THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT ERGONOMICS

So much for the bad news. The good news is that most work-related, repetitive stress injuries are avoid able. By attending to a few basic principles, employers can enhance their employees' comfort and productivity and reduce their risk of MSDs and other costly injuries. Remember the words of the American Industrial Hygiene Association: "Ergonomic principles are most effectively applied on a preventive basis. Good design with ergonomics provides the greatest economic benefit for industry."

Remember also:

Environment affects behavior. Proper placement of the workspace components (i.e., an ergonomically-designed workspace) will naturally encourage users to assume safe, low-risk postures. The top of the Empire State Building is not fenced in to keep sightseers from leaping to their doom, but to avoid the likelihood that accidents will happen. So too, the office work environment must be designed to minimize the risk for workers. In factories, industrial engineers spend hours analyzing the tasks performed by each worker to determine the most efficient and risk-free work station layout for that worker. Why not the same concern for the office worker?

Movement is critical. Despite the old school of thought on the desirability of fixed postures, the overwhelming evidence today shows that fixed postures are inherently dangerous. "Any fixed posture, no matter how closely it approaches the optimal, will generate muscle fatigue," says Marvin Dainoff, Director of the Center for Ergonomic Research at Miami University of Ohio. "Therefore, it is important to build in flexibility to allow operators to shift positions easily." Our bodies were designed to move. In fact movement, more than anything else, provides nourishment for the spine, keeps the joints lubricated and flexible, improves circulation and removes waste products from the muscles. Conversely, when we don't move, the elasticity of our spine and joints is reduced and waste products build up in the muscles, causing fatigue. While constant motion is obviously not the goal, frequent positional changes are vitally important to good health.

Minimize extreme postures. While movement is important, so are the postures you assume while performing your daily tasks. Neutral postures, meaning those that require minimal muscle activity to maintain, are synonymous with health and comfort. Extreme postures like abducted shoulders and extended wrists must always be avoided. Maintaining body symmetry is equally important, particularly with respect to the spine. Don't sit for extended periods in bent or twisted postures.

Avoid contact stress. Focused pressures are extremely dangerous, causing circulation problems and nerve damage in more severe cases. According to OSHA "Contact stress affects the soft tissue on the fingers, palms, forearms, thighs, shins and feet. This contact may inhibit blood flow, tendon and muscle movement and nerve function." Stress like this can be transmitted to arms and wrists by extended contact with the hard, sharp edges of desks and hard armrests on chairs. Likewise, the undersides of thighs are at risk from hard seat edges or simply seats that are too high.

Take breaks. Breaks could include actual work breaks, short exercise or stretch breaks, or simply switching gears and performing a different task for a few minutes. "Appropriate rest breaks, combined with stretching exercises, allow computer workers to sustain work at an appropriate pace, while minimizing postural injury risks," says Dr. Hedge.

Education, education, education. When all is said and done, a worker educated on ergonomics in the workplace is more likely to remain healthy. Such an employee will be aware of critical risk factors, healthy working postures, and more importantly, the warning signs of injuries.