Effective office ergonomics awareness: Experiences from global corporates

Kishore P Madhwani, PK Nag

Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2017 21(2):77-83

Background: Use of laptops and hand-held devices increase the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). More time spent on this activity adopting faulty postures, higher the risk of developing such injuries. This study addresses training on office ergonomics with emphasis on sustainable behavior change among employees to work in safe postures, as this is a top priority in the corporate environment, today. Aim: To explore training intervention methods that ensure wider coverage of awareness on office ergonomics, thereby promoting safer working and suggesting sustainable programs for behavior change and job enrichment. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted (2012 - 2017), encompassing corporate office employees of multinational corporations selected from India, Dubai (U.A.E), Nairobi (East Africa), Durban (South Africa), South East Asian countries (Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka).Participant employees (n = 3503) were divided into two groups to study the effect of interventions'; i.e., (a) deep training: 40 minute lecture by the investigator with a power point presentation (n = 1765) using a mock workstation and (b) quick training: live demonstrations of 10 minutes (n = 1738) using a live workstation. Results: While deep training enhanced awareness in 95.51% and quick training in 96.59% globally, the latterwas much appreciated and educated maximum employees. From statistical analysis, quick training was found superior in providing comprehensive training and influencing behavior modification in India, but all over the world it was found highly superior in knowledge enlargement, skills enrichment in addition to providing comprehensive training (P < 0.05). In countries, located to West of India, it significantly influenced behavior modification. Conclusion: As because few employees attend deep training lectures, the quick 10-minute program is highly promising as it is practical, replicable, yields increased awareness with wider employee coverage in a much shorter time, instilling a feeling of caring and confidence amongst them towards a robust office ergonomics program. This could lead to propose as a best practice for corporate offices globally.

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