The winner of 2010's esteemed “Creativity in Ergonomics Award”

Johnny Joe Weisman

• Made comfort his number 1 priority
• Eliminated sharp edges to his work surfaces reducing the contact stress of long periods of working in a seated  position.
• From the photo it looks like Johnny has positioned his important equipment within a comfortable reach and at the right height.  Can’t really tell for sure without seeing him sitting on the seat.

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As some of you know, I was in the high Sierras last weekend.  Fantastic snow!...if you like that kinda thing. 

My son and his buddies snowboarded for three straight days, early to late.  I, on the other hand, being someone who thinks July is a chilly month, retreated to our cabin, built a fire and looked at the beautiful scenery from inside, warm & dry.

 You might be wondering, “what’s this headline – dose of my own medicine?”  Well, here’s what I mean

 On almost a daily basis I have a discussion with someone regarding the best way to work with a laptop, I mean ergonomically speaking.  I disclose this information without any hesitation or reservations because I know it to be the truth. 

In the haste to get up to Mammoth Mt., I remembered my laptop, but I forgot my keyboard.  Rats!

 There I was, warm & dry, and I thought I wonder if there’s a place I could pickup a cheap keyboard just to get me through.  As I pondered some more, warm & dry, I thought to myself….”OK how much are you going to be on this laptop, anyway?”   You’ve probably guessed it, while viewing through the beautiful panoramic windows out over the frozen tundra I pondered some more and then said to myself….”Not much, probably”    Yea Right.

 Here’s the problem with the laptop.  Either your neck is bent down looking at the screen…or your shoulders and arms are hiked up and tensed all the time.  It’s a “No Win” without other tools like external keyboard and mouse, and sometimes an extra monitor (if you don’t have the keyboard/mouse set up).

 Well, its four days later, my neck still sore and stiff, I decided that session with my massage therapist might help, and it did. 

 Now, retrospecting my lesson learned, “my dose of my own medicine”, if you will, was that if you find yourself on your laptop somewhere without your external keyboard and mouse, by all means…Have them DELIVERED!

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Is Your Desk A War Zone?  

Are you  Inundated by information?

 People today are inundated by information. Where ever someone goes, looks at or listens to, they are bombarded by messages of one kind or another. Some of it can be managed. The phone can be put down, email closed, TV and radio shut off. It is the stuff sent or given to us that truly clutters our lives.

Where ever someone goes, looks at or listens to, they are bombarded by messages of one kind or another. Some of it can be managed. The phone can be put down, email closed, TV and radio shut off. It is the stuff sent or given to us that truly clutters our lives.

New mail, reports on various clients or from different departments, business proposals, invoices, industry mailings, magazines and advertisements are just a part of what could find a place on your desk each day. In most cases, we all seem to be firefighters at work. We run from issue to client to meeting so often, the items on our desk are the last things we ever get to. If you string a few of those days together, your desk will disappear under mountains of paperwork.

Not having enough space in your primary work zone creates stress and increases the risk of injury. You may find yourself performing extended reaching, working in awkward postures and generally more fatigued. Inadequate leg clearance constricts movement and limits circulation.  Monitor Screen clutter is also an issue and may contribute to eyestrain, neck strain and shoulder strain.

Disorganization of employees can cost companies thousands of dollars.

According to Fellows, It is estimated that an employee wastes an hour a day looking for misplaced items. If you estimate the cost based on a company with 100 employees, an average annual salary of $60,000, a 40-hour workweek and 2 weeks of vacation. The wasted time adds up to:

•                $15,000 per week

•                $65,000 per month

•                $780,000 per year

43% of Americans categorize themselves as disorganized, and 21% have missed vital work deadlines. Nearly half say disorganization causes them to work late at least 2 or times each week.
Jane Von Bergen, "So many reasons to neaten up...", Boston Globe 3/12/06
Esselte survey, David Lewis

 So how do we fix the mess on our desks?   Here are some ideas to get things moving in the right direction. 

Here are some ideas to get things moving in the right direction.

