The
meaning of ergonomics
and how does it relate to
office chairs
What does ergonomics mean and how is it associated with office chairs?
To help you understand what is ergonomics, lets look towards Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Ergon is Greek for work. Nomos means law. Ergonomics- is the applied science concerned with the designing and arranging of people and items, so that the individuals and items interact safely and efficiently. This term is also called human engineering.
So, what does Ergonomics have to do with you?
You wouldn't want to put a very tall person in a chair that is too small for them, and you wouldn't want to a very short person using a chair that is too large for them. Imagine working for eight hours is a chair designed for a kindergarten student or go back to when you were four and had to sit on phonebooks just to see over the dinner table. Ergonomics helps to improved health, through better body posture. It has been proven that offices and work environments that have established ergonomics have a reduction of absenteeism. This has been credited with reducing stress, fatigue and eyestrain, as well as headaches, blurred vision, neck and back problems. All of these conditions have been associated with poor posture and inadequate reading conditions.
Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) or carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) occurs by performing repetitive and/or tasks that require force. To help prevent this, organize your work to eliminate repetitiveness if possible.
Fitting the worker to the job not the job to the worker:
This new philosophy is taking over the working world. The idea behind this is simple. Fit the worker to the job through task and procedure designs as well as fitting the employee by using placement and training procedures. In a majority of the cases, the outcome has been beneficial for both employee and employer.
However, with everything there are drawbacks. Some employees/ employers do not want to change. They have been performing or operating for years and go on the If it isn't broken, don't fix it, mentality. However, slight changes can make a difference. The definition of ergonomics is the prevention of physical damage or injuries by arranging of people and items, so that the individuals and items interact safely and efficiently.
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