Many years ago an office chair was just an office chair and if you wanted to be comfortable typing it mean the person had to consciously adjust their own posture. In today’s offices many employers are taking additional steps to obtain equipment especially designed to aid employees in naturally maintaining correct posture to ensure the health of their employees. According to Ergonomics.org, ergonomics is the “study human capabilities in relationship to work demands,” which means that people try to determine how our bodies function in response to what we do at work. Many people spend long hours in front of computers and this not only puts pressure on a person’s back, but it also affects the person’s eyes from staring at a monitor. This type of work condition can also cause problems in a person’s wrist from using a mouse or typing constantly. Then there are individual who have jobs in which they stand all day. This also causes pressure on the spine, legs, feet and can affect a person’s entire body.
So employers must monitor each employee’s role and the duties involved to determine what can be done to help reduce the chances of injury. Every year thousands of employees file claims for disability or worker’s compensation due to injury at work. This not only causes problems for the employees, but also for the employers. By initiating safety programs, obtaining ergonomic equipment for the workplace and monitoring the actions of the employees, employers can help reduce the chances of injury and claims against the company.
As an employer it is important to protect your employees and sometimes that means you have to protect them from themselves. In the case of ergonomics it is protecting the employees from improper posture and misuse of equipment. Education and prevention are the keys to helping keep your employees safe and happy.
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