From a procurement perspective, Jerome Congleton, co-director of the Ergonomics Centre at Texas A & M University Health Science Center, talked about the “office of the future,” and the equipment needed to accommodate an increasingly diverse workforce.
“Productivity increases up to 17 per cent if you [install] sit/stand workstations,” Congleton explained. He showed photos of the concept, which allows employees to stand at a desk, or to sit, depending on their inclination. The sit/stand design helps prevent pain from prolonged sitting, and improves attention levels, he noted. It’s also better for overall health.
“If you stand two hours more a day than you currently do, you’ll burn 280 calories a day and lose 20 pounds a year,” he said. “We need to have more movement in our office in our daily activities. You have to be innovative in getting more standing than you’re currently getting.”
In a recent case study with a multinational organization, discomfort ratings improved more than 26 per cent with sit/stand workstations, he said. Work-related injury and illness went down by 28 per cent, and lost-time by 82 per cent.
Increasing obesity
Another prominent trend is obesity, he added. “Our workforce has become increasingly obese and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
The larger size of the typical worker requires equipment such as split keyboards. The two-part keyboards alleviate discomfort among obese people, and they’re also more ergonomic in general, he added, due to their adjustability.
Congleton also focused on the vast range of body types in a typical industrial setting, especially now that more women have joined the manufacturing and logistics field. As part of his demonstration, he called two members of the audience up to the podium.
One was a petite woman about five feet tall, and the other a man over six feet tall. He showed how key body positions such as elbow rest-height, hand span and arm length were so dramatically different between the two. Yet, tools, conveyors and other machinery are all set at one height deemed to suit the ‘average’ worker. He pointed out step stools and other devices go a long way to preventing strain injuries.
He also noted the increasing age of the typical employee. “With the economy being as it is, a lot of people are going to have to keep on working,” he said. Older workers need larger font sizes, and lift-assist devices as muscle strength declines.
With technology going mobile, he sees employees lugging around laptops, cell phones, projectors, mini-printers and PDAs. He suggested one case for everything, with roller wheels.
He urged attendees to prepare their organizations for the shifting demographics by starting with their own offices.
“Your workplace should be the ergonomic example,” he concluded. “If you don’t walk the walk, and talk the talk, how do you expect people to follow?”
Aside from ergonomics, experts gave presentations on numerous issues, such as preventing violence in the workplace, managing young employees, forklift safety and air quality.
