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Ergonomic assessments are used in workplaces as a measure of risk relating to musculoskeletal injury development. Musculoskeletal injuries are estimated to cost the Canadian economy upwards of $22 billion each year (1). In developed economies such as Canada’s, nontraumatic musculoskeletal injuries incur direct and indirect economic costs of approximately $500 million per 1 million workers (2). To reduce this economic burden, ergonomic assessments can be one of the tools individuals and businesses can use to do so.
Currently, with the ever changing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, performing office work from home is becoming more prominent and normalized. Many workers may not have a designated office space that is setup similarly to that of their workstation in the company office. With this comes new challenges with regards to ergonomic hazard exposure and worker safety. Although new challenges arise, the responsibilities are unchanged; the responsibilities outlined in the Ontario Occupational Health & Safety Act still apply whether or not the worker is working from home or in the company’s offices. Therefore under clause 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, it is the employer’s responsibility to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstance to ensure the safety and health of their worker (3) . In these current situations, legally it is beneficial for the employer to have ergonomic hazard risk assessments of their employee’s workspace when working from home to ensure their safety and health is not compromised.
The goals of an ergonomic assessment are to identify the physical and psychosocial risk factors of the workstation and associated task, quantify the risk, and make the necessary adjustments to the workstation or task to minimize this risk. When thinking about workplace ergonomics, initially we think about three things. First, we think about lower back pain, which is then followed by sitting for long periods of time, then finally office chairs. In this case, lower back pain occurs as a result of exposures to ergonomic hazards; these include being seated in a static posture for a long period of time and the type of office chair being used. Although these are the risk factors, they can also be part of the solution. Assessing the current workspace furniture and tasks can help control the exposures to ergonomic hazards resulting in benefits for the user and the business.
To protect workers from ergonomic hazards, the magnitude of exposure must be identified, assessed, and then controlled. To do so, professionals in the field of occupational health and safety follow CSA Z412-17 Office Ergonomics – An application standard for workplace ergonomics. If done by an objective and competent individual, the benefits of an ergonomic assessment can be recognized at an organization level and at the individual worker level.
For the benefits an organization will see, studies have found that after ergonomic assessments and training are performed for workers on a whole the organizations observed (4–6):
For the benefits the individual worker will see, studies have found that after ergonomic assessments or ergonomic hazard awareness training workers experienced (7–17):
1. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Government of Canada. IMHA Strategic Plan 2014-2018 – CIHR [Online]. 2019. https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48830.html [16 Feb. 2021].
2. Lambeek LC, van Tulder MW, Swinkels ICS, Koppes LLJ, Anema JR, van Mechelen W. The Trend in Total Cost of Back Pain in the Netherlands in the Period 2002 to 2007: Spine 36: 1050–1058, 2011. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181e70488.
3. Government of Ontario. Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O. 1 [Online]. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90o01: 2014. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/view.
4. Hendrick HW. Determining the cost–benefits of ergonomics projects and factors that lead to their success. Applied Ergonomics 34: 419–427, 2003. doi: 10.1016/S0003-6870(03)00062-0.
5. Schlesinger L, Heskett J. The service-driven service company. Harv Bus Rev 69: 71–81, 1991.
6. Goggins RW, Spielholz P, Nothstein GL. Estimating the effectiveness of ergonomics interventions through case studies: Implications for predictive cost-benefit analysis. Journal of Safety Research 39: 339–344, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2007.12.006.
7. Robertson M, Amick BC, DeRango K, Rooney T, Bazzani L, Harrist R, Moore A. The effects of an office ergonomics training and chair intervention on worker knowledge, behavior and musculoskeletal risk. Applied Ergonomics 40: 124–135, 2009. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2007.12.009.
8. Amick BC, Robertson M, DeRango K, Bazzani L, Moore A, Rooney T, Harrist R. Effect of Office Ergonomics Intervention on Reducing Musculoskeletal Symptoms: Spine 28: 2706–2711, 2003. doi: 10.1097/01.BRS.0000099740.87791.F7.
9. Amick BC, Menéndez CC, Bazzani L, Robertson M, DeRango K, Rooney T, Moore A. A field intervention examining the impact of an office ergonomics training and a highly adjustable chair on visual symptoms in a public sector organization. Applied Ergonomics 43: 625–631, 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2011.09.006.
10. Bohr PC. Efficacy of Office Ergonomics Education. J Occup Rehabil 10: 243–255, 2000. doi: 10.1023/A:1009464315358.
11. Hoe VC, Urquhart DM, Kelsall HL, Sim MR. Ergonomic design and training for preventing work‐related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb and neck in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012, 2012. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008570.pub2.
12. Haukka E, Pehkonen I, Leino-Arjas P, Viikari-Juntura E, Takala E-P, Malmivaara A, Hopsu L, Mutanen P, Ketola R, Virtanen T. Effect of a participatory ergonomics intervention on psychosocial factors at work in a randomised controlled trial. Occupational and environmental medicine 67: 170–177, 2010.
13. Haukka E, Leino-Arjas P, Viikari-Juntura E, Takala E-P, Malmivaara A, Hopsu L, Mutanen P, Ketola R, Virtanen T, Pehkonen I, Holtari-Leino M, Nykänen J, Stenholm S, Nykyri E, Riihimäki H. A randomised controlled trial on whether a participatory ergonomics intervention could prevent musculoskeletal disorders. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 65: 849–856, 2008. doi: 10.1136/oem.2007.034579.
14. Laing A, Cole D, Theberge N, Wells R, Kerr M, Frazer M. Effectiveness of a participatory ergonomics intervention in improving communication and psychosocial exposures. Ergonomics 50: 1092–1109, 2007. doi: 10.1080/00140130701308708.
15. Laing A, Frazer M, Cole D, Kerr M, Wells R, Norman R. Study of the effectiveness of a participatory ergonomics intervention in reducing worker pain severity through physical exposure pathways. Ergonomics 48: 150–170, 2005. doi: 10.1080/00140130512331325727.
16. Stock SR, Nicolakakis N, Vézina N, Vézina M, Gilbert L, Turcot A, Sultan-Taïeb H, Sinden K, Kin R, Denis M-A, Delga C, Beaucage C. Are work organization interventions effective in preventing or reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders? A systematic review of the literature. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health 44: 113–133, 2018.
17. Mahmud N, Kenny DT, Md Zein R, Hassan SN. Ergonomic Training Reduces Musculoskeletal Disorders among Office Workers: Results from the 6-Month Follow-Up. Malays J Med Sci 18: 16–26, 2011.