Ergonomics and workplace posture

Performance / 03 February 2012

Musculoskeletal disorders are on the rise, caused in part by poor desk setups and working on the move. Matt McAllister looks at whether managers really have the power to change bad back Britain

For all the technological wizardry and home comforts of 21st century Britain, we’re putting more strain on our bodies than ever before. Many of us spend our working hours hunched over workstations or conference tables.

In between meetings we might eat lunch at our desks, check emails on smartphones or tap away on laptops perched on our knees. If we’re really lucky, we might have a few hours slumped in front of the television at the end of the day.

The cumulative effect of this lifestyle is inevitable. Carpal tunnel syndrome (a form of repetitive strain injury that affects nerves in the wrists), lower back pain, ‘text neck’ and other musculoskeletal problems are all common complaints in workplaces across the country.

Research from the British Chiropractic Association found that 36% of the nation is suffering from back or neck pain – up from 32% in 2010.

“A big problem in modern life is that we spend the majority our day sitting down,” says Tim Hutchful, spokesperson at the British Chiropractic Association. “What most people don’t realise is that puts twice as much load on the spine as standing. And if you use your arms in an unsupported position each day, stretching out to a poorly placed mouse or keyboard, that causes problems too. The average weight of the human arm is between six and eight pounds, which increases the stress on your neck and shoulder.

“If you use your spine the way it’s designed and line up your ear, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle, you’re virtually incompressible. But we don’t tend to use it like that when sitting at our desks.”

The problem can lead to employees feeling miserable, distracted and exhausted at work, particularly as muscular complaints are exacerbated by stress. It can also mean they take time off to recover or seek out treatment, which has an impact on productivity.

Long term investment

All of this has helped turn ergonomics (the study of equipment designed to fit the human body and its movements) into a thriving industry, with many companies now offering workplace assessments and ergonomically designed furniture.

But the cost of all this is outweighed by the expense of employees taking time off sick later, argues Ian Fletcher-Price, CEO of Posturite. His company design and manufacture posture-improving products, as well as providing training and consultancy for organisations such as HSBC, Virgin and IBM.

“Our clients have the driver of employee wellbeing and productivity, rather than some purchasing departments who just see ergonomics as a cost,” he says. “Often, they don’t see the long-term benefits. And it doesn’t necessarily require intervention. Sometimes it can be a simple workplace assessment, teaching employees how to hold their mouse or position their computer – education is key.”

The ‘CrackBerry’ mentality, where you can never be away from your emails, is a huge problem for a lot of middle or senior managers. Being aware of these things and taking sensible precautions is very important.

Tom Stewart, executive chairman of System Concepts

While many small businesses can’t afford vast amounts of money for specially designed furniture, firms can make an impact while working within their budget.

“With any business, you’ve got to cut your cloth to what you can afford,” says Hutchful. “For instance, there are companies that produce ergonomic seats for £2,000 – they’re fantastic but expensive. But you can go somewhere else and get a chair that has nearly all the same adjustments, but is less than £50.

"It’s not always true that the more expensive the seat the better. They just need to be adaptable to people’s body shapes, rather than static, and suit their monitor, mouse and desk.”

Nowadays, of course, there are legal frameworks about workplace ergonomics, with employers obligated to carry out risk assessments and reduce the dangers of issues such as manual handling and displacing equipment. But it seems that many of the EU directives are vague at best.

“They’re woolly and not really enforced,” says Hutchful. “They cover office spaces in general and use language like, ‘lighting must be adequate’. What does adequate mean? If you’re short-sighted, your definition of adequate is different from someone with 20:20 vision.”

Leading by example

Regardless of the law, managers have a responsibility to protect employees from their own bad posture habits by encouraging them to take regular breaks and follow workplace assessment advice. Managers should also be aware of ergonomics ‘best practice’ guidelines. Yet employers’ responsibility only goes so far.

“You can’t be a nanny state,” insists Hutchful. “You’ve got to give people the information but it works two ways. I’m very aware that if you make everything the employer’s responsibility, everyone will say, ‘Oh, the employer didn’t provide me with this.’ But there are plenty of people out there who might have the right chair and are shown how to use it properly – and they actually just use it as they want to. So the employer can’t be liable for everything.”

The personal responsibility of employees is particularly true now that working culture has changed, with an increasing number of people working from home or checking emails on the move.

Melissa Dobbins, project manager at heat transfer company Alfa Laval, is one of many managers whose staff often work at home.

