Office Ergonomics: Setting up Your Workspace to Work for You
Friday, April 27, 2012
By Adam Milligan
How do you know you don’t fit the model?
When I first started the business I had a client come to me who worked at a major organization in Columbus. This client had been trying everything to lose fat and kept having recurrent upper back and neck pain that limited her ability to exercise consistently. While achieving some success we found that she continued to have times of hindering pain. With exploration we narrowed it to her position at work and although she had been set up ergonomically, what she had been taught was not right for her.
So, I did what any concerned professional would do, I went to her work to help her set up her workspace for her. What we found is that what she had been taught was generally correct, but it just wasn’t right for her - her body didn’t fit the model. Repositioning her workspace and teaching her those things that she should focus on enabled her to decrease the continued strain that she was placing onto her body. Not to say that it was easy, because changing biomechanics and posture is not easy, but it can make a huge difference in the stress your body is taking and, thus, how your body feels.
My work with this client, and the difference it made, was the stepping stone to meeting with the head of Human Resources of her organization. During the meeting I learned that the company had spent $40,000 in the past year to have an ergonomic expert teach their upper management ergonomics. Those individuals were to then teach those under them, with the information moving down the hierarchy. I couldn’t help but think of the game “telephone” where one person whispers to another and the message is passed around a group until it reaches the original person and is inevitably distorted. Perhaps, not the ideal, but the message that my client received wasn’t distorted, it just wasn’t right for her.
This is really the issue. We are not the same. Each of us have different body patterns, stresses and cheats - one size does not fit all. While I understand the appeal to standardize and make protocols, they are much cheaper and easier, many of us simply don’t fit the model.
How do you know if you don’t fit the model? That is not always easy to determine because whenever you are changing the body it can feel awkward and wrong. So, without getting a professional involved to help you assess on an individual level, you need to see how your body responds over time to whatever change you are making. Pay attention, take notes and track as many details as applicable. The body always changes gradually and the more consistent and specific you are the better you will be able to guide the change in the direction that you want.
Friday, April 27, 2012
By Adam Milligan
How do you know you don’t fit the model?
When I first started the business I had a client come to me who worked at a major organization in Columbus. This client had been trying everything to lose fat and kept having recurrent upper back and neck pain that limited her ability to exercise consistently. While achieving some success we found that she continued to have times of hindering pain. With exploration we narrowed it to her position at work and although she had been set up ergonomically, what she had been taught was not right for her.
So, I did what any concerned professional would do, I went to her work to help her set up her workspace for her. What we found is that what she had been taught was generally correct, but it just wasn’t right for her - her body didn’t fit the model. Repositioning her workspace and teaching her those things that she should focus on enabled her to decrease the continued strain that she was placing onto her body. Not to say that it was easy, because changing biomechanics and posture is not easy, but it can make a huge difference in the stress your body is taking and, thus, how your body feels.
My work with this client, and the difference it made, was the stepping stone to meeting with the head of Human Resources of her organization. During the meeting I learned that the company had spent $40,000 in the past year to have an ergonomic expert teach their upper management ergonomics. Those individuals were to then teach those under them, with the information moving down the hierarchy. I couldn’t help but think of the game “telephone” where one person whispers to another and the message is passed around a group until it reaches the original person and is inevitably distorted. Perhaps, not the ideal, but the message that my client received wasn’t distorted, it just wasn’t right for her.
This is really the issue. We are not the same. Each of us have different body patterns, stresses and cheats - one size does not fit all. While I understand the appeal to standardize and make protocols, they are much cheaper and easier, many of us simply don’t fit the model.
How do you know if you don’t fit the model? That is not always easy to determine because whenever you are changing the body it can feel awkward and wrong. So, without getting a professional involved to help you assess on an individual level, you need to see how your body responds over time to whatever change you are making. Pay attention, take notes and track as many details as applicable. The body always changes gradually and the more consistent and specific you are the better you will be able to guide the change in the direction that you want.
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1508 Hess St. #D. Columbus, Ohio 43212 • 614.298.8781
1508 Hess St. #D. Columbus, Ohio 43212 • 614.298.8781
