comprehensive scientific efforts to link an ergonomic product and training to health, employee productivity and return on investment for a corporation."

Choosing the right office chair is imperative, according to Scott Openshaw, Human Factors and Ergonomics Manager for Allsteel, a leading designer and manufacturer of contract workplace solutions. He noted that comfort is the key to anyone who sits in a chair for long periods of time.

"When we're comfortable, the absence of the chair's awareness lets people concentrate on their task at hand; in essence, comfort equals productivity," Openshaw said. "But some chairs don't provide that comfort because their design may not support the back, neck and shoulders properly."    (Continued via Fort Wayne WPTA-TV)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Ergonomic Office Chair

Now it’s "straight spine syndrome"

How we injure our spine with computer work ...

"Long hours spent in front of the computer coupled with a faulty posture is emerging as a major health concern among software professionals leading to a spurt in the incidence of a relatively little known problem called ‘Straight Spine Syndrome’.

Specialists working in this field point out that the prolonged stretching of neck in the front and remaining glued to the monitor has seen an increase in the computer users complaining of painful condition of neck and back areas in recent times.

This condition which is found to express itself quite early in the occupation, as early as one year into the profession, has been attributed to Forward Head Posture (FHP) adopted by many.

“Some end up stretching their neck while working on computer and this disturbs the balance leading to painful conditions of neck and back,” says Bakhtiar Choudhary of Hyderabad Spine Clinic.

In normal cervical posture, the head is held directly within the centre of the gravity and when pushed forward and held in that position for long hours, disturbs the balance. If the head is considered 10 pounds and is held three inches ahead of the centre of gravity, it essentially ‘weighs’ about 30 pounds and the neck region is forced to take that much stress, explains Prof. Maj.Choudhary.

“Slowly, the dynamics of cervical spine turn defective and leads to painful conditions,” he says. Among others, the eye monitor ergonomics such as monitor level, its size and angle, font size and colour background also have been termed as causative factors for the problem."    (Continued via The Hindu)    [Ergonomics Resources]

Dealing with back injuries

Veterinarians dealing with back pain ...

"Decades of working with large animals have taken their toll on the back of Dr. John W. Fields.

From shoeing horses before college to practicing bovine and equine medicine, Dr. Fields was already feeling back strain from heavy lifting. But a horse accident in 1994 and a truck accident in 2004 left his back permanently damaged—and kept him away from his practice for months each time while he recuperated.

"Now I do rehab on a daily basis. I wear a back support that my orthopedic surgeon recommended anytime I'm going to be lifting or using my upper body for anything more than sitting or walking," Dr. Fields said. "In retrospect, I wish someone had convinced me to use (a back support) 20 years ago. Hindsight is always 20-20."

Dr. Fields is far from alone in his experiences with back injuries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, at 35.5 percent, the trunk is the part of the body most affected by work-related incidents, and back injuries account for 63 percent of all trunk-related incidents.

Veterinarians are prone to back injuries. In 2006, the AVMA Group Health and Life Insurance Trust paid claims totaling more than $4 million for back disorders, which ranked fourth in costs among all diagnostic categories, after complications of surgical and medical care ($12.1 million), general symptoms ($5.9 million), and joint disorders ($5.7 million). A 2007 analysis by The Hartford of claims activity for participants in the AVMA PLIT found that the most severe injuries were associated with improper lifting, with a typical workers' compensation claim totaling $22,000, which often includes disability expenses.

Back injuries are physically and emotionally devastating. The long road to recovery can spell financial ruin for veterinarians without the kind of insurance coverage that helps them keep their practices running while they recuperate."    (Continued via JAVMA)    [Ergonomics Resources]

The Spine

21st-century pack mule: MIT's 'exoskeleton' lightens the load

Backpack assist of the future ...

"Researchers in the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics Group have created a device to lighten the burden for soldiers and others who carry heavy packs and equipment.

Their invention, known as an exoskeleton, can support much of the weight of a heavy backpack and transfer that weight directly to the ground, effectively taking a load off the back of the person wearing the device.

In the September issue of the International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, the researchers report that their prototype can successfully take on 80 percent of an 80-pound load carried on a person's back, but there's one catch: The current model im