Ergonomic InformationMany of us consider workplace safety to be important, which is why construction workers wear hard hats, police officers wear safety vests, and healthcare workers carry gloves and facemasks. What many of us don’t consider are the invisible safety hazards of what some might consider more “comfortable” work settings. Desk jobs can be just as detrimental to a person’s health in the long-term as any of the above-listed profession if desk job workers don’t put special consideration into ergonomics. With more awareness of desk job hazards has come more available information about ergonomic information, allowing anyone to access the information they need.Some websites devoted to ergonomic information even have “self assessments” for users to locate the trouble areas. Once the trouble areas are defined, a person can easily access the ergonomic information for products they can purchase or habits they can introduce into their daily lives that will help them stay safe and healthy on the job. To illustrate one example of researching and using ergonomic information, let’s assume that John, a newspaper reporter, types for long hours at work on an office computer. John begins noticing that he is often having pain in his wrists and forearms and frequent headaches, so upon suggestion by his wife, he accesses a website about ergonomic information on the web. Upon taking the self-assessment, John receives ergonomic information about his poor computer habits and how he can improve. John learns that the monitor is too far away, which is the cause for his headaches. As suggested in the ergonomic information, John moves the monitor to eye level and at arm’s length. John also discovers that his typing skills are wrong. The ergonomic information provided shows an illustration of a person typing at a computer with their keyboard at a one-hundred degree angle. John’s keyboard rests at about sixty degrees. John decides he needs a new desk where he can rest the keyboard at a better angle. He researches on the ergonomics information web site and finds a desk model for a reasonable price that he can order online. Within a week of receiving the desk and moving the monitor, John discovers that his arm pain is gone and his headaches have decreased drastically in length, frequency, and severity, allowing John to do more work in a shorter amount of time, decreasing his stress. With proper education and easy access to ergonomic information on the internet more people, like John, are reaping the rewards of a healthier work environment. Ergonomics can be an asset to people in many ways, ranging from increasing work ability to improving our social and family lives. When we feel better, we work better and when we work better, we have more time to devote to the things we love.
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