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ERGONOMICS & THE OFFICE ATHLETE: 

ERGONOMICS & THE OFFICE ATHLETE

PART I: What is Ergonomics?: 

PART I: What is Ergonomics? The word ERGONOMICS is made up of two Greek words: "ERGOS" Work, and "NOMOS" Natural Laws. The application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and environment for human use. Incorporates elements from many subjects including anatomy, physiology, psychology and design. Ergonomics comes into everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and leisure, health and safety should all embody ergonomics principles if well designed. Ergonomists apply their diverse knowledge to ensure that products and environments are comfortable, safe and efficient for people to use.

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Correctly setting up your workstation will help to eliminate and prevent: headaches backaches eyestrain repetitive strain injuries or musculo-skeletal disorders. shoulder and neck pain You need to take care of yourself . . . Are you?

What are MSDs?: 

What are MSDs? Musculo-skeletal disorders Caused by work activities which are frequent and repetitive. Activities with awkward postures. MSDs describe a group of painful disorders of muscles, tendons, and nerves, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and tension neck syndrome to name a few. The impact of body positions and typing styles cannot be overemphasized. Some experts consider that they outweigh any other factors in the cause of MSDs.

Other Names for MSDs: 

Other Names for MSDs Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI) Soft tissue-disorders (SFT) Work-related muscular disorders (WRMD) Cumulative trauma disorders (CTD) Repetitive motion injuries (RMI) Occupational Overuse Syndromes (OOS), Occupational cervicobrachial disorders (OCD) These terms are used synonymously

Back Pain: 

Back Pain People who sit for long periods are at risk for back disorders. The two greatest problems seem to be: Back pain is as mystifying today as it was decades ago. Despite excellent tests and procedures, modern back specialists admit that up to eighty percent of all cases have no clear physiological cause. In fact, many pain-free people show bulging or herniiated discs in x-rays. 1) sitting upright or forward, and 2) not changing position.

PART II: Why Am I Interested in Ergonomics?: 

PART II: Why Am I Interested in Ergonomics? In September 1998, after two years of working as a virtual school teacher with School of Hope, I had a burning pain in my right wrist, and in my shoulders. My initial solution was to go out and buy a more adjustable chair, and to purchase a roller ball mouse. This offered little solution to my pain. Solution 1: purchased an ergonomic keyboard with a track pad in the center of the keyboard.

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Solution 2: Purchased a lounging chair that reclines so that I would work and adjust my sitting position easily and frequently. I then adjusted the arms of the chair to support my forearms. I now have the keyboard on my lap and type from that position. I frequently put my feet on the foot rest. Solution 3: Borrowed a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred Edition. Didn't like this because I quote a lot of names, and other words that the program misspelled. I didn't have time to spend on this and so dropped it.

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Solution 4: beta-carotene to my diet in pill form. This is a water soluble form of vitamin A. Solution 5: Purchased the "Office Athlete" software. Solution 6: September 2001 to further resolve eye soreness I purchased a 17" LCD monitor and I have the monitor about three feet from my chair.

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The result of the changes I have made have corrected the problems in my wrists, shoulders, and eyes. I now work comfortably with no pain.

PART III: Education & Training : 

PART III: Education & Training Education and Training Ergonomic education should be a part of the overall health and safety education on any staff working with computers daily. Training should emphasize safe work practices and methods of adjusting workstations to prevent MSDs. To alleviate the potential for MSDs it is vital for administration and staff to become familiar with proper ergonomics, and take work health seriously. Currernt ergonomics encourages variety and movement rather than an exact posture.

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Education and Training Continued: Areas of Concern

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Monitor Monitor Positioning Monitor Distance Monitor Height Monitor Type

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Document Keyboard Height Distance

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Your mouse should be positioned at the same height as your keyboard. Conventional practice for placement of the mouse is to push it away. Mouse As close and next to the keyboard is usually better.

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Traditional wisdom suggests the chair should be at a height that allows the feet to reach the floor Legs are 90 degrees (at the knee). Posture and Chair More recent information suggests the legs should not be fixed at 90 degrees, but should move often. A great deal of research supports the idea of a much wider hip angle. The lower back muscles work less and the spine supports less weight. Posture change seems to be as important as posture correctness, posture change is essential to help pump fluid back into the discs. People who stand all day tend to have back problems --- but so do people who sit still all day. Therefore footrests are a distinctly second-class choice because the feet only have one place to be, and leg postures are limited.

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PART IV: Types of Equipment Monitors 17" TFT Color LCD Flat Panel Monitor http://www.omnivisionusa.com/ind_lcd/ind_lcd_home.html http://www.zdnet.com/products/filter/guide/0,7267,1500121,00.html http://www.computers4sure.com/category.asp?CatID=96&iid=191

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19" CRT http://www.computers4sure.com/category.asp?CatID=96&iid=191 Comparison of TFT and CRT monitors http://www.touchscreens.com/intro-displaytech.html

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Screen Protectors Anti-glare filters for different sized monitors and LCD monitors. http://www.provantage.com/scripts/go.dll/-s/ffmonacc4

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Alternative Keyboards Adessso Truform http://www.tifaq.org/keyboards/fixed-split-keyboards.html Scorpius 980 http://www.buyamag.com/computer_ergonomic_accessories.htm Floating Arm Keyboard http://www.worklink.net/products/floatingarm.html

