ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT PREPARATION MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT 2
NAME: KEVIN WALTERS
TEACHER: MR BARRET
a
Table of Contents
What is ergonomics? .................................................................................................................
Importance of ergonomics ..................................................................................................... 2
Purpose of ergonomics ....................................................................................................... 3
Computer related disorders .................................................................................................... 4
Describe how ergonomics play a key role in society? ............................................................... 5
Reference ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Ergonomics
1. What is Ergonomics?
Ergonomics is the science of fitting jobs to people. Ergonomics encompasses the body of knowledge
about physical abilities and limitations as well as other human characteristics that are relevant to job
design. Ergonomic design is the application of this body of knowledge to the design of the workplace
(i.e., work tasks, equipment, environment) for safe and efficient use by workers. Good ergonomic
design makes the most efficient use of worker capabilities while ensuring that job demands do not
exceed those capabilities.
Page/1
1. Importance of Ergonomics?
Ergonomics is helping to fit a job to the person. That job can be a task at work or at home.
Here are some suggestions to help improve posture and ergonomics for your daily tasks.
1. Use good ergonomic practices in the office. Keep your body in alignment while
sitting in an office chair. Sit up straight in your chair. Keeping your shoulders and
hips in line vertically.
Adjust your chair to have your feet on the floor, thighs horizontal, arms even with the height
of the desk and good lumbar support. Use a foot rest as needed, and arm rests should be
adjustable to allow shoulders to relax. When typing, arms/wrists should not rest on arm rests
or wrist rests. Keep monitor at eye level with good lighting.
2. Keep your body in alignment while standing. Distribute your body weight evenly to
front, back and sides of feet. Focus on holding your stomach muscles in.
3. Follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away from your computer
screen for 20 seconds.
4. Get up and move with “mini” breaks every 30 minutes. Stretch, stand or walk. Sitting
too long leads to slouching and poor posture, putting extra pressure on your neck and
back. Adjust positions to get out of your traditional sitting at your desk mode.
5. Increase your awareness of posture and ergonomics in everyday settings. Be mindful
when you are lifting, sitting, preforming repetitive motions and working in awkward
body positions. Practice safe body postures. Use your legs for lifting, bending your
knees rather than your back.
.
Page/2
Purpose of ergonomics
The purpose of this program is to effectively eliminate or control Work-related Musculoskeletal
Disorders (WMSD) and hazards by providing management leadership and employee involvement in
the identification and resolution of hazards and by providing training, medical management and
evaluation as an on-going process.
Page/3
Computer related disorder Involved in Ergonomics.
. Musculoskeletal Problems
This includes areas of your body such as your back, neck, chest, arms, shoulders and feet.
Having sore muscles and complaints of the muscles being tired are common.
Numbness may occur in the arms and hands.
These troubles may occur because the posture you assume when using the computer is most
likely incorrect.
You may find that you are sitting in an uncomfortable chair, or that you have a workstation
that is not ergonomically correct for your body.
Tips to Consider
Find a correct height for both your desk and chair so that your computer screen is at eye level
or slightly lower.
Sit with your back straight, legs at 90 degree angles to the floor, and feet resting flat on the
floor.
ALWAYS take small breaks from your computer work to stretch your muscles, keep your
blood flowing, and to rest your eyes.
2. Vision Problems
Computers are notorious for their bright lights, glare and flickering images that can cause
strain on your eyes.
Finding that you constantly focusing on the screen with delays in blinking can result in
drying out your eyes.
Tips to Consider
Make sure to adjust the brightness on your computer screen so that your eyes are not as
strained. For example, if you are sitting
dark room your computer screen will most likely be very bright and cause your eyes to strain,
so to save your eyes you should lower the brightness.
Tilt your screen to decrease any glare.
Maintain a proper vision distance from the screen, and do not forget to blink.
3. Repetitive Stress Injuries
You may notice pain in your neck, shoulders, or really anywhere from the shoulders to your
fingers related to repetitive muscle use.
Using the computer may cause you to use your muscles in an odd way that may cause
increased stiffness, pain, or swelling in any of those areas.
One of the most common conditions related to repetitive use of your muscles when using the
computer is carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tips to Consider
Place your mouse at a location next to the keyboard that will require you to move your whole
arm to get to it rather that just twisting your wrist outward to reach it and move it.
Type gentle to decrease the stress put on each of your fingers.
Keep your wrists flexible when typing; avoid keeping them fixed in a certain position;
keeping them flexible will avoid repetitive, strenuous stress.
Relax your arms and try to get a few stretches in when you are not typing or using your
mouse.
4. Headaches
Headaches are common and may occur because of the increased muscle tension or from pain
in the neck.
Any vision problems, or continued strain on the eyes can also cause headaches.
Tips to Consider
Attend regular eye exams in order to work toward correcting any vision problems.
Try your best to keep your neck straight in front of the computer and take breaks.
5. Obesity
Prolonged use of computers may lead to an overall sedentary lifestyle that lacks adequate
physical activity and/or exercise.
In children prolonged use of computers, or electronics in general, is a major contributing
factor to obesity.
Page/4
Preventative Measures of Ergonomics.
Ergonomics started by scientifically seeking the best and least tiring way to use muscles
when working. There are tasks that force people to walk a long way, carrying heavy
loads. Keeping the same posture without any alterations can be a factor that causes people
to feel fatigued.
Use of ergonomically designed tools or equipment and the introduction of ergonomically
formed measures that help to reduce work-related physical strain largely contribute to
safety assurance as well as prevention of musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain and
increases in productivity. Although the percentage of workers in the first and second
industries has kept on declining domestically as the industrial structure changes, back
pain currently still accounts for about 60% of work-related disorders (“Study on workrelated disorders” by Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare, 2008). We still have a lot of
issues that should be solved by the introduction of ergonomics.
On the other hand, the number of workers in the third industry has rapidly grown
since the 1950s, accounting for more than 60% of all workers now. As the industrial
structure changes dramatically, the expectation for ergonomics has also changed with
time. These days, since people work more with their eyes and brain on a daily basis,
eye strain and mental stress are often found in their complaints. Display equipment
installed in air planes, cars or control rooms or tools and instruments for controlling
output can lead, if inappropriately designed, to huge accidents or disasters. Working
forms have been certainly shifting from simple tasks that are high in physical stress to
static muscular work with low workload and high constraint such as monitoring or
VDT work using computers. Besides taking measures against the increase of these
mental workloads at work, in our daily life, we also need to deal with the spread of
new types of displays and interfaces that bring us new utility, such as wide screen
TVs with 3D function and ubiquitous interfaces. Ergonomics not only plays an
important role in establishing smooth interaction in using these appliances
(comfortable and effective operation), but also contributes to the harmony and
symbiosis of humans, machines and environments.
In short, ergonomics is a practical science that helps us to achieve safety,
security and comfort and to maintain and improve our health. Therefore, the
domains it covers vary significantly.
The figure below systematically shows the domains ergonomics deals with.
Page/5
Reference page
What is ergonomics?
Sample-Ergonomics-Program-Reading-Material (osha.gov)
Importance of Ergonomics?
The Importance of Ergonomics (bvhealthsystem.org)
Purpose of ergonomics?
Sample-Ergonomics-Program-Reading-Material (osha.gov)
Computer related disorder Involved in Ergonomics?
Top 10 Computer Related Health Problems - MicroHealth (microhealthllc.com)
Describe how ergonomics play a key role in society?
Importance of Ergonomics and its Role in Society | Japan Ergonomics Society
Page/6