Ergonomics done right.®

Office Ergonomics:What makes it unique to manage?

By Walt Rostykus, CPE Michael Hoonhorst, CPE

E-book

About HumantechHumantech was founded with the single focus of improving the lives of the working population. For nearly 40 years, our approach has changed how organizations use the science of ergonomics to improve workplace performance.

We’re experts in workplace improvement. Big project or small, we bring tangible benefits to you and your company at every step. Whether you need to deploy a global ergonomics initiative or a single risk assessment, we partner with you to achieve your goals. We listen well, work hard, and evaluate ourselves based upon your success.

We are the largest consulting team of Board Certified Professional Ergonomists in North America. Humantech consultants combine expertise in ergonomics with practical industry experience and the skills of professional services delivery.

Our software solutions help you take control of your ergonomics process. Humantech’s proprietary assessment and solution tools, e-learning, and central online system give you a faster, more effective and efficient way to manage ergonomics corporate-wide.

A team of highly qualified professionals with skills in e-learning and software development, industrial and graphic design, sustainability, and information technology supports our consulting staff.

Copyright 2017 Humantech, Inc.

Office Ergonomics: What makes it unique to manage?

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Introducing the NEW

A Total Online Solution for a Healthy and Productive WorkplaceEmpower your people to make instant ergonomic improvements to their workplace, while you manage the process.

E-Learning teaches your employees how to set up their workstation properly

Self-Assessment provides immediate feedback and recommendations

Manage helps you prioritize issues, track action plans, and monitor trends across locations

LEARN DO MANAGE

v. 2.0 by

www.humantech.com/ergopoint/

Office Ergonomics: What makes it unique to manage?

About the Authors Walt Rostykus, CPE, CSP, CIHWalt Rostykus, Principal Consultant and Ergonomics Engineer for Humantech, has over 30 years of experience delivering and managing ergonomics, occupational safety, industrial hygiene, and environmental programs. He has provided technical services, established management programs, and conducted process and compliance reviews of ergonomics programs and health and safety programs in a wide variety of industries.

Walt received a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He earned a Master of Science degree in Public Health, with a focus on Industrial Hygiene and Safety/Environmental Health and Sanitation, from the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington. He is a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE), a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), and has served as an Environmental Management System Lead Auditor. Walt is currently the Administrator of ASSE’s Ergonomics Practice Specialty.

Michael Hoonhorst, CPEMichael Hoonhorst, Managing Consultant and Ergonomics Engineer for Humantech, oversees large-scale ergonomic initiatives in industrial manufacturing and aerospace industries and helps organizations build internal ergonomic expertise using software solutions.

Prior to joining Humantech, Michael was a graduate assistant at Western Michigan University, where his focus was teaching ergonomics and statistics, and performing ergonomics research for local companies such as Haworth, Stryker, and Bronson Hospital. In addition, he interned in the Ergonomics department at Haworth where he assisted in the design of new office seating.

Michael received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Mathematics, and his Master of Science in Industrial Engineering with a focus in Occupational Ergonomics, both from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has achieved recognition as a Certified Professional Ergonomist.

Copyright 2017 Humantech, Inc. Share this E-book!www.humantech.com

Copyright 2017 Humantech, Inc. Share this E-book!www.humantech.com

Office Ergonomics: What makes it unique to manage?

ContentsIntroduction .......................................................................................... 2

Office Ergonomics:What makes it unique to manage?

1. The Personal Workspace ........................................................ 4

2. Common Equipment and Tasks .............................................. 5

3. Adjustability ............................................................................. 6

4. Common Root Causes for MSD Risks .................................... 7

5. Online Training and Tools ....................................................... 9

Final Thoughts... .................................................................................11

Additional Resources ..........................................................................11

Office Ergonomics: What makes it unique to manage? Page 2

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IntroductionThis e-book has a theme song. It is sung on Sesame Street, so you may be familiar with the lyrics, which ask:

One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn’t belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the othersBy the time I finish my song?