1.    Place items most frequently used within minimal arms reach    

2.    Remove any items under your desk that impede your leg clearance

3.    Time-block a section of time on your calendar and treat it like a meeting, the work on the desk would get the attention it needs and maybe save you some stress and maybe even your job. Pick Friday afternoons, this way when you walk in on Monday morning, you have a clean desk and know what the priorities are for that day.  

4.    Use the TV show “Clean Sweep” idea of three piles or containers. The "keep" pile is the one with all of the important paperwork that cannot be lost.

5.    The “move” pile is for anything you want to take home or that another person could use. Magazines or other industry specific items that you might need to refer back to would go here. Use a drawer or plastic box to store these in and “move” the magazines there.

6.   Everything else goes in the toss pile to be shredded, recycled or disposed of.

Unless that is the actual goal, the surface of your desk doesn't have to be sterile and completely devoid of paper. The objective is to organize your desk so that it increases efficiency and decreases the risk of injury. If that means several neat piles on your desk than so be it, as long as everything you kept helps you meet your goal of increased efficiency.

These are just a few ideas to help you streamline your work environment. These same concepts can work in your home as well.

Please respond and give me your opinion of these suggestions and I hope some of my faithful readers send in suggestions and tips of their own that work for them.

Photo Al Gore in his office (Steve Pyke for Time). 

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Has anyone noticed it’s cold outside? We are lucky here in Southern California during the daytime outside, but inside it still stays pretty cool. Mornings and nighttimes bring a shiver on.  Just because it is cold outside doesn’t give you a good reason to turn into a couch potato.

Exercise boosts the immune system and provides so many other benefits too. Just dress warm and hit the outdoors. Before you exercise anytime you should do some stretches and warm up exercises and this goes double in cold weather.  I am not talking about extreme cold but chilly cold. A 5-10 minute warm up period will help before exercise in cold weather. Your muscles and tendons are like rubber, so when they get cold they are easier to crack or break.
 
When it’s cold outside it is also a good time to break out family soup recipes. Nothing says warm like a nice bowl of healthy vegetable soup or homemade chili. It is also important to stay hydrated. We don’t get as thirsty in the cold weather but it is still very important to drink water before exercising.
 
There is not much better in the cold than to keep your feet warm.  I think everyone knows how good it feels to put on some nice warm socks when you are cold.  There is a new product that does good things for you in many different ways.  It is a heated footrest.  See product details

There are many ergonomic benefits of a footrest, but to have it warm your feet plus helping to prevent varicose veins, relieving pressure from your Achilles tendon and a reminder to sit back in the chair. This footrest is stable, adjustable and easy to pick up and move.. But the very best thing it keeps your feet warm. Talk about a win-win situation. It’s pretty nice looking too.

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The heated health care debate continues.  We all have our opinions on the reform, what should be included, is there too much included, do we even need a reform?

The focus has now shifted to the Democrats in Congress a day after the Senate Finance Committee voted through its version of the health care bill.

Although there are a lot of issues still on the table, the value of preventative health is not being questioned.  Both parties agree on creating incentives for preventive health care to help lower overall costs.

As an injury prevention specialist, it has been obvious to me that prevention is key to saving money and lowering  health care costs.

Ergonomics is a key component in injury prevention and cost saving.  Protecting our most valuable resources (the human resources) saves money and increases a company's bottom line. There are many studies showing the success and the cost saving benefits of good  ergonomic programs.

Check out 25 ways Ergonomics can save you money by Dan MacLeod.  In his study he shows workers compensation savings have been cut an average of 60% and up to 90% and he discusses how ergonomics improves productivity efficiency and lowers absenteeism.

Tip of the Week:

Adapted from E. Grandjeans "Fitting the task to the man

Alternate your tasks    -    Avoid static postures

• Alternate your tasks (at least 5 minutes every hour) so that you use different muscles
• Print up a list of keyboard shortcuts to use rather than the repetitive mouse usage
• Try printing to a printer outside your general desk area so you have to get up or take a short walk to get documents.
• Leave your office and take a short walk at lunch time.
• Stand up for phone calls.

I'd love to get your feedback on this and I look forward to hearing from you.

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