Ergo...What?

Defining Ergonomics

Simply put, ergonomics is about working well. In this context, "well" refers to both physical well-being and good performance. Whether you work at an industrial job or in an office, working in pain will have a negative effect on your productivity and efficiency, not to mention your health and well-being. The goal of applying ergonomics in the work place is to help you to work better, and in doing so, to stay healthy.

What can I do?
Helping you work better and keeping you healthy means that you need to keep the principles of correct working postures in mind all the time.

Focus on:

• The natural curves in the spine - maintain the lumbar curve when sitting, standing, lifting, pushing, pulling.
• Your head upright and looking forward - no tilting to the side or forward or looking to the side
• Arms close to the sides of your body - holding your arms up strains the neck, shoulder and upper back muscles
• Wrists flat and straight - keep the tendons working in a straight line
• Power grips instead of pinch grips - our hands were intended to grab branches and spears. Use the full hand, not just the finger tips to generate force.
• Avoid kneeling - our knees were designed for vertical load bearing. Keep your feet below your knees and your knees below your hips.
• Good footwear - shock absorbing footwear and good arch supports will keep you mobile and give you a good base of support

How to apply ergonomics in the work place
In an ideal world, every workplace would consider ergonomics a priority. But, because the concept of ergonomics in the workplace is relatively new, it may take a while to get the process going. There are two key issues involved in applying ergonomics in the work place:

Educate
To help workers take responsibility for their own well-being, they must be informed. Workers who understand correct working postures and principles of ergonomics can make insightful suggestions on improving work practices, processes and environments. This training should include information about correct postures, potential injuries, and methods of improving work spaces to facilitate correct postures.

Evaluate
Whether you have already had injuries in your work place (or home) or you are planning to prevent potential injuries, you need to evaluate the existing equipment, postures, and processes. This could be done by an ergonomics team composed of workers, safety professionals and management, or by an Ergonomics specialist or consultant. When the issues and concerns have been identified and documented, you will be able to see the effectiveness of the changes you make.

Common injuries
Most injuries associated with poor ergonomics affect the soft tissues and joints of the body. A common term is musculoskeletal injuries or MSI’s. That means that the muscles and joints are affected, but also includes injuries to tendons, ligaments and nerves.

MSI’s fall into two categories: over-exertion injuries and over-use injuries.

Over-exertion injuries are when you feel a sudden onset of discomfort from a single event. Often this is associated with lifting heavy loads or rapid movements. Keep in mind that often years of use and abuse have predisposed the tissues to be injured from this one event - like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. A common over-exertion injury is a muscle strain in the back.

Over-use injuries usually develop more gradually. They develop because the body is unable to recover completely from the previous effort. It may take days, weeks, or years for the injury to show. Common over-use injuries include tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Injury prevention strategies

The best way to prevent injury is to stop and think:
"Is there a better way to do this job?".

Find ways to:

• Keep the curves in the spine
• Work at the correct height
• Keep wrists flat and straight
• Reduce repetition
• Keep arms down and shoulders relaxed
• Protect against cold and heat
• Keep head upright and looking forward
• Pad pressure points
• Use a power grip
• Reduce vibration exposure
• Improve grip-ability of tools
• Use the correct tool for the task
• Decrease loads that are lifted, carried, pushed or pulled

One of the most important prevention strategies is a good general fitness level. Let’s face reality - we are all getting older. As we age, muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints are more easily injured and don’t heal as quickly. Maintaining a good fitness level can help prevent injury by strengthening muscles which move joints and assist circulation.

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