The thing that is different is office ergonomics. Effectively managing ergonomics in the office workplace is different from the approaches and methods used in other work environments like production, manufacturing, distribution, and even transportation. Thanks to these differences, managing office ergonomics can be fairly straightforward. This e-book was created to explain how the office culture and environment are not like the others,

and to share proven best practices for keeping employees healthy and productive. Through our experience and knowledge of office ergonomics, we’ll show you how to make informed decisions on establishing or improving the ergonomics process in your organization.

We invite your comments, questions, and reactions to this e-book on our blog, The 30-Inch View. If you enjoy what you read, please feel free to share it with colleagues and co-workers.

“”

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The Office Work Environment and CultureIn today’s information age, office work usually means working on a computer or some sort of input device that is tied to a computer. This work is performed in office buildings, but also, thanks to the connectivity and portability of today’s technology, these tasks might be done at home, in a shared workspace (“hoteling”), at a client’s location, in a hotel, or on a plane. The most common elements of an “office” include using an input device (keyboard and/or mouse), viewing a screen, working while sitting or standing, sometimes on the phone or a virtual meeting, and working with information. In addition to computer work, office work still involves tasks like handling paper, reading hard copy, and other traditional office activities.

For this e-book, we focus on the biomechanics of office tasks, specifically, managing the exposures to risk factors that cause discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in office-based tasks. To effectively manage ergonomics in the office workplace, we must understand the unique characteristics of office work. We know that there are five critical characteristics to consider. We’ll take a closer look, and provide recommended approaches for each.

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The Personal WorkspaceWith the exception of call centers and a few other workplaces, office workstations are typically the personal workspace of one (sometimes two) person(s). Even though we each use some common pieces of equipment (more on this later), how they are arranged is based, to some degree, on personal preference. We set up our office as a personal workspace with a preferred location for the keyboard, mouse pad, and phone, and preferred chair adjustments. And, we all have our own preferences for working in sitting versus standing postures. We add to that our frequently-used reference materials, a favorite pen, a work journal, family photos, a coffee cup/water bottle, and the occasional sports trophy, to really make it our “home away from home.”

Because of this personalization, having an ergonomics team or ergonomist conduct assessments and recommend changes to improve the fit of the workplace may not be an effective way to improve ergonomics. What does work is to empower, engage, and enable individuals to find and fix poor ergonomic conditions (presence of MSD risk factors) on their own—at their own workstations. Through effective training, self-assessment tools, and common solutions, most people can find and fix (adjust) conditions in their workplace to improve their comfort and reduce MSD risk.

Through our research, we’ve found that 97% of employees in office environments were able to identify and reduce the level of MSD risk to a low level on their own. Only 3% required additional assistance from an ergonomics team member or facilities person. Using ergonomics team members or specialists to perform one-on-one, expert-based assessments for all employees is a waste of resources with very little return. The key is to build the capability and confidence of office employees to control the ergonomics of their own workstations. Hold them accountable for controlling the fit of their work environment first, providing backup assistance for those few (3%) that need additional assistance.

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Common Equipment and TasksAs mentioned earlier, today’s offices (even home, remote, and shared) all include a few common pieces of equipment:

● Chair

● Work surface

● Keyboard

● Mouse or other input device

● Monitor/screen

● Phone (desk or cell)

● Other mobile devices

This list might also include an adjustable keyboard tray, document holder, tablet, and reference documents. Although the brands, models, and features of these common pieces of equipment may vary, this set of common items simplifies ergonomics training, assessments, and finding solutions.

Contrast this with a production environment, in which each workstation is set up for a different task and requires different tools, layout, and operator movements. There is no common set of items. Plus, the workstation is shared by many people performing the task. In this type of environment, ergonomics team members need assessment tools that are non-specific to the task, and must identify unique solutions to improve ergonomics at each workstation. But, like the song that Susan, Bob, and Grover sang, office ergonomics is not like these others. Having a common set of equipment and similar tasks means that how we assess ergonomics in the office can be more focused and simplified, as can the solutions. Only so many things can go wrong and we can predict what those things are. Office ergonomic assessment and solution tools should be based on these common pieces of equipment and tasks and what we already know can go wrong in the office.

