by Serifine Lilien | Aug 3, 2021 | ergonomic equipment, Ergonomics
Get a different perspective by having a trained professional look at your work area vs. purchasing a product…..a big picture view. This helps to bring clarity to your whole work area and helps your company save money.
Ergonomics utilizes the science of designing a job environment to fit the worker, instead of expecting the worker to fit the job. Tasks, tools, equipment, and workplace layouts are studied and optimized for a safe and efficient work environment.
When employees consistently use awkward postures or excessive force, they may be at increased risk of developing Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). Resulting pain and discomfort can adversely affect productivity and may cause short or long-term problems.
We approach buying services differently than we do purchasing products. It is helpful to ask ourselves: Do I think this product will solve my problems? Do I need training to use this product correctly? Maybe I need help overall? Maybe the product is not the solution? Will a service solve the problem?
People tend to resort to services as a last resort when they cannot do something on their own. How do you feel about services?
Where do Ergonomic Services come into play?
“I don’t need a professional. I can just buy this new keyboard. That will solve my problem.” Will it? How do you know the keyboard is the problem? Maybe it’s because your desk is too high. Maybe the keyboard you have is fine. You do not know. Maybe you are throwing solutions at problem you do not know how to solve because it feels faster than calling in a professional?
A properly designed work environment protects employees from injury and saves company funds in many ways.
Here is an example: If you are creating a new reception area for your organization, it is advisable to make that reception area adjustable. So many reception areas I see are “built in.” Anything that is “built in” is not adjustable in any way, shape or form and can be a poor purchasing decision. Let’s say you install your “built in” table at the reception area at 31” high. You hire a 5’ tall receptionist. She needs to type at 26”, if she is a touch typist, so her “built in” desk is 4” too high for her to work within the ergonomic guidelines for her specific neutral posture. If receptionist works in this awkward position she will be increasing her risk of a musculoskeletal issue at some point in time. So you say, just “build in” at 26” high, well what happens during breaks and the 6’ tall person come by to use that same work station or your receptionist leaves and you hire another one who will have their own specific neutral posture? You got it, it won’t “fit” them.
Ergonomic evaluations provide valuable information to each and every client I see.
See my recent blog titled: ERGONOMICS IS A WHOLE PICTURE EXPERIENCE. IT IS NOT … JUST NEW EQUIPMENT …
In it I talk about what people learn when they have an ergonomic evaluation. Here are the key takeaways:
Ergonomics looks at the whole picture.After looking at the whole picture then we can problem solve.Learning what neutral posture is.Learning to work in that position.I review their entire work area. If you have pain in your hands, how do you know your keyboard is what is causing it?
What an ergonomic assessment includes, is another person viewing what you are doing and HOW you are doing it. You cannot do that for yourself. I know I cannot. By having a trained professional look at your work area you are getting a different perspective. A big picture view. This helps to bring clarity to the whole situation!
If you are uncertain if you or your entire staff need an ergonomic evaluation Ergoarts can, upon your request, send out a discomfort survey to determine priority of issues/concerns allowing for longterm planning and budget friendly options.
If you are planning an office redesign, reach out to Ergoarts prior to ensure you get the best products that are actually usable for your employees.
Make sense? Have questions? Ready for or want more info for an ergonomic evaluation? Contact me, I am here to listen: serafine@ergoarts.net
by kate | Jun 8, 2009 | ergonomic equipment
Angel Sales PosturePro Lumbar Support is by far my favorite lumbar support. I use this in my car. It stays in place (my old lumbar support fell out of my car, was lost, and then I found out they don’t make it anymore) therefore there is no adjustment needed every time one gets in and out of their car. It also works particularly well for persons who are on the shorter side of the pendulum who have chairs that have seat pans that are too long for them and do not allow them to sit back in the chair without having a gap in between their seat pan and their back support.
This back support really gets into the lower back (lumbar curve) to support a neutral spine position. It helps one avoid slumping while sitting and helps avoid creating a “C” shape of the spine, which causes the vertebrae to be in non-neutral positions.
And it is very inexpensive!
by Serifine Lilien | Feb 12, 2009 | ergonomic equipment
People keep asking me to come up with a list of “ergonomic” products that I like and that I recommend to my clients. Here are some of my concerns:
One needs to keep in mind that thinking you need to purchase a new chair to help your back issue may not be the correct direction. Maybe you are keying too high and really need to lower your keying surface, then you can sit back in your current chair and really do not need to purchase a new chair.
As Alan Hedge a professor at Cornell University said in a recent lecture I went to: There is relatively little systematic evidence of increase productivity in piecemeal ergonomics.
You have to look at the whole picture, ergonomics looks at the whole picture, not just a part of the picture. That is why it is preferable for you, dear reader, to get a professional ergonomic assessment, where in your entire workstation can be evaluated.
With that said, I have started to add links to some of the products that I do regularly recommend in the Blog Roll.
by Serifine Lilien | Feb 9, 2009 | ergonomic equipment
Tim Ferriss who wrote the 4-Hour Work Week, did a great review and some good research on Finding the Perfect Office Chair.
