The Benefits of an Ergonomic Workstation
The report provides an extensive analysis of the benefits of an ergonomic workstation in relation to the advantages that come from investing in a well and properly designed workstation. It also provides the analysis of the results of a research conducted using a structured data collection by the use of questionnaire targeting a group of employees of a particular company. The questionnaire is designed to determine a number of factors that contribute to a workstation being ergonomic. The highest percentage of the individuals that I interviewed stated that they do not suffer from hand or wrist pain. However, all of the participants who suffered from pain in wrist also used slim mouse controller, while working at their computer, which pushes us to the conclusion, that form of mouse controller can influence health state of a worker.
Injuries in Soft Tissues
Most of the interviewees recorded that they had not experienced injuries in their soft tissues over the past 12 months. Which means that most of the pain, or discomfort that the interviewees experienced was the result of their working environment.
Job-Related Injuries and Absenteeism
Most of the respondents stated that they have never taken day off due to job-related injuries. However, those who did also in most cases had unergonomic workstation.
Headaches and Work Environment
Most respondents stated that they have not been suffering from headaches during their normal working hours. With additional questions and observation it was noted that most part of those interviewees who suffered from headaches have also had uncomfortable workplace with little sunlight and fresh air, high brightness of computer monitor, or loud and noisy working space.
Impact of Workstation Conditions on Health
As a result, study shows that most of the injuries, or health-related problems that influence the productivity of a person appear mostly to workspace conditions of work.
Economic Costs of Ergonomic Risk Factors
Notably, many companies incur losses because of costs that relate to ergonomic risk factors. Direct costs such as the medical treatment, insurance premiums, and the prescription costs affect the company’s profits. Other indirect costs that include increased absenteeism, training costs, advertising and recruitment costs when employees quit their work, and replacement of workers cost, which is higher than the direct cost of salary that company has to pay their employees. All of this affects the cost savings of a company. The solution identified to reducing these costs is setting a workstation ergonomically.