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AdjustabilityThe office systems, furniture, and devices available today have a lot of adjustability built into them. This was not the case 20 years ago, when laptops and keyboards were being placed on older desks designed for writing. Furniture and device manufacturers now build in features that enable a person to easily adjust the height and support of a task chair, height and location of a keyboard, height and placement of a monitor, and the location of an input device. These four adjustments are the most critical adjustments we can make to improve comfort while working and to reduce MSD risk factors.

The greatest challenge with adjustability in the office workplace is using it. Although the features are available, many people do not use them. We’ve heard many reasons for this including “I didn’t know I could adjust it,” “I don’t know how to adjust it,” “I am afraid to adjust it because I might do something wrong,” and “Why should I adjust it?” Sometimes, the furniture is too complicated or cumbersome to adjust. As you read on, we will discuss how to address these reasons in the next two characteristics.

An additional component of adjustability is adjusting our posture. There is a lot of information in the news and in social media today about the hazards of sitting in a static posture for long periods of time, and many suppliers are promoting the use of standing workstations. Current research has helped us better understand the need to, and how to, change our working posture between sitting and standing. Devices that allow office workers to quickly adjust keyboards and monitors from a seated height to standing height make it easy for them to change posture on their own.

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Common Root Causes for MSD RisksThe risk factors that cause MSDs in production and manual handling tasks also exist in the office. The exposures and thresholds for the body are the same regardless of where work is performed. The three primary risk factors are awkward posture, high force, and long duration or high frequency. Exposure to one or a combination of these increases the likelihood of wear and tear to the body’s joint structure and, ultimately, the risk of developing an MSD. Of course, discomfort is an early warning sign. For background on these risk factors and the current known research, check out Humantech’s position statement on Physical Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Disorders.

We do know from research that awkward postures and high forces have a greater influence on the development of an MSD than high frequencies and long durations. We also know that typing on an external keyboard and using an input device require low levels of force. What this means is that assessments and solutions should focus on evaluating the posture of a person at his or her office workstation.

As mentioned earlier, engaging an individual in the activity of finding (assessing) and fixing (adjusting) an office workstation has been proven to be an effective and efficient way to manage office ergonomics. It is like what Maimonides said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” (Pretty sharp for a 12th Century Spanish Philosopher.) Provide office employees with a self-assessment tool and a solution/adjustment guide so that they can gain the confidence and ability to evaluate and change the fit of their workstations when needed. That could be weekly, daily, or throughout each day.

Our approach to performing a self-assessment in the office is to review the posture of several body segments according to Four Points of Contact®:

● Head to Source evaluates neck posture.

● Hands to Devices evaluates wrist, elbow, and shoulder postures.

● Body to Chair evaluates back, hip, and leg postures.

● Feet to Floor evaluates lower leg and foot postures.

More information about the Four Points of Contact® is available in an e-book, Five Steps to Improve Your Office Ergonomics.

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The office ergonomics self-assessment should have these characteristics:

● Short and Quick (no more than 15 minutes long to complete)

● Easy (including clear questions about posture that require only a yes or no answer)

● Focused. Questions should address body posture (risk factors) and amount of time a task is performed. They should be related to MSD risk factors (and not about items in the workplace that employees cannot control).

● Provide immediate response. When the self-assessment is complete, the employee should receive immediate feedback including the amount of exposure, areas of concern (high exposure), and recommended solutions or adjustments to reduce the exposure.

● Applicable. The questions should reflect the equipment and conditions in the workplace (for example, dual monitors, control over glare, types of adjustable chairs and devices available from the organization), and the solutions provided should be based on the furniture, equipment, and additional devices that are available.

