Common Injuries

The four most common types of ergonomics-related pain are in the:

• Back
• Neck
• Wrist
• Shoulders

Back

Causes:

For jobs involving heavy lifting, your back can be strained when lifting with a stooped posture and unprepared back muscles.  Employees working in offices or sitting down for a long time at work may also be at risk for back pain.  Sitting forward on your chair without using the backrest or having your knees above hip level contribute to back strains.

Symptoms:

Early symptoms may be back stiffness or discomfort in particular positions. Later symptoms may include back strain, herniated discs and extreme pain with any movement.

Prevention:

The best strategies to avoid back pain involve using a proper lifting technique, generating force from stronger leg muscles and maintaining the natural curves in your back. Sit all the way back in your chair, ensure your backrest supports your lumbar curve and take frequent standing or walking breaks.

Neck

Causes:

Neck pain most commonly arises in office environments when the monitor is not the right height or distance.

Symptoms:

Signs and symptoms include neck and shoulder stiffness and frequent headaches.

Prevention:

As a general rule, the top of the monitor should be aligned to your seated eye height and should be in line with the keyboard and mouse. Ensure your monitor is approximately an arm’s length away; larger monitors can be slightly further. Adjust the distance for your reading comfort.

Wrist

Causes:

Wrist pain is a common complaint in many work environments. Employees in offices, mail services, food services, landscapers, laboratory technicians and employees working with hand tools all complain about wrist pain.

Symptoms:

Early signs and symptoms may include stiffness or early onset fatigue. Later symptoms may include numbness or tingling in hands and fingers or decreased grip strength.

Prevention:

For office workers, ensure your wrists are below elbow level and your keyboard is completely horizontal or tilted slightly negatively. For other workers, try to maintain straight wrists and keep elbows close to your body to minimize the demands on your body. For repetitive hand work, try to alternate use between your right and left hands and adjust the height of work to vary your wrist postures.

Shoulders

Causes:

Shoulder pain in office workers is commonly caused by the placement of the mouse and keyboard. If the mouse is too far away from the keyboard, your mousing shoulder is likely to be sore or stiff. Also, if the keyboard is too high, your shoulders will be elevated while keyboarding, increasing shoulder tension and contributing to headaches and neck pain. Laboratory workers also experience shoulder pain from prolonged pipetting.

Symptoms:

Early symptoms include stiffness in shoulders and neck, while later symptoms involve reduced arm strength and shoulder pain.

Prevention:

Strategies to prevent shoulder pain or reduce shoulder symptoms include adjusting your keyboard height to encourage a 90-100 degree elbow angle while keyboarding. Use a smaller keyboard and bring the mouse closer to the keyboard and your elbow closer to your ribs, or consider switching the mouse to your left side. The mouse should be on the same platform as the keyboard. In the lab, try to keep your elbows supported on the lab bench or ledge in biosafety cabinet to reduce strain on shoulder. Alternate which shoulder is holding the pipette if possible. Keep objects as close to your body as possible to reduce strain on arms and shoulders.