All recommendations are based upon Australian Standard AS 3590 – Screen-based workstations, Part 2
Ergonomics is the science of creating a job to fit the worker and not forcing the worker to fit the job. This includes paying attention to environment factors that can negatively impact vision, health, comfort and hearing. It also takes into account the physical stresses placed on a person’s muscles, joints, tendons, nerves and bones when they are doing a specific job.
Here are some tips on setting up an ergonomic workstation:
Keyboards
Place the keyboard in a position that allows the forearms to be close to the horizontal and the wrists to be straight. That is, with the hand in line with the forearm. If this causes the elbows to be held far out from the side of the body then re-check the work surface height.
Some people prefer to have their wrists supported on a wrist rest or the desk. Be careful not to have the wrist extended or bent in an up position.
Chairs
Adjust the seat tilt so that you are comfortable when you are working on the keyboard. Usually, this will be close to horizontal but some people prefer the seat tilted slightly forwards.
Your knees should be bent at a comfortable angle and greater than 90º flexion. If this places an uncomfortable strain on the leg muscles, or if the feet do not reach the floor, then a footrest should be used. The footrest height must allow your knees to be bent at 90º; the height of the footrest may need to be adjustable.
Adjust the backrest so that it supports the lower back when you are sitting upright.
Monitors
Set the eye-to-screen distance at the distance that permits you to most easily focus on the screen. Usually this will be within an arm’s length.
Set the height of the monitor so that the top of the screen is below eye level and the bottom of the screen can be read without a marked inclination of the head. Usually this means that the centre of the screen will need to be near shoulder height. Your eyes should be level with the tool bar.
People who wear bifocal or multi-focal lenses will need to get a balance between where they see out of their lenses and avoid too much neck flexing. The height of the monitor can be adjusted using a monitor riser.
Phones
Avoid cradling the phone between your head and shoulder when answering calls. If you need to use your computer at the same time, use a headset or the phone’s hands-free/speaker-phone capabilities if the environment is suitable.
(sourced from the University of WA website)
All recommendations are based upon Australian Standard AS 3590 – Screen-based workstations, Part 2