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Arm Rests ErgoRest® Arm Supports for Total Comfort http://www.ergopro.com/index.cfm/act/Catalog.cfm/catalogid/443/category/ARMRESTS%20and%20WRIST%20PRODUCTS/browse/null/MenuGroup/Home.htm

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Back Supports http://www.ergooutfitters.com/html/accessories/back.shtml Chairs http://www.ergopro.com/index.cfm/aol/1/MenuItemID/68.htm http://www.office-ergo.com/ergonomi.htm

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PART V: Office Exercises

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PART VI: Ergonomic Software ERGO Health Systems, Inc Office Athlete™ software was designed to work silently behind the scenes, monitoring your computer work, to remind you to take these recommended breaks.

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Chequers Software 213 Milson Line, Palmerston North, New Zealand Ph +64 6 3585661 http://www.cheqsoft.com Break Reminder Single user licenses cost NZ$20 (approx US$9). A break reminder program to help prevent RSI and to assist in the healing process if these or similar conditions already exist. Oosie Micropause http://www.franzo.co.nz/oosie/ Currently free for personal use and single use in the workplace! Your personal registration key is 78f622283-uy20zkv. Compatibility: Windows 95 and Windows NT 4 Estimated Price: NZ$39 (about US$25) Availability: Direct Oosie Micropause helps you avoid OOS (Occupational Overuse Syndrome) and RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) by reminding you to micropause and do exercises. Written for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4, this product uses Video to encourage self management of OOS.

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OosTime http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/ITS/netdesk/public/oostime.html Freeware Compatability: Windows Jonathan has written this freeware program to remind him to take micro-pauses and rest breaks. Try it out and he says to feel free to pass it on if you think it has any value. Here's the new and improved version. This version is much smaller and includes a number of fixes as outlined in the ReadMe file. For more ergonomic software go to: http://www.tifaq.com/software/shareware.html#Chequers

PART VII: Ergonomic Health Assessment: 

PART VII: Ergonomic Health Assessment 0-16 Excellent 17-33 34-50 51-67 68-82 Okay Concerned Danger Disaster Interpretation: Determine: What’s_wrong_with_this_picture? See: Ergonomic Diagnostic Checklist View: Ergonomic Health Assessment

PART VIII: Government Standards: 

PART VIII: Government Standards Canadian Occupational Health Association Standard OH&S Employer's Responsibilities To establish and maintain a joint health and safety committee, or cause employees to select at least one health and safety representative. To take every reasonable precaution to ensure the workplace is safe. To inform employees about any potential hazards and provide training to work safely. To provide personal protective equipment and ensure workers know how to use the equipment safely and properly. To immediately report all critical injuries to the government department responsible for OH&S. To train all employees on how to safely use, handle, store and dispose of hazardous substances and handle emergencies.

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American Occupational Health Association Standard The Government Agency responsible for worker safety. Starting January 15, 2001 requires compliance to this standard and requires that: 1. Employers MUST provide employees with basic information about MSDs and the ergonomic standard. 2. Employees MUST report MSDs signs and symptoms. 3. Employers MUST evaluate worksites and determine if risk factors are present. 4. If hazards exist then employers must implement a program to reduce the hazards to the extent feasible. The OHSA reports that 1.8 million workers in the U.S. report Musculo-skeletal Disorders and about 600,000 of those result in lost time for recovery.

STEPS TO MANAGING ERGONOMICS: 

STEPS TO MANAGING ERGONOMICS Step 1: Administrative Commitment Step 2: Written Policy Step 3: Employee Involvement Step 4: Employee Training & Education (See Part 3) Step 5: Strategy for Workstation Equipment, Layout & Design Step 6: Ergonomics Task Analysis Step 8: The signs and symptoms of MSDs and ways of reporting them Step 9: Tentative solutions Every virtual school needs to be committed to managing MSDs

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An Attempt to DeMystify All Those Chair Adjustability Options http://www.office-ergo.com/ergonomi.htm BIBLIOGRAPHY Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety Offers product training, and services to business for prevention of occupational risks. http://www.ccohs.ca/education/ Ergonomic Products for the Prevention of Computer Related Injury http://www.ergooutfitters.com/ Fourteen Things You Should Know About Back Pain http://www.office-ergo.com/12things.htm Ergonomics Society Description: Organisation for professionals using information about people to design for comfort, efficiency and safety. http://www.ergonomics.org.uk Ergonomic Checklist as Diagnostics http://www.office-ergo.com Good Ergonomic Periodicals http://www.office-ergo.com/good.htm

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Office Ergonomics Training This site contains office ergonomics information aimed at ergonomics committee members as well as office workers in general. This site collects and publishes some "handouts" that have been used widely in training courses for office workers and ergonomists and health care professionals who work with office workers. http://www.office-ergo.com/ RSI and Mouse Bite and a Pain in the Neck! http://www.tifaq.com/articles/rsi&mouse_bite-apr99-michael_roberts.html The Typing Injury FAZ This on-line resource consists of original, RSI-related information; articles and online postings of others; as well as a vast listing of products to assist working in the office environment and prevent/reduce symptoms of RSIs. U.S. Department of Labour http://www.osha.gov/