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Redicing Risk of Injury: ErgoCenter Designs Workplace To Fit Worker

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

FARMINGTON -- Which discipline draws together elements of engineering,

physiology, law, medicine, psychology and organizational skills?

Ergonomics, according to Tim Morse, PhD, an assistant professor and the

training coordinator at the Ergonomic Technology Center of Connecticut

(ErgoCenter) in Farmington.

Mr Morse, who has a background in social science and health care, looks at his

interdisciplinary work through an epidemiological lens.

Ergonomics is the science of fitting the workplace to the worker by reducing

exposures to physical trauma, redesigning tools and workstations, and

preventing and treating cumulative trauma disorders such as carpal tunnel

syndrome and tendinitis, according to the ErgoCenter.

Situated on the campus of the University of Connecticut Health Center, the

ErgoCenter is a cooperative venture of industry, insurance firms, labor, state

government and the health center.

The ErgoCenter, which has been in existence three years, was started with

state seed money, Mr Morse explained. Much of its costs are covered through

fees charged to clients. The organization pursues its goals through science,

treatment and education.

The ErgoCenter does consultations on occupational health problems with

corporations and labor. It has a training program geared to prevent cumulative

trauma disorders among workers. To further its program of applied research,

the ErgoCenter has been developing its ErgoLab, which is fitted with motion

capture devices to digitally record and analyze the workers' motions. The

analyses are used to correct problems stemming from protracted computer

keyboard work. Much of the ErgoCenter's work focuses on the physical problems

resulting from the extended use of computers.

When physical problems are defined, the ErgoCenter designs a worker-retraining

program to rectify them.

Occupational health problems often stem from offices that are improperly set

up, Mr Morse said. In some cases, the equipment workers use is poorly

designed, he said. Problems are caused by the force of workers' motions, their

repetition, poor posture, and psycho-social stresses, he said.

Often the use of a computer mouse doesn't physically blend well with

keyboarding, he said. The ErgoCenter recommends the use of a mouse tray with

both vertical and horizontal adjustments and also keeping the mouse as close

as possible to the end of the keyboard, depending on the handedness of the

mouse user.

Also, in lieu of a mouse, the computer operator could use alternative devices

such as pens, touch-sensitive pads or trackballs.

Using an ergonomically correct, multi-adjustable chair, elbow rests, a

properly positioned keyboard, and a headset instead of a conventional

telephone can relieve occupational stresses, Mr Morse said.

In its work the ErgoCenter educates its clients about the work-related risks

of physical injury and describes steps that can be taken to solve the physical

problems, he said.

ErgoCenter works with both labor and companies to identify work-related

problems, he said. Worker's compensation records are reviewed. Symptom surveys

are conducted. Such measures are used to catch problems before they become

common in an organization, Mr Morse said.

A typical claim for carpal tunnel syndrome can cost between $25,000 and

$50,000, he noted.

The ErgoCenter's general approach is reducing risk factors "to make the job

fit the person, rather than make the person fit the job," he said.

"We try to stress a pure preventive approach," he added.

Improved working conditions in which the risk of physical injury is reduced

can result in increased productivity, he said.

The ErgoCenter's overall goals are to reduce the number and severity of

work-related injuries, as well as increasing productivity, Mr Morse said. But

limiting the risk of injury to workers takes precedence over increasing their

productivity, he added.

Although computer workstation designs are expected to improve across time and

reduce the potential for musculo-skeletal injuries, Mr Morse expects

ergonomics will be with us into the foreseeable future.

"Whenever you bring in a new technology or a new process, you bring up new

issues," he said.

People entering ergonomics, or ergonomists, often come from the fields of

industrial engineering, epidemiology, biology, medicine, and industrial

hygiene. The ErgoCenter staff includes physicians, ergonomists, engineers and

public health professionals.

The group's clinical approach is to provide non-surgical solutions to physical

problems and to redesign job content and work organization, as well as

correcting awkward postures and positions.

For more information on ergonomics, The ErgoCenter is at the University of

Connecticut Health Center, Occupational and Environmental Health Center,

Dowling North, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington 06030-6210; telephone

860/679-1285; FAX 860/679-1349 (e-mail: ergotech@nso.uchc.edu).