Does tech company culture promote injuries?
Our bodies are not made to perform repetitive movements in sedentary sitting positions. Repetitively typing and staring at a computer screen put strain on our muscles and tendons. The fast paced environment found in the tech industry, where employees work at a computer for eight to ten hours a day, can contribute to these repetitive motion injuries. How can we avoid these repetitive movements when sitting at a computer is necessary for the job? How can an ergonomic specialist prevent discomfort when injury and strain seems immanent?
Tech companies can promote a fast pace culture and still be conscious of comfort and heath as well as ergonomics and injury prevention. Health does not have to be compromised because you are working in a fast pace environment. Tech companies are recognizing that using ergonomic products, following ergonomic recommendations, and taking regular ergo breaks in fact promote productivity. Companies, for example, who have implemented a successful ergonomic program are able to reduce disability days between 10-35% and improve return to work rates by 6%. Turnover rates have also declined for those companies who have implemented a successful ergonomic program (Heller-Ono, 2014). This suggests that with a successful ergonomic program, employees are able to feel an increased loyalty to their company and are physically able to spend more time at work.
When administrators implement a successful ergonomic program work quality will improve. Taking breaks and sitting comfortably at one’s workstation, allows employees work more productively in a limited amount of time. Whether you have a motto like, “Done is better than perfect (Facebook)” or “Work hard, have fun, make history (Amazon),” ergonomics will give employees the ability to finish deadlines and complete projects more efficiently. The lost time in breaks and the extra costs for ergonomic equipment will be made up in productivity.
Thanks for reading,
Shaul Lent CEAS, MA, OTR/L
Source:
Heller-Ono, A (2014) A Prospective Study of a Macroergonomics Process over Five Years Demonstrates Significant Prevention of Workers’ Compensation Claims Resulting in Projected Savings. Evaluation 30:90