Cal Orok

Background

About Cal Orok

Retired Northern Ontario Kinesiologist. Background in Exercise Management and Rehabilitation. Educated in Work Physiology, Safety and Ergonomics. Ergonomics is the study of work, fitting the job to the human being. It is the opposite of trying to fit a person to the work. Think about adjustability when you think about ergonomics. A good ergonomic design is something that adjusts easily to the body and allows a neutral posture. For an office chair, take a look at the seat back - does it support the neutral curve of the lumbar spine for different heights of workers? Take a look at the arm rests - do they move up and down and also out and in, closer to the body, to support the elbows? Your office chairs should be the most adjustable office furniture, but there should also be adjustability in the monitor height to avoid neck flexion when reading the screen. To avoid wrist pain, there should be adjustability in the keyboard height and mouse height. These devices should be used close to the body with the wrists straight. Wrist problems are very common in the mousing hand. At times it may help to try mousing with an alternative mouse design. Three primary ergonomic risk factors are force, awkward posture and repetition. But one may also have working in the cold, vibration, static sustained muscular force, and contact pressure. When there are many risk factors acting on the body, the risk of gradual onset muscular disorders is higher. The best way to do an ergonomic assessment is in person. Every body is different. A petite person needs a different work set up than a grand person. Injuries are commonly derived from the habitual postures during work. So, observing the actual work done works best. Discomfort cannot be assessed by looking at a workstation without the worker present to describe and demonstrate what is happening to them. I once visited an office full of bad chairs. The worst one appeared to have fastening screws from the seat pan working their way through the foam up into the seat cushion. Ouch. There is no one size chair suitable for everyone, and your employees have to spend several hours a day sitting in them. If uncomfortable, they will not sit long. This is because the chairs are not well designed or do not fit well. Buy fully adjustable office chairs that fit individual workers. Look at the Steelcase Leap chair, and the ErgoCentric line. ErgoCentric also makes height adjustable desks and desk legs in the UpCentric line. Many other brands are also worthy of attention including Nightingale in Canada.