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Workplace Ergonomics

PUT YOURSELF FIRST

Ergonomics is a science. Not the white coats and animal rights demonstrations type of science, but about improving the match between your job, your physical ability and your capacity to carry out the work. It's about using anatomy, physiology, psychology and biomechanics to optimise your safety, protect your health and maximise your comfort - whilst letting you do your job or go about your everyday life. It sounds clever and complicated, but it's common sense really. Technology and furniture should be designed around your needs - you shouldn't have to fit into what designers decree just because it looks nice. When you sit or lie in positions where the natural curves of your spine are preserved, there is less compression of your intervertebral discs and less strain on your back.

MATCH MAKING - YOU AND YOUR JOB

If you get the ergonomics right in your workplace, you're less likely to get back pain. You and your employers need to think about how you sit, move and lift at work. You need to have a good posture and be able to handle weighty loads correctly so that there's the least strain on your spine. Work surfaces should allow enough clearance for your legs so you can sit or stand comfortably.

DON'T TAKE A CHANCE

You might get away with sitting in a rickety chair or at a poorly designed desk when it's an occasional event. But do it regularly and you'll suffer, baby.

Reaching into a stretched position once in a while is easy and normally not a problem - let's face it, it's what all those joints and hinges on your body are about, right? - but maintaining such a position for even quite a short period can strain your back. Postural strains can cause damage when they occur many times in a day, or over long periods. So, while it may be no problem for someone to bend down to knee height to collect a document emerging from a printer once, printing out War and Peace a page at a time is a serious no-no.

SITTING COMFORTABLY?

You'll no doubt be sitting at your computer for hours at a time, so make sure your chair gives good support to your lumbar spine. Most people prefer to sit leaning back in a chair. Unfortunately most workstations don't let you do this in a supported way. Get a seat with an adjustable backrest. A chair with armrests lets you sit and relax your back and elbows from time to time. It's good to be able to alter the angle of the seat, too. Remember, there's more than one comfortable position.

Sit up straight instead of slouching and putting strain on your back. Your wrists should be straight while you tap lightly on the keyboard. Position the keyboard so that the letter 'B' is opposite your belly button and sit square to the desk and computer screen. Keeping your mouse near to your keyboard will prevent unnecessary stretching and enable you to retain a good posture whilst you use it.

WORKING WITH YOUR LAP TOP

You'll need to take more frequent breaks when working from your lap top - say, every hour or so - as you can't adjust the height of the screen as you can with a static computer (apart from lifting it up and down, of course). You could always use a lap top cushion to raise it to the correct height. You know it's the right height if you can see the screen with your neck straight.


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