Ergonomics: The Long Term Consequences

Have you ever sat in an office chair or used a piece of equipment that causes you discomfort or requires straining and awkward angles to operate? If you answered yes then you have experienced the effects of poor ergonomic design.

The definition of ergonomics is: “Human factors and ergonomics is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems’ or “the study of people's efficiency in their working environment”

This refers to how efficient a person is able to be while working with and interacting with equipment or in a particular working environment.

Ergonomics is often overlooked as a hazard to health and safety in most business environments. The main reason for this is that it usually takes a prolonged period of time for the negative effects of poor ergonomics provision to manifest themselves.

A great example is where an employee is performing a repetitive task at a strenuous angle, Eg lifting boxes onto a high shelf. Another example would be using a hand tool that has a poor ergonomic design leading to strain on the wrist joint due to awkward gripping angles. While you may not injure yourself immediately, the repeated presence of these factors can cause long term musculoskeletal issues such as arthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, back and muscle strains, neck pain and more.

Therefore it is of the utmost importance that companies take ergonomics regulations into account when planning their OHS policies and enforce procedures that ensure that ergonomically correct equipment and workspaces are provided. Staff should be trained and aware of how poor ergonomics can effect them.

Some ergonomic hazards to consider:

• Heavy Lifting

• Working at awkward angles

• Working in small/enclosed spaces

• Vibration

• Prolonged poor posture

• Pulling or Pushing

• Repetitive Tasks

• Awkward gripping

• Uncomfortable workspaces

Etc…

Do not wait until you or your employees have been affected for a lifetime by a poor ergonomic decision. It is not worth suffering from a long term condition that affects your quality of life just because the effort was not put in to providing adequate ergonomic consideration.