As an ergonomist who works every day with how people sit and work comfortably, and people who experience pain from it, I was fascinated with his process.
After consulting Twitter and trying things on his own, he decided to purchase a Herman Miller Aeron chair .
Even though I’m financially comfortable now…I had trouble believing a chair could possibly be worth $850-$1,200, but my back pain led me to pose the question to the omniscient Interweb.
How did others feel? – More than 95% of Aeron users replied with “yes, absolutely”
He did find the Aeron chair to help with his lower back issues.
It was surprising to me to hear such a high positive response rate for the Aeron chair from Tim’s Twitter followers.
Estimating my own professional experience performing 6000- 7000 ergonomic assessments, perhaps 30-40% of users were sitting in Aeron chairs. I would say their average comfort level was about 50%.
I have taken alot of users who were uncomfortable in this chair out of it and into other types of ergonomic chairs such as Soma or Office Master chairs. Users found these chairs to be more comfortable than the Aeron chairs.
This goes back to the bases of ergonomics – it is ergonomic for those that fit into the anthropometric of a particular design for a specific body type. There is something out there for everyone, it is just a matter of finding what works for you and using it in a neutral position.
I wonder if Tim got any instruction on setting up his chair to actually fit his body so he can work in a neutral position. (Tim, if you’re reading this, I know you’re in the Bay Area and I’d be happy to offer you a free evaluation. Just call me at the number to the right.) From the picture on the website, it looks like he fixed his chair but not the rest of the ergonomics of his workstation. I hope with his back issues getting resolved he does not get pain in any other part of his body.
by Serifine Lilien | Nov 10, 2008 | ergonomic equipment
A new mouse came out on the market a few months back. It is made by Humanscale and it is called the Switch Mouse. As an ergonomist who has performed over 7000 ergonomic assessments, I find this to be the best mouse out on the market currently. It solves so many of the common mousing problems that I see out there. Here are a few selected problems and how the Switch Mouse fixes them. One website I checked had the retail price being $72.00.
First, there are two fields of research concerning input devices. One field of research is concerned with the speed and accuracy of the device such as movement time and less error rate per device. This area of research has found that the use of the fingers and thumb results in better performance and faster target acquisition rate than large muscle groups (arm/shoulder). The majority of commonly used mice are designed to fit into the palm of the hand in a way that utilizes these research findings.
There is a huge problem in the computer world consisting in a high injury rate in the form of repetitive strain injuries affecting the fingers, thumb, wrist, hand, forearm, upper arm, shoulders, neck and upper back. Studies say that the design and use of mice are causes for these types of injuries.
There is a second field of research devoted to testing devices based on how the muscles are used and what positions the body is taking to use the mouse. Awkward postures observed during mousing are wagging the wrist back and forth and wrist extension. This second field of study focuses on body performance while the first field of research mentioned focuses on input device performance.
Mice were designed to fit into the palm of the hand to take advantage of the speed and accuracy of the fingers and thumb. But this design causes many musculoskeletal problems.
The Switch mouse, by being adjustable in size, helps the user to avoid wrist deviation (wagging the wrist back and forth). This allows a greater range of users to use their input device in such a way that almost the entire hand has a place to rest. The white part is somewhat similar to an ordinary mouse, while the black part supports the part of the hand behind the palm closer to the wrist. In this way the whole hand fits on top of the mouse. To get the correct fit for this mouse: place the part of the hand behind the palm closer to the wrist on the black portion of the mouse and if your finger tips reach over the top of the mouse, instead of curling the fingers back to hit the buttons, make the mouse longer. Any hand in the 5-95% size range can use this mouse with a neutral wrist position.
The Switch mouse allows for a more natural hand angle because the designers factored that angle into the design of the mouse. Also, there is an adjustment that can change the angle to make the mouse usable for the right hand as well as the left.
The Switch mouse allows the entire hand from the finger tips almost to the wrist a place to rest. Therefore no wagging the wrist back and forth is necessary!
This is how I describe the proper way to mouse to people I evaluate: the movement needs to start from the shoulder and end with the hand. In a traditional mouse that comes in the box with the computer you just purchased it is very difficult to start the movement from the shoulder. The movement usually starts at the wrist. Try it now, see your own results. So the movement ideally needs to starts from the shoulder. Make little circles (not back and forth, not side to side, but circles) with your mouse. When you use this motion, ideally you want to start the movement from your shoulder. You also want to keep your elbow as close to the side of your body as possible. Since the Switch mouse allows your whole hand a place to rest, it is much easier to start the movement from the shoulder.
I have gotten good user feedback from several people I recommended this mouse to. The only negative feedback that I have received so far is that the top button upon which the thumbs lies on top of has been accidentally hit, so I just tell them to disable that button, so their thumb can lie flat on that part of the mouse.
I have been waiting for years for someone to design a mouse that works, is easy to use, fits a wide number of the population and keeps the wrist and hand in a neutral position. I feel the Swich mouse meets all of my criteria. I highly recommend this mouse to those who have any RSI injuries and to those that are pain free (to keep you that way!)
