Ergonomics is the study of the working environment, from the type of industry to the tools used to complete your required tasks.
The main goal of office ergonomics is to setup your office space
so that it fits you and the job you are doing.
The benefits of having the office space set up correctly are:
• Reduced back and neck pain
• Headaches and eyestrain are less likely to effect you
• Prevention of bursitis and tendonitis – both problems are linked to the repetition of tasks.
Office ergonomics can assist in creating a more comfortable work station thus reducing stress and injury.
The main focus areas to set up your office work space are:
• Workstation setup (i.e. how you sit and how long you stay sitting or in a fixed position).
• Task functions (i.e. the movements made, and the repetition of those movements).
• Work environment (i.e. lighting, noise and temperature).
• Tools used (i.e. whether they are set up correctly to meet your requirements).
The following tools and resources are provided to help you with your office workstation setup:
Updated for the modern office, new technologies and home office situation
Now available ONLINE and as a downloadable PDF
A Workbook and Template for Completing Physical Demands Descriptions
Determining Body Length Segments
MORE ABOUT | DOWNLOAD CALCULATOR [XCL spreadsheet]
Learn more about our Ergonomic Tools and Calculators
The following references were used in the creation of these tools: McAtamney, L., & Corlett, E. N. (1993). RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders. Applied ergonomics, 24(2), 91-99. Waters, T. R., Putz-Anderson, V., Garg, A., & Fine, L. J. (1993). Revised NIOSH equation for the design and evaluation of manual lifting tasks. Ergonomics, 36(7), 749-776. Steven Moore, J., & Garg, A. (1995). The strain index: a proposed method to analyze jobs for risk of distal upper extremity disorders. American Industrial Hygiene Association, 56(5), 443-458. Potvin, J. R. (2012). Predicting maximum acceptable efforts for repetitive tasks an equation based on duty cycle. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 54(2), 175-188. Rohmert, W. (1973). Problems of determination of rest allowances Part 2: Determining rest allowances in different human tasks. Applied Ergonomics, 4(3), 158-162. Sonne, M., Villalta, D. L., & Andrews, D. M. (2012). Development and evaluation of an office ergonomic risk checklist: ROSA–Rapid office strain assessment. Applied ergonomics, 43(1), 98-108.
Set up and run an Ergonomics Committee in your workplace using the practical information in this workbook.
View Workbook
[PDF]
Download Checklist
[MSWord Document]
Manual Material Handling (MMH) is an important component of workplace ergonomics
as many of the actions involved can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
Manual Materials Handling (MMH) refers to the moving or handling of items by:
Lifting or Lowering
Pushing or Pulling
Carrying
Holding or Gripping
Manual material handling is also the most common cause of occupational fatigue, low back pain and lower back injuries.
The following resources are related to manual material handling:
A document used by employers to objectively capture and describe the physical demands that are required to perform a particular job or role.
A PDD can be used by a wide range of individuals within different organizations.
PDD Handbook [PDF]
PDD Template [docx]
An Online Tool for Calculating Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)
Online Tool
(on the CCOHS website)
A Presentation by OHCOW Ergonomist, Melissa Statham, MHK, CCPE
View Presentation
[PDF]
Stay up-to-date with happenings at OHCOW and in the occupational health and safety field by subscribing to our various news services:
95% Confidence Interval (CI) is a range of values (upper and lower) that you can be 95% certain contains the true mean of the population.
Test, test, test
