Does proper office ergonomics equate to better safety and more production?

Question

This question is directed more for the users who have experience in many different work environments.

My boss's brother works for a large oil and gas company, and I have heard stories of some weird ergonomic policies that they have in place like having adjustable cubicle desk heights, forcing breaks after a certain amount of time, etc.

I've never been in an environment where ergonomics was a huge topic of discussion, but if a big company like that put so much emphasis on them I wonder if more companies should follow suit.

Do you feel that these ergonomic focused policies help or hinder production? If your answer is help then what are some policies that more companies should have in place?

Answer 1

I think it's more important in highly regimented environments...

In more casual environments there is more likelihood of moving around until you're comfortable, which in my opinion is the root of ergonomics anyway. :)

Answer 2

Here are Joel's answers: The new Fog Creek office.

Answer 3

In the average office, there are people who get work done, and people who don't. The latter find other things to busy themselves with, like writing office ergonomics policies. There is a place for ergonomics, but I find that written policies are counter-productive (once written down, they take on a life of their own).

Answer 4

Programmers come in all shapes and sizes, and for those with some measurement a couple standard deviations from the norm, it's good to be able to get a work environment that conforms to one's stature. I'm not sure about written policies, but it certainly is helpful to be able to ask for a keyboard tray or a different chair if your body requires it, and not have anyone think twice about getting it for you.

Answer 5

In the mid 90s I got to see my then boss with his right wrist in a brace due to RSI, and doctors orders not touch a computer for a year. Combine that with feelings of tightness starting to appear in my forearm, and I soon taught myself to use a mouse with either hand. These days I also have a couple of books under my forearm to keep my wrist and forearm aligned.

Answer 6

Do you feel that these ergonomic focused policies help or hinder production?

It can help if it's truly designed to help employees and isn't just a checkbox for the company. IIRC, oil companies tend to do this because they are not allowed to break out office injury incidents from HSE (Health/Safety/Environment) reports, so they try to minimize all incidents (RSIs, etc.) in all facets of their operation.

If your answer is help then what are some policies that more companies should have in place?

Most "good" policies aren't ones that companies necessarily follow. To me, it's simple: give the employee an adjustable desk, a good adjustable chair (or better yet, let them pick it out), and a ridiculously large monitor or two. The cost of these things tend to be negligible compared to the salary of an office employee.

Answer 7

I think office ergonomics are very important. Being comfortable and kicking my feet up and allowing gas to pass with ease helps productivity for me atleast.

Answer 8

I'd say the results can be mixed. Being able to adjust things like chairs, keyboard trays and monitor stands are quite nice and useful after an initial phase of setting things up satisfactorily. If there is a culture of taking breaks regularly and it seems natural then it may well be productive. On the other hand, if your computer stops completely after x minutes of continuous use while you take a forced break or someone walks around the office as an ergonomic practice enforcer, that probably hinders and seems kind of ridiculous to my mind.

Part of this depends on the company and on what kinds of things are they willing to spend money as I'm not sure how much the nice monitor stands and chairs we have where I work now that is less than a year old. Some companies may not have lots of money to get fancy chairs or stands for a monitor or special keyboard trays or other things that I really like where I am now.

Answer 9

some weird ergonomic policies that they have in place like having adjustable cubicle desk heights, forcing breaks after a certain amount of time, etc.

Not all the programmers I've worked with are 5 feet 8 inches tall (~1.7 m), weigh 175 pounds (~80 kg) white males. So the being able to independently adjust the height of their monitors, keyboard, chair, and mousing surface to their body's needs is simply sensible and important.

Back and neck injury, repetitive strain injury (RSI), and eye strain are all real, and I've been inflicted with mild forms of each myself, due to poor IT/office ergonomics in the past. Thankfully most occurred when I was young enough that I was able to recover and take such issues seriously for the rest of my career.

As a side-point frequent breaks are not necessarily purely ergonomics; in banking some banks have a policy that all employees must take two consecutive weeks of holiday every year, as a security practice as most bank fraud scheme require constant (weekly or every other week) tending, and coming into work while on holiday raises suspicion to help detect such fraud schemes. It also helps to keep people simply more productive, by increasing blood flow through some simple physical activity in otherwise sedentary office workers.

I've never been in an environment where ergonomics was a huge topic of discussion, but if a big company like that put so much emphasis on them I wonder if more companies should follow suit.

Do you feel that these ergonomic focused policies help or hinder production? If your answer is help then what are some policies that more companies should have in place?

Yes, ergonomics are important and I believe good ergonomic practices pay for themselves so there is no good reason to avoid a sensible approach, but the need for a ergonomic policy is too often an exercise in policy writing, not in reducing injuries and helping employees increase their productivity.

Unfortunately, I personally don't know of any sound ergonomic guidelines that I can readily recommend as a starting point. Perhaps others can assist in that area. That and I should take some ergonomic training myself.