Ergonomics in the Workplace – The Need of the Hour

Whenever an employee is ill or injured, you will need to provide that person with ample sick leave to make sure that he or she is healthy enough to start working again. Making working environments as comfortable as possible is one of the essentials of having a productive workforce. However, businesses shouldn’t wait for an illness or accident to occur before considering ergonomics in the office. The following points explain in detail why an ergonomic workplace is becoming the need of the hour.

Cost

Lack of ergonomics might range from anything from uncomfortable chairs that lead to back pain to poor lighting that causes eye-fatigue. According to a report by the Work Foundation published in 2014, back pain costs the UK economy £7 bn a year in work-related absence (McGarvey, 2014). Keep in mind this is just the amount incurred due to back pain. According to another research report by PwC, the cost to UK businesses, per annum, for employee absence and sick days is a staggering £29 bn as of 2013 (Stevens, 2013).

Performance

Along with costing you heavily, poor office ergonomics are also known to affect your employees’ performance at work negatively. According to research carried out by Fellowes, 34% of employees have admitted that they have even considered changing their jobs due to the negative-impact of their working environment on their health. Employees coming to work when they are not well has led to a rising trend of ‘presenteeism’ across the UK. This is a term used to describe being physically present in the office but not being able to work properly, thus compromising productivity (Wilson, 2017).

Health

Health is another essential that is affected by the physical working environment. According to Fellowes, employees in the UK are suffering regularly from backache (34%), neck ache (25%) and headaches (23%). The main reason for these health problems is the lack of awareness about good working practices. Poor posture while sitting (55%), not drinking enough water during the day (42%), and sitting for too long without taking a break (42%) are a few employee habits that lead to health problems (Wilson, 2017).

Every workplace is only good as its employees. Hence, to avoid the staggering costs, ‘presenteeism’ and poor employee health, it is about time you start considering workstation ergonomics and make your office employee-friendly.