Think Safe. Act Safe. Be Safe. Monthly Safety Spotlight, Feb. 2010: Ergonomics Following proper ergonomic guidelines keeps you healthy and safe, and contributes to your workplace satisfaction. Complete the true-or-false questionnaire below to see how well you understand the basic principles of ergonomics. 1.The organization of your work station can play a significant role in either preventing or causing musculoskeletal injury. 2.It is encouraged to periodically adjust the tilt or tension of the back support of your chair over the course of the work day to help vary your working position. 3.The combination of prolonged repetitive use of your mouse or keyboard, poor posture and incorrect work habits are not likely to lead to cumulative trauma disorder. 4. Multi-taskers may want to keep their keyboards on the desktop rather than on a keyboard tray, to eliminate the need to reach over the keyboard tray for frequently used items such as the telephone or file folders which may cause shoulder injuries. 5. Place palms on the palm rest at all times for proper support, not just when keying, and allow as much movement as possible at the wrist to avoid keeping the wrists straight. 6.When using the mouse, have a relaxed grip, avoid maintaining fingers in a tense, straight position, and use combined movements of the elbow and shoulder to move the mouse. 7.If you are experiencing neck or shoulder pain, aligning the source document and monitor directly in front of the keyboard may reduce the discomfort. 8.If your armrests interfere with your access to the mouse, keyboard, or writing surface, you should adjust them to their lowest position out of the way or consider removing them all together. 9.A negative tilt to the keyboard is always the most desirable position to make sure your wrists remain straight while keying. 10.Monitor height and distance positioning can be related to discomfort in you neck, upper back, and eye strain.  True  False Answers to the quiz are on the reverse of this sheet.

Think Safe. Act Safe. Be Safe. Monthly Safety Spotlight, Feb. 2010: Ergonomics 1.True. Arranging your work space and maintaining correct posture can help you avoid injury. An improper arrangement and poor work practices can set the stage for painful and serious musculoskeletal injury. 2.True. You should adjust your seating, tool positioning, arm rests and other work space elements during the day as your workload changes. It’s also a good idea to take periodic mini-breaks during the day to relax, stretch, change position and rest your eyes. 3.False. Carpal tunnel syndrome and other cumulative trauma disorders can occur when there’s improper alignment of your keyboard and mouse, monitor, chair and armrests, or if you don’t practice good posture. 4.True. Keyboard trays increase the distance an individual must reach to access frequently used items on the desktop. This especially becomes an issue with petite individuals with shorter reaches. 5.False. It’s best not to use palm rests. Instead, position the keyboard so your hands and wrists are on a straight line with your forearms when you are seated in an upright position (see No. 9 below). Let your fingers hover over the keyboard without leaning on it when keying. 6.True. Using slight movements of the larger muscles of the upper arms while mousing/pointing reduces the workload on the wrist and hand. It is important to keep a loose and natural hand position while using the mouse. Avoid the temptation to use a death grip in the mouse. 7.True. Referring to documents and the monitor with the head and neck in a straight ahead position and glancing up and down instead of right to left is a more neutral posture. Positioning the monitor off to one side sets up the user for positions that rotate away from center and will lead to postural problems over time. If the user has multiple monitors, position the most frequently used monitor directly in front of the user. 8.True. Armrests that block close access to the keyboard, mouse and work surface can force a person to sit with their arms in an outstretched position and statically load their shoulder muscles. 9.False. The best keyboard angle will depend on how you are seated. For example, for a person sitting upright, the keyboard should be at a negative tilt (rear edge of keyboard downward). For those who sit in a slightly reclined position, the keyboard can have a slight positive tilt. Refer to UC Davis ergonomic guidelines to ensure you have the correct positioning for your keyboard tray. 10.True. The computer screen needs to be right in front of you with the top line of print at or below your horizontal line of sight or even lower if your wear bifocal, trifocal or progressive lenses. A monitor that is set too high will cause you to tip or tilt your head back to look up at the monitor. Over time, neck, shoulder and upper back pain may result. Placing the monitor at a comfortable distance varies with the visual needs of each person. In general, the closer you are to the monitor, the harder your eyes work to keep the image in focus. You may experience eye fatigue, blurred vision, or headaches if your monitor is placed too close. A rule of thumb is to place the monitor approximately an arm’s length away and then adjust for your personal visual comfort.