An ergonