When it comes to Ergonomics, your employee may not know what to ask for. They may be feeling some discomfort or pain, but they may not recognize it as due to a workplace injury. You can help avoid workplace injuries by focusing on these Nine Workstation risk factors contributing to Ergonomic Injury, but you can also reduce the risk of the six contributing factors by addressing all of the envi-ronmental risk factors.
1. Repetitive Tasks or Motions
2. Insufficient Rest Breaks
3. Pressure Points (Contact Stress)
4. Forceful Exertions
5. Lighting
6. Noise
7. Temperature Extremes
8. Workstation Fit
9. Vibration
Repetitive Tasks or Motions
From typing and phone calls to heavy lifts and product assembly, repetitive tasks are common in the workplace. And for good reason, that repetition can engender experience and fluency, which yields a high quality and consistent output. However, it can lead to musculo-skeletal dysfunction. Pain and dysfunction will yield the exact oppo-site and leave you with an employee who is missing days, less effi-cient, and frustrated. By creating a workstation that supports this employee and implementing sufficient breaks and novel task, you keep your employee productive and stimulated.
Insufficient Rest Breaks
Even jobs that are not physically demanding in a traditional sense of moving heavy objects, or what might be called “back breaking la-bor,” still require rest breaks. Your employee who is on the phone or computer for the majority of their day will benefit from time away from their workstation. It will give them a chance to stretch and come back to their task with a renewed vigor. Breaks should be about increasing productive time rather than a period of lost productivity.
Pressure Points (Contact Stress)
Anyone who has worked a factory job understands contact stress, particularly as it impacts the feet and ankles over a long shift spent standing on a concrete floor. Even if you are in an office, however, an improperly fitting chair or the sharp edges of a desk that are too high may lead to pressure points that can cause pain in the hips, back, wrists, or arms. Being aware of these potential hazards means you can respond to them.
Forceful Exertions
Whether of not a forceful exertion (e.g., moving pallets, replacing the 5 gallon water jug) is repetitive, each time your employee en-gages in a forceful activity, he or she is at risk of injury. The higher the frequency, the more often an issue will arise (simply an odds game). Supporting your employees to
1. reduce the frequency of forceful exertions, AND
2. Reduce the impact of the activity with proper assistive devices
Provides them the support to minimize injuries and reduce Days Away From Work.
Lighting
Improper lighting contributes to falls, headaches and eye strain, and can cause your employees to miss important information. If the sun sets through a window behind your employee, do you think the last hour of the day is as productive as it could be? Would blinds or a workstation change be worth the increased productivity over a year?
Noise
Excessive noise can lead to hearing loss. Hearing loss is going to leave your employee vulnerable in the workplace to both safety and social concerns. Proper protection from excessive noise should no longer be a consideration, especially with OSHA guidelines.
Temperature Extremes
Extreme temperatures happen. Even in an office building in the dead of summer or the middle of winter keeping a comfortable working environment can at times be a challenge. Consider the abil-ity of your employees to complete their job under the stress of ex-treme heat. Can your receptionist type when her fingers are stiff from excessive cold? Temperature matters to the safety and produc-tivity of your staff.
Workstation Fit
The fit of your employee’s workstation falls squarely with you, the employer. If a desk is too tall, or a table to short, you are setting up functional shortcomings in the Fit of the Workstation. This can lead to pressure points and contact stress injuries, or back, neck, and leg pain. The cost savings today of not changing a workstation to fit your em-ployee is not worth the challenge of re-placing an employee’s productivity when they have Days Away From Work or have to undergo treatment for the musculoskeletal dysfunction caused by their workstation.
Vibration
While most common in trades that require repetitive use tools, vi-bration is the magnification of repetitive motions and the stress it puts on muscles, bones, and joints. Not accounting for the repeti-tive stress of vibration is guaranteeing the need for treatment of musculoskeletal dysfunction.