Ergonomics is making the work (job), the equipment and the workplace fit the worker. This enables the worker to perform the job in a way that avoids any harm due to the work, the workplace or the equipment.

Often, wrongly, efforts are made to make the worker fit to the job, the equipment or the workplace resulting unknowingly in increased work-related illnesses.

Still simply stated, ergonomics is the art and science of making the overall experience of doing a work comfortably and efficiently. This is achieved through the evaluation and design of workplaces, environments, job tasks, equipment, and processes in relationship to human capabilities and interactions in the workplace.

Ergonomics is the art and science of making the overall experience of doing a work comfortably and efficiently.

Ergonomics is a science that studies the design of equipment people use and interact; with efficiency and safety embedded into it. Also called as Human Factors Engineering, it is successfully applied in the fields of aerospace, healthcare, IT, product design, transportation, training, nuclear reactors, among others.

It must be remembered while designing jobs that an uncomfortable worker is an inefficient worker. If optimization of work is to be achieved then weightage must be given to make the worker comfortable; and fundamentally ergonomics is all about that.

When computer related jobs started to be available in abundance decades ago, few had realized that working with computer would cause health effects. The first employees who got a chance to work with computers were happy that they don’t have to deal with the workers on the shopfloor, and only have to deal with the machine (computer).

How wrong were they in thinking that working with computers will be less stressful. Some even thought stress-free.

The computer gave them all the challenges that a worker on the shopfloor would give – perhaps more. It would not work, caused headache when worked etc. The computer gave the user something that the worker didn’t – eyestrain, headache, finger pain, wrist pain, neck pain, backache, anxiety when data could not be saved, fatigue (as the work could be done anywhere with advent of laptop), burnout (due to overwork) etc.

When too many health problems started to be recognized due to working with a computer, a new term around the 1960s began to be used in ergonomics – workstation ergonomics, being the first blueprints of the modern-day office workstation.

Workstation ergonomics involves assessment of the computer user (either online or a f2f assessment by an ergonomist) and providing proper equipment that are adjustable as these form the most important requisites to make the user comfortable and hence efficient.

The equipment to be provided to the employees includes adjustable chair, adjustable table, adjustable monitor (if using laptop), footrest, keyboard and mouse. Proper lighting, avoidance of any glare on the monitor and air-conditioned workplace additionally improve performance. Take care of all these and notice the difference.

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