Office & retail work

Work in shops and offices share similarities in terms of ergonomics and human factors. Retail workers can spend a long period of time sitting down while serving customer at a checkout for example, there can be much time spent working at a computer for stock control. There is also a certain amount of lifting and carrying of stock in shops and files in offices.

When we think about ergonomics in the office, we probably think of our chair and how comfortable it is (or not). But applying ergonomics in the office means considering all the factors that help us to work comfortably and efficiently, and it covers virtually every aspect of office work.

Let's get back to your chair – it's just a chair, right? Something you sit on. What's clever about that? Well, we're not designed to sit down all day, so if we do, we need something that will support us in all the right places to keep us comfortable. To be 'ergonomic', a chair should adjust in seat height (to make sure we're at the right height for the desk), backrest height and angle (to support our spine), and armrest height, if it has any (to help support our shoulders). Why does it need to be adjustable? Well, your office chair hasn't been specifically designed to fit you, or any other single person, so it needs adjustments to make sure, as far as possible, that it fits a range of people who might use it.

To help them decide on the specifications for a chair, designers use a branch of ergonomics called anthropometrics. This concerns body measurements, ranges of joint movement, reach distances and clearance dimensions. All of these are important if we're going to have any chance of creating products and spaces that fit us properly and comfortably.

You've probably heard of ergonomics linked to keyboards and mice too. In these cases, it's about maintaining comfortable hand and wrist positions and designing these 'input devices' to fit us in as natural a position as possible, without undue strain. Of course, where they're positioned on the desk in relation to you is just as important.

When it comes to the monitor or checkout display, as well as the physical characteristics of the screen such as how clear it is, how large the icons and text are, there is the software itself to consider. When we design computer programs, we use another branch of ergonomics called cognitive ergonomics. This considers how we perceive, understand and respond to information presented to us. In this case, when it's applied to websites, or software used on a computer, or applications running on mobile devices such as iPhones, it's called HCI or Human-Computer Interaction.

HCI includes the design of visual elements on the screen, together with what happens when you press a key on your keyboard, or click a mouse button. The size, shape and colour of screen graphics, the design of icons, the position and format of menus,

HCI includes the design of visual elements on the screen and the way they behave when you interact via input devices such as a keyboard or mouse. The visual elements such as icons, the navigational elements such as menus, and informational elements such as the content of web pages should all help us to achieve what we want to do, and not make us frustrated because they're illogical or don't do what we'd expect. And designing to tried and tested standards helps to ensure consistency so that we can use what we learn in one program, in another, without having to start from scratch.

So is it just our chairs and computers that can be influenced by ergonomics? Far from it! There’s the environmental aspects to consider - the temperature, noise and lighting. Whilst you may not find all these just right for you all the time, research helps us to design workplaces with certain temperature, noise and lighting ranges that suit most people - for the type of work they are doing. And that's an important consideration. In an office, you'll probably be sat down for a lot of the day, you need it to be fairly quiet so you can concentrate on what you're doing, and you need to be able to see your screen and paperwork clearly. If you had a more physically demanding job, like working in a storeroom, you'd need the temperature to be lower because you'd be generating your own heat. You may not need so much light and you might not be bothered about the amount of noise around you. In a shop, we'd want to make sure that it's comfortable for our customers too, so that they want to stay there and spend more money!

Now we come to 'organisational ergonomics'. This is where we look at aspects of the work itself, such as workloads, team work, and work flow. Can everyone cope with the amount and type of work they've got? Do they need help from other people, or more training perhaps? Do they have the right tools for the job such as a certain computer program, filing system, or a telephone headset?

We also use ergonomics to help us with health and safety aspects. We have guidelines for lifting weights (like boxes of paper or goods, water-cooler bottles, files, etc). Ergonomists can help to design or choose the best manual handling aids like trucks for carrying post or supermarket baskets and trolleys for shopping. And research helps us to understand how people react in emergencies, so that we have effective evacuation procedures in place, for example.

So next time you're in the office or in a shop, take a look at all the ergonomics around you!

Text by Tina Worthy