Office workplace ergonomics is a topic that can be frequently overlooked by employees and employers alike, while it may seem like a buzzword topic for office workers due to the stationary manner of our work, we also carry a significant risk of incurring a repetitive strain injury (“RSI”). RSI’s are defined as “a family of painful disorders affecting tendons, muscles, nerves and joints in the neck, upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, arms, and hands.” By the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
RSI’s are best prevented by ensuring employees workstations are tailored to their specific requirements. A few of the tools we use in our offices to minimize the risk of RMI’s include:
- Proper office chairs; office chairs are frequently the first thing that people think of when it comes to their workstation. While there are a million brands selling you the idea that they are the best, the most important thing to remember is they are not a one size fits all. Find the chair that works best for your individual employee’s requirements.
- Adjustable monitor arms and monitor stands; ensuring that monitors are at the correct distance and angle can be a challenge depending on the individual employee and the office space around them. If your chair/desk/monitor setup doesn’t allow for a comfortable viewing distance/angle purchasing adjustable monitor arms or monitor stands depending on circumstance is a very easy way to rectify what is a big issue in the long-term.
- Wrist supports; using a mouse and keyboard for 8 hours a day without proper wrist support is one of the most common causes of RMI in an office environment. Here at the firm everyone uses either a gel or plush wrist rest for their keyboards. I myself despite my youth found that after a year of office work, I was already experiencing signs and symptoms of a wrist RMI due to the lack of a wrist support.
- Headsets; for our transcriptionists we found that each of us has different requirements for which headsets worked for ourselves, from in ear to over ear, different headband sizes, each of us required a different setup to be comfortable while transcribing.
This is just a starting point for office ergonomics; I strongly encourage you to take the time to view https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics for a full in-depth guide on office ergonomics.
Dylan Coffey, Human Resources