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promoting well-being & productivity by empracing workplace ergonomics
Source: www.fmxmagazine.co.uk
Workplace ergonomics is about promoting the well-being and productivity of individuals, but is this best achieved through a focus on posture or on enabling movement?
Ergonomics in the workplace is one of those persistently contentious topics. As a science, ergonomics combines the knowledge of human performance with design and engineering to create systems, products and services which are safe, efficient and enjoyable to use. In the workplace this can be simply understood as the concern of physically fitting individuals with their jobs.
Applying ergonomics to the workplace reduces the potential for accidents, injury and ill health, and improves performance and productivity. On the other hand, failure to observe ergonomic principles may have serious repercussions. These general principles are now beyond dispute. The contention mainly centres on the best ways of achieving ergonomics.
A lament that resonates with facilities managers is that good ergonomic design is often only noticeable by its absence; people are more inclined to notice when a product is badly designed or fails to be user-friendly. Those designing ergonomics into products and workplaces must consider people’s different shapes and sizes, how they move, what they see, hear and feel, and even how they think.
Office furniture should promote a healthy posture, but other issues - such as adequate breaks - matter too
The importance ergonomics plays in creating design for the workplace and wider world is currently on display at the Design Museum, London. The collaborative effort between the museum and Brunel University aims to show ‘how we interact with products, the relationship between man and machine, with the primary aim to optimise this symbiotic affiliation’.
It demonstrates that there is a thin line between mistaking the hot and cold tap to averting an air traffic disaster or power station meltdown. A misplaced element in either system can be fatal, and while the consequences are hugely different in scale, the theory is much the same.
Dr Mark Young, senior lecturer at Human-Centred Design Institute, Brunel University, comments: ‘Ergonomics is about applying science and method to what might otherwise be assumed as common sense. You could call it “evidence-based design”, and this exhibition showcases the added value that ergonomics can bring to the design process.’
The Work Foundation recently released research that shows that half of all absence in the UK is down to musculo-skeletal disorders. The results might be expected to prompt manufacturers to claim the answer is ergonomic products; however, this would be irresponsible, according to others in the industry.
DSE regulations
Those in search of specific guidance on workstations can turn to the UK DSE regulations on furniture, hardware, and software which refer specifically to ISO 9241/EN 29241 and EN 527. These outline specific questions that employers must be able to answer. For example, with work chairs they ask: is it stable, comfortable, fully adjustable and correctly proportioned for the user in question? Does the desk have enough space to correctly position the DSE?
Differing work settings must meet certain lighting standards, for instance financial dealing rooms and CAD areas require Category 1 lighting, while Category 2 is generally required for word processing activities. Other specific considerations include keyboards, wrist rests, foot rests, and screen quality.
Ergonomics – Real Design is at the Design Museum, London, until 7 March 2010.
www.designmuseum.org
