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102-275
Broadway |
MFL Occupational Health Centre, Inc. |
Ergonomics is a science that studies people and the work they do. It involves applying knowledge about human characteristics (such as your height, your comfortable reaching distance, and your hand strength) to the work you do. If your work is modified to match your characteristics, you can work comfortably, efficiently, safely, and avoid problems such as back pain, sore wrists and hands, or sore shoulders.
Ergonomics looks at all of the things that you do at work, including
In many workplaces, you can find people trying to adjust to difficult situations. Sometimes the difficulties are minor, sometimes serious. Often, the reason for the difficulty is that too little thought has been given to matching the task to human capacities. Seats are uncomfortable, street names cannot be read easily, boxes are too heavy, doors are too narrow, instructions are confusing, shelves are too high or hand tools are awkward.
Sometimes, people adapt to these situations with only slight frustration, discomfort, or loss of speed.
Over a period of time, the discomfort, frustration, loss of efficiency, and errors will accumulate, leading to chronic health problems and decreases in performance. All too often, these effects combine to create accidents. Ergonomics tries to minimize these problems.
Properly applied, ergonomics
can improve both the well being and the performance of individual workers. Good
ergonomics reduces discomfort, fatigue, accidents and health problems while
promoting
job satisfaction, safety, and personal health.
To ensure comfort, safety, and well being, an ergonomics program should be set up at your workplace. A good ergonomics program is an organized approach to protecting workers while actively involving workers and management. It requires:
Hazards
and Body
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Examples
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Possible
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Possible
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Back |
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| Materials handling | Lifting Moving heavy or awkward boxes | Muscle strain/disc injury | Reduce weight of boxes, use mechanical aids, e.g. dolly, hoist, forklift |
| Prolonged sitting without a foot support | Sitting for long hours at a computer or a machine | Muscle pain/strain, reduced blood circulation in the legs | Provide
foot support, change job to allow movement from sitting to standing |
Neck |
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| Working with head tilted down or up | Inspecting parts; looking at controls or a computer monitor | Neck/upper back muscle pain and spasms | Tilt inspection table towards worker, place computer monitor at eye level |
Shoulders |
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| Reaching above the chest | Placing materials on high shelves, pulling material from a machine | Shoulder tendinitis, wrist/back pain | Lower shelf height, reduce machine height |
| Working with raised elbows | Sewing, inspection | Tendinitis, bursitis, upper back pain | Lower work table |
Hands |
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| Rapid turning or bending of wrists | Sewing, poultry cutting, sorting, inspecting, assembly | Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis | Use tools that fit the hand, rest breaks |
| Bent wrists | Typing, assembly | Tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, ganglions | Modify keyboard, eliminate awkward postures with better tools and assembly processes |
Hips/Legs |
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| Standing in the same position for long periods | Assembly, finishing, machine operation | Reduced blood to legs, varicose veins | Provide a chair, anti-fatigue matting |
(adapted from ‘Stop the Pain! A Workers Guide to Job Design' UNITE, 1995)
For more information about ergonomics, ergonomic programs, general training, or existing ergonomic concerns at your workplace, please contact the MFL Occupational Health Centre.
April 1999