● Actionable. The recommended solutions should be simple changes and adjustments a person can make to his or her own workstation. Employees must use and adjust the features readily available to them in order to improve the fit of the workstation and their comfort, and to reduce MSD risk factors to a low level. When additional equipment is needed, employees should know what the internal process is to obtain that equipment.

To be sure you have all of these features in a self-assessment, it’s best to use an online electronic tool, an application that will collect, collate, report, and track the results not only for each employee, but also for their managers and the facilities department. Another benefit of an online tool is that people who work on computers will use the same medium (a computer) to complete their self-assessment. This helps reinforce learning and build employees’ confidence so that finding and fixing ergonomic issues in their own workstations becomes second nature.

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Online Training and Tools Finally, let’s talk about training. To establish an expectation of employees “owning” the first step in improving their own workstations, they must receive some form of training. The learning objectives are pretty simple:

● Understand that they have primary responsibility to adjust and improve the ergonomics of their own workstation.

● Apply the ergonomic self-assessment to find poor postures and setup.

● Take action to adjust and change their workstation to improve comfort and reduce MSD risk. (And if they can’t improve their setup, escalate the issue for additional assistance; these are the 3% of people discussed previously.)

● Repeat this find it and fix it process regularly as tasks change, a workstation changes, or when feeling discomfort.

How best to accomplish this training? Combine learning principles with hands-on practice (or Blended Learning). Benjamin Franklin was quoted to say, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” This holds true for any ergonomics and safety training program. In our experience, the traditional (and still used) practice of conducting office ergonomics training through classroom presentation is one of the least effective methods of delivery. This type of training occurs outside of the person’s workstation, and in a group setting. These conditions are contrary to the characteristics of the office work environment. The solution is to provide computer-based, online training.

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In a recent benchmarking survey we found that there is a trend of organizations moving to online training for office ergonomics, along with online assessment and solution tools. With the technology available today, comprehensive and focused (see the learning objectives listed above) training in office ergonomics can be delivered through online modules. This learning

● occurs in employees’ workstations, so they can immediately apply it to their surroundings;

● is delivered through a computer, the primary tool used in the office;

● allows people to learn at their own pace; and

● is available on-demand, so training and refresher training can be done at any time (and does not require pulling a group of people away from work).

With today’s learning management systems, online training can be monitored for completion and learning verification. Also, online training and assessment tools can easily be updated in real-time. The bottom line is to deliver training in office ergonomics using the most common tool in the office—a computer!

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Final ThoughtsWe’ve reviewed some of the characteristics of the office workplace which make it “not like the other” work environments. To effectively and efficiently manage office ergonomics, you’ll need to use a different approach: leverage equipment similarities, use computer-based assessment and training tools, and consider personal workspaces when you plan and deploy the office ergonomics program for your organization.

We hope this overview of these five critical characteristics will help you either kick-start or improve your office ergonomics process. In addition to the examples and solutions we’ve recommended, see the references below. Good luck!

Additional ResourcesHumantech, Inc. (2012) Take These Five Steps to Improve Your Office Ergonomics! http://www.humantech.com/resource/e-book-five-steps-to-improve-ergonomics-in-the-office/

Humantech, Inc. (2016) Blog – 3 Tips to Engage Employees in Office Ergonomics. http://www.humantech.com/3-tips-engage-employees-office-ergonomics-2/

Humantech, Inc. (2016) Benchmarking Survey: Ergonomics and Technology. http://www.humantech.com/resource/benchmarking-survey-report-ergonomics-and-technology/

Humantech, Inc. (2016) Physical Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Disorders. Position Statement. Available from http://www.humantech.com/resources/position-statements

Humantech, Inc. (2016) Prolonged Static Sitting and Standing at Work. Position Statement. Available from http://www.humantech.com/resources/position-statements

Humantech, Inc. (2016) Using Blended Learning to Deliver Ergonomics Training. Position Statement. Available from http://www.humantech.com/resources/position-statements