What Is Ergonomics?
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Ergonomics is the study of people's efficiency in their working environment. An ergonomics consultant assesses, designs and modifies a workers space or use of equipment to fit the worker as a goal to prevent or eliminate discomfort and injury due to work.
Promoting health and safety, and to guide workers on optimizing their productivity, ergonomics is a growing importance in today's working world through health and safety practices. How Does This Affect You Or Your Company? Injuries can occur from working constantly in a poorly designed work environment or from lack of training on the proper motion and movement of your body at work. Most injuries can develop as a result of tasks that are forceful and repetitive. It can consist of awkward movements and motions to your muscles, joints and on your ligaments and soft tissue. If you are experiencing reoccurring muscle strains, pain in your neck, back, eyes, legs and shoulders this could be from an improperly set up work area or improper motion and movement when working.
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Did You Know? Ergonomic injuries can occur not only in an office setting but in industrial workplaces, commercial warehouses, in your vehicle, at home on site and other common workplaces. The improper alignment of your body while working can happen at any job and at any time, causing injury. Workers in poor ergonomically designed work environments and those that aren't trained on what their ergonomic needs are burn out faster than those who are.
Many of the known common injuries practitioners see today are caused by improper ergonomic set up in their workspace contributing to:
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"MSDs represent over 40% of all lost-time compensation claims in Canada"
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
What Can You Do? Ensure your company or place of work has a recommended Ergonomics health and safety policy and plan in place. Workers must report poor workstations and conditions that could be hazardous to themselves or to others to their company. Having an ergonomics consultant come in to assess the worker and their workspace will help to eliminate the possibility of injury. The importance of recognizing poor work conditions and design in the workplace can lower the amount of injuries that occur and make the work environment a more productive one!
