An Ergonomics Approach to Avoiding Office Workplace Injuries

and Illnesses
Working Americans spend about 2,000 hours per year in the
workplace. All of these hours can take a toll on your eyes, back,
arms, and neck.
Exposure to adverse working conditions can result in momentary
pain or long-term injury. Moreover, poorly designed working
environments contribute to reduced efficiency, decreased
production, loss of income, increased medical claims and
permanent disability.
The ultimate goal of ergonomics is to design the workplace so
that it accommodates the variety of human capabilities and
limitations to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). While
designing ergonomic hazards out of the workplace is ideal, other
measures such as administrative controls (including training or
employee rotation) and changes to work practices are often more
feasible initially.
Ergonomics is the science of designing the workplace, keeping in
mind the capabilities and limitations of the worker. Poor worksite
design leads to fatigued, frustrated and hurting workers. This
rarely leads to the most productive worker. More likely, it leads to
a painful and costly injury, lower productivity and poor product
quality.
The goal of Ergonomics is to provide maximum
productivity with minimal cost; in this context cost is
expressed as the physiological or health cost to the
worker. In a workplace setting there are seldom a large
number of tasks that exceed the capabilities of most of
the work force. There may be jobs that will include a
specific task that requires ERGONOMICS IN THE
WORKPLACE extended reaches or overhead work that
cannot be sustained for long periods, by using Ergonomic
principles to design these tasks; more people should be
able to perform the job without the risk of injury.