Ergonomic Economics Modern Workstations Can Help A Company Defray Costs Associated With On-The-Job Repetitive Stress Injuries

The human body, as it turns out, was not made for sitting behind a desk.

And yet, because so many of us earn a living doing just that, we develop aches and pains and crimps and cramps.

In the last decade there has been a growing realization that not only are those injuries preventable, but that preventing them might save employers money.

That awareness has given rise to a new field of ergonomic consultants, experts in designing workplaces that minimize the repetitive stress disorders caused by prolonged sitting, typing or more strenuous activities.

The idea is to make the workplace conform to the worker, not the other way around, said Jim Strandy, a Summitt Rehabilitation Associates physical therapist who works with hand patients.

“We can’t adjust the person, but we can adjust the chair or adjust the keyboard or adjust the monitor,” Strandy said.

Strandy has worked with a number of Spokane employers, such as Avista, Hewlett-Packard and Kaiser Aluminum, to prevent injuries.

At Avista, Strandy went from worker to worker, looking at their posture and positioning.

“(Avista) bought these really nice chairs, but they didn’t show people how to use them,” he said. “It was, `all right, we bought all this stuff, now are we using it right?”’

Avista has tried to take a proactive approach to workplace safety, said Barbara Huber, Avista’s coordinator for occupational safety and health.

By preventing injuries, Avista is able to save the company money by reducing time off for injuries and cutting Labor and Industry insurance claims, Huber said.

“Definitely, it is a business decision to support ergonomics,” she said.

Not every employer is as easily convinced that ergonomic planning helps the bottom line, however.

“It’s almost always reactive, because an employer isn’t going to fix something that isn’t broken,” said John Celestino, a therapist at the Center for Physical and Sports Therapist.

Like many other ergonomic consultants, Celestino is often called into workplaces to help determine what is causing a patient’s injuries. If the problem is affecting other workers, the consultants try to recommend changes that will prevent future injuries.

“Sometimes you can use hurt people to get back to the employer,” said Dr. Judith Heusner, an occupational health specialist with the Rockwood Clinic. “I’ll say, `Based on what I’ve heard, I’m not just worried about her, but the person who’s working on her machine when she’s gone.”’

It can occasionally take some persuasion for employers to make the necessary changes, said Heusner, who is a consultant with The Boeing Co. and the city of Spokane.

“It’s kind of fun to write a memo that this is the condition a person has and it’s much less expensive to modify a chair than to keep an (insurance) claim open for pain medication and therapy and time lost,” she said. “It does help to have an M.D.”

An increasing number of employers see the wisdom of preventing injuries, Celestino said.

“More and more companies are starting to think proactively,” he said. “How do we improve the bottom line? Either fire employees or make the ones you have more productive.”

As the ergonomic consulting field grows, office furniture companies are starting to capture some of the market.

Bank and Office Interiors, which does about 20 percent of its business in consulting, no longer wants to be called a furniture store.

“We like to call ourselves an office environments company,” said Matthew LaVigne, general manager of Bank and Office’s Spokane office.

The company’s goal is to meet with a client, determine their needs, provide the right equipment, then help the company manage and modify the equipment into the future, LaVigne said.

“If you look at furniture as a tool and not a capital expense, there are things you can do (to prevent injuries),” he said.

But while well-designed furniture is important, employee behavior can make an even bigger difference, Strandy said.

Workers who get up and move around are going to be healthier, he said.

“Your body needs movement,” Strandy said. “You have all sorts of fluids in your body that need to be exchanged. The bottom line is that your body is not designed to sit in a chair all day.”