WINTER 2000     Inside: • Mould Litigation and Due Diligence • So What is an EMS? • Ergonomics at Work ERGONOMICS AT WORK Lil Moro, M.Sc., CCPE     Musculoskeletal pain from work consistently stands out as a health concern for many office environments. Often, minor ergonomics issues can be corrected through some basic action. For example, office workers can check to ensure that their workstation adequately supports their body and task needs, review how they do their job, and check to ensure their environment doesn't add unnecessary stress. This may include: EQUIPMENT CHOICE: A well designed chair should fit the user's unique body dimensions and be adjustable to match the workstation, equipment, task and environmental needs. Today more chairs are also including features to allow dynamic movement in the work day. Ergonomically friendly chair.>>> EQUIPMENT LAYOUT: The position of your equipment can dramatically influence how well your body responds when you use it. For example, a mouse that is positioned too far in front or the side of a keyboard can unnecessarily strain the shoulder area. JOB DESIGN: Where possible, avoid prolonged activity by adjusting the chair, change to a standing posture (e.g. move some equipment off the desk, periodically stand to talk on the phone), or spread the work load to different body parts (e.g. using keystroke combinations instead of prolonged mouse activity). WORK ENVIRONMENT: The visual environment can be improved by positioning the monitor to allow for comfortable viewing and neck postures. A monitor that is too close or too high, combined with prolonged near focussing can lead to eye strain symptoms. Rearranging the space to encourage periodic far viewing can also help.     Of course these are just a few tips that workers can follow, and not all concerns can be solved from these few basic actions. PHH Environmental can help your organization optimize office environments through training, site audits and related ergonomics consulting services.     For more information, call Lil Moro in our Edmonton office. Lil has an M.Sc. in Ergonomics from the University of Loughborough in England and is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE).