Mini-Analysis: Ergonomics for Everyone

Mini-Analysis

Topic: Ergonomics for Everyone

Audience for the course
The audience for this course is all individuals, particularly those who work at home and their jobs, as well as school aged children.

Brief Description of Mini-Analysis
The mini-analysis was performed using Survey Monkey and distributed to acquaintances through Facebook messages. The analysis was designed to assess people’s knowledge and use of Ergonomics.

Types of questions included in survey
I asked the individuals to answer the following questions:
How many hours they spend at the computer in their daily lives?
How many hours they spend on their feet in their workday?
If their workstations at home and at work have been ergonomically assessed?
How much their jobs entail repetitive motions?
Injuries they may have due to lack of ergonomics?
Their familiarity with the science or principles of ergonomics?

Participants
16 individuals participated in the survey. The ages of individuals who participated in the survey, ranged from 18 to 62 years old.

Results of Mini-Analysis
It was found that the majority of individuals (68.8%) spend over eight hours of their daily lives using a computer, while only 18% of individuals surveyed spend the majority of their work lives standing on their feet. There was a very small amount of individuals who have had their workstations at work (25%) and at home (6.3%) assessed for ergonomic placement. The amount of repetitive motion required at their jobs varied across the spectrum for individuals with the following results: Never (12.5%), Sometimes (18.8%), Often (43.8%), and Constantly (25%). When asked about possible ergonomic injuries that may have an impact on their bodies, a larger number of individuals (43.8%) indicated that they get neck pain at least once a week, while 18.8% may exhibit signs of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Approximately 44% of individuals have complained about stress on their body in their workplace. Most of the participants have either heard of ergonomics (37.5%) or know how to sit correctly at their workstations (37.5%), however only 25% of participants know what steps to take from an ergonomic standpoint to avoid injuries.

These results will assist me in constructing the course content. I think that many individuals have a belief that ergonomics applies only to a computer workstation, when it can apply to a variety of work and home environments. It appears that people need to learn what injuries can occur with regard to lack of ergonomics, as well as what steps can be taken to avoid those injuries or stresses on their bodies.