“Increasingly you have to be available almost 24 hours a day, either by laptop or by iPhone, and you’re too busy with emails flying back and forth to think about your posture,” she says. “A big problem is lugging around laptops. Even though laptops are lighter nowadays, they’re not small for engineers. They also tend to come in bags that put strain on your shoulder, rather than backpacks, which isn’t good for your back.”

However, it would be wrong to assume that all technology is bad for posture, says Tom Stewart, executive chairman of System Concepts, a consultancy that specialises in ergonomics and the relationship between people and technology.

“Electric height-adjustable desks are an obvious example of something that is ergonomically designed and makes use of the latest technology. And devices like the iPad mean that people can move about, change posture and not be fixed at a keyboard or screen the whole time.

"For instance, Apple Store employees aren’t stuck behind a counter but use an iPad to roam around and interact with customers throughout the store. Ergonomics is mainly preventative. It is about designing things – products, systems, services or environments – which suit people by taking account both of their capabilities and their limitations.”  

Use your tools

Dobbins has seen how technology has helped her staff too. “We used to have engineers hurting their backs doing manual handling, especially as some people have the perception that they can easily lift 25 kilos. But we’re now trying to eradicate manual handling and use mechanical methods of lifting wherever possible.”

All of this is only a small part of the wider field of ergonomics. ‘Ergonomics’ literally means ‘fitting a task to man’, and the field also takes in everything from making sure mobile phones and websites are as accessible as possible to the layout of supermarkets. It means that ergonomics plays an important role in linking environment and technology, and is of equal importance to both a company’s employees and customers.

Stewart says that many senior managers don’t realise the importance of getting involved in a company’s ergonomic policies at an early stage. He thinks it shouldn’t simply be an issue left to other people or departments as it can lead to costly and disruptive ‘retrofits’ later down the line.

“One of the difficulties is that ergonomics issues might seem small and part of the detail, and senior managers aren’t aware of these issues early on,” he says. “By the time they are aware of them, it becomes difficult to change a decision. If, for example, your company has just ordered 50 furniture items for your office and you only find out that they’re wrong for your employees once they’ve been delivered, that could be a big issue. Senior managers need to get involved in the detail earlier on.”

Clued up managers

There is at least a wider awareness of workplace posture and ergonomics than there once was. Dobbins says that her company now places more emphasis on workplace assessments, training and design than ever before.

“Companies now have to be seen to be doing much more, and my company does thorough checks,” she says. “We are getting better than we used to be – before, you’d never really heard of the problem. It’s only more recently, perhaps in the last decade, that the link between bad backs and bad workplace posture has become more obvious, as you’ve been aware of people taking time off with a bad back.”

Part of the reason that there is more of an awareness of musculoskeletal problems is because managers suffer from the conditions themselves. Whereas they were once sheltered from the problem, with tasks like writing letters or spreadsheets often carried out by typists or data analysts, they are now likely to spend much of their day and evening fixated on their PCs, smartphones or tablets.

In fact, Stewart thinks managers are one of the most likely groups to suffer from problems such as bad backs.

“The more senior you are, the less likely you are to have an attitude of ‘I must take a break because I’m entitled to it’. You’re more likely to say, ‘I’ll just knuckle on and get this forecast done’ – and a couple of hours later you’ll have done your back or shoulders in. In some ways more junior people are better off as they might have had something imposed on them, so they’ll take regular breaks, whereas senior managers switch off less.

“The ‘CrackBerry’ mentality, where you can never be away from your emails, is a huge problem for a lot of middle or senior managers. Being aware of these things and taking sensible precautions is very important.”

Dobbins used to suffer from the problem herself. “I started getting numbness and pins and needles in the top part of my arm and shoulder. Adressing the problem involved a lot of chiropractor hours and a lot of money,” she says. “My chiropractor advised me on how I should be sitting, and gave me a note to pass on to my company to get a new chair.”

Choose chairs wisely

While a chair that supports your back and neck is a good place to start, better chairs do not necessarily mean more elaborate chairs.

Hutchful has a final word of caution for any manager tempted to get a luxurious-looking chair that marks out their seniority. “Some people choose to buy a director’s chair for their office – a big leather chair that tilts backwards. But they might actually be better off with an office chair or a typist’s chair that tilts forwards and has adjustable arms. Your chair might look prestigious but it’s no use if it doesn’t allow you to do the job.”