Moore: Home Ergonomics Advice

Friday, March 5, 2021 | 0

Recently, I viewed a webinar on home ergonomics advice from ErgoSmith that is owned by Mindy Smith. I have seen her present at least five or six times over the last 15 years.  If you contact her, she may share the whole presentation with you.  

James Moore

She graciously allowed me to use a few slides from her presentation. I decided to use three of them to not delve too far into what is an area I know so little about except that it saves workers' comp money even reducing injuries from home. 

My decision to cover ergonomics came from this post on in-home injuries that went viral a few months ago.

If you think ergonomics may not be worth the time or effort, check out how ergonomists reduced carpal tunnel syndrome by 50% in the workplace, saving employers millions in workers’ compensation budgets.

Ergonomics is risk management in its most basic form: hands-on cost reduction.

If you click on the following thumbnails, you should be able to see the whole slide. I will make comments below each one. All have ErgoSmith as the copyright holder.

This slide covers one of the areas that I suffer from often: computer eye fatigue. I had recently reviewed a claim where the injured worker had a healing torn cornea. She worked at the computer 15 hours a day at home. This slide might have prevented that reoccurrence of symptoms. The injured worker’s claim was reopened with $40,000 in reserves, as she may have needed corrective surgery. 

The advice on how to set up your home workstation/desk is simple yet reduces stress and strain if you sit at a desk all day. This could even apply if you return to the office. I know, stands and footrests seem like expensive options, correct? Well, then check out slide three on home ergonomics advice, a shocker to me. 

A laptop stand for $17 seems reasonable. I had always thought that ergonomic equipment was extremely costly. In some workers’ comp claims, I have paid 1,000% more for the same items. This slide from TeamErgo and many of the presentations I have seen by Mindy dispute this point very often. Ergonomics can be reasonably done.  

Conclusion on home ergonomics advice

I think we can call see that good, reasonably priced home ergonomics are available.  Ergonomics did not stop when your employer transitioned you from an office to home.  This great advice can prevent you from having a remote workers' comp incident. 

This blog post is provided by James Moore, AIC, MBA, ChFC, ARM, and is republished with permission from J&L Risk Management Consultants. Visit the full website at www.cutcompcosts.com.