“Ergonomics” Is More Personalized Than You Think
America is one of the busiest countries in the world: we work more hours , take fewer vacations, and experience more stress than almost any other industrialized country. All this time spent at work is taking its toll. If you’ve ever gotten up from a long day at your desk and winced when your back cramped, or experienced the sharp pain and weird numbness that carpal tunnel syndrome can give you, you know that your work environment has a direct impact on your well-being. health. And if you start looking for ways to improve both this environment and this impact, you will undoubtedly come across the word “ergonomics”. If you tell someone that your back is bothering you, someone will most likely suggest you buy an “ergonomic” office chair, for example.
But what is an ergonomic chair? What makes it ergonomic? Ergonomics is one of those concepts that everyone supports in words, but few people really understand how Cloud is. That’s what “ergonomics” really means.
Ergonomics is a redevelopment of the workplace
For most of human history, it has been assumed that the body adapts to the workplace. People were pushed into all sorts of environments—coal mines, assembly lines, office spaces—that were created to make work efficient, without any concern for the comfort (or health) of the human body. Probably the most common experience with this delightful side effect of capitalism is the damn office chairs most of us get at work: just a few hours in a cheap wheelchair and you feel like you’ve been hurt for life.
Ergonomics is one of those difficult Greek words: Ergon means “work” and nomos means “laws.” Ergonomics is the practice of studying the systems we interact with (like your office or factory) and how people should behave in that system, and then finding ways to improve those systems or adapt them to the human body, rather than the other way around. . In other words, an ergonomic approach to the work environment takes into account five things: safety, productivity, ease of use, aesthetics and comfort. The idea is to design your work environment with these aspects in mind, not just throw you in a bad chair cube and challenge you to figure out which lower back pillow will save your sanity.
The science!
There is science behind this: discomfort and pain negatively affect productivity and quality of work. Your company doesn’t care about ergonomics because they love you. Rather, there is a strong economic case behind the introduction of ergonomic principles in the workplace. An ergonomically designed workplace can perform the following functions:
- Reduce the number of injuries , which will reduce the number of sick days and the number of disability claims.
- Increase productivity and morale , which increases productivity.
- Reduce healthcare costs.
True ergonomics considers the entire work environment or system. It’s not about throwing one expensive chair into a mess. To create a truly ergonomic work environment, you need to consider every aspect of that environment, from a chair that supports your back and elbows and keeps your posture straight, to a keyboard that allows you to keep your hands in a comfortable position without straining them. wrists, to a monitor placed at a height that doesn’t strain your neck, to a schedule of short breaks when you get up and move around.
The key here is that every work environment and every person is different, so ergonomic plans need to be personalized. For example, for some people, a standing desk is a great option because it prevents them from sitting all day. However, if standing all day long causes you back pain or distracting discomfort, then it’s not very ergonomic for you. Safety (injury prevention) is important, but comfort and ease of use are just as important. The same goes for a beautiful ergonomic chair. If the lumbar support really makes you uncomfortable, or if the armrests are not positioned the way you work, the term “ergonomic” in the product description is meaningless. The aesthetics of the Herman Miller chair are amazing, but if it doesn’t offer you ease of use, it’s not ergonomic for you.
Ergonomics is about systems design, and systems are complex. If you are looking for a more ergonomic approach to your work environment remember that one size does not fit all and you are part of this system so your specific needs and preferences should also be taken into account.