Ergonomics is the study of people and their working conditions - Much time is spent in an office environment, using workstations, chairs and other furniture so it’s important to ensure the maximum comfort and efficiency in your office for the sake of your health and performance. Uncomfortable working environments and bad posture can lead to injury and health problems. This in turn leads to lower productivity and time off.
Working conditions should be designed around the workers themselves, and remember that prevention is better than cure. When buying new equipment and furniture, take your time and research well, keeping your staff’s needs foremost.
Putting Ergonomics into Practice
Matching the workplace to the comfort needs of your workers is good ergonomic practice. By creating an ergonomic office you can reduce the potential of your workers developing physical problems, which affect productivity and attendance, and emotional problems not to mention would-be compensation claims. Well-designed offices with carefully chosen office furniture is a positive step for the health and morale of your employees.
Seating
Every day, hours will be spent sitting in your chair, so the more you can spend on good office chairs, the better. It’s design will affect the way you work and for how long. When choosing office chairs, take into account how long you will spend in it at any one time and the total length of time every day. Look for comfort, adjustability and finish. Modern office chairs cater for a wide range of uses – from typists and operators chairs to executive leather chairs. All are designed with a particular purpose in mind. Ensure that the chair you buy maintains the correct posture –
Wedges make the user lean forward so that the knees are lower than the hips.
Height adjusters help to maintain the correct level of the user in respect to the desk and the keyboard.
Lumbar support assists back posture. Lumbar rolls can be used to provide additional support.
Workstation
The basic idea is that the workstation should be fully adjustable, mobile and versatile. Every person is different and will have different needs.
Important elements are desk height, shape and size. Ensure that the user is sitting directly in front of their monitor, whilst maintaining comfort and a distance of at least 25cm from the eye to the screen.
Make sure there will be enough desk space for all necessary items. There should also be plenty of room to adjust the monitor, keyboard and mouse in order to adopt a comfortable working position and correct posture.
Hands will benefit from using wrist rests for the keyboard and mouse. These can be either gel or foam and will help prevent RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).
For those who spend a lot of time on the phone, a cradle can be used to take strain from the neck. You may also want to use phones with hands-free speakers. As for the legs, pressure can be effectively moved from the feet and calves by using a footrest.
Lighting
Make sure this is indirect, and flexible to suit the needs of individuals. Use blinds and shades in the office to fully control outside light. Also use monitors that can be angled to suit the user, and purchase anti-glare filters; these are relatively cheap.
Ensure that the monitor is not affected by direct sunlight as this will strain the user’s eyes. If natural sunlight is not available, use daylight effect strip lights instead. They provide significantly more light than standard strip lights.
Ever have days when you get nothing done, despite a huge effort... when your in tray seems to grow far faster than your best endeavours can slice it down... and you reach the end of the day feeling frustrated, exhausted and defeated? You need a basic course in Time Management
Planning your work:
Spend one week creating a detailed diary of what tasks you do and how long you spend on them & identify where you lose time. Review the responsibilities of your job and write a list of tasks you regularly do.
Prioritise this list : The 80/20 rule states that only 20% of the things you do during your day really matter. That 20% produce 80% of your results. Use this 80/20 rule to work out which 20% will get you maximum results. This prioritisation is the key to time management, with deadlines to each task.
Prepare a list of goals you hope to achieve to progress your job and prioritise these. The goals should be realistic and achievable. Career goals should stretch you but not break you.
Review these lists once a week.
Getting on with it:
- Deal with top priority tasks first.
- Avoid procrastination.
- Get it done!
- Resist trivial tasks.
- Restrict downtime to set breaks on your schedule.
- If you have a block about a task, break it down into smaller chunks you can handle.
- Make the most of technology - use email to communicate as it's faster.
- Set yourself clear rewards.
- Finish the job before setting out on another.
