CARLY Simon's hit song "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" is nearly 30 years old, but it certainly describes today's business environment. The constant demands of business--complicated by rising health care costs, an economic recession, layoffs, and an aging workforce--make it difficult to focus on preventable injuries plaguing workers and businesses.
SUCCESSFUL companies perceive ergonomics as a business process, not a program. They engage workers in the job improvement process and provide the guidance and coaching workers need to be successful.
AS a vendor of ergonomic office furniture, I find myself preaching to the choir whenever I'm working with health and safety professionals. They already appreciate the benefits of fully adjustable office workstations.
STATIONARY standing is a posture often taken by workers when performing their job duties. There are a number of applications where standing is the recommend working posture, as opposed to sitting. Standing work, compared to sitting when working, is recommended when the task cannot be performed with the employees keeping their arms comfortably at their sides.
I was surprisingly comfortable with my legs dangling relaxed beneath me, and my arms outstretched in a posture that must have resembled a crucifixion. I had no feeling of stress and mused as to why this was considered dangerous.
CHAIRS are a common point of debate in today's workplace. The questions most frequently debated derive from the differences between an engineering approach and a therapeutic approach to work injury prevention.
MATERIAL handling carts (also known as utility, hand, or service carts) are used in most manufacturing environments to physically transport goods or parts to other areas of the operation for manipulation, storage, or shipment. Many times, safety and ergonomics professionals will advocate pushing a cart from the back when it has to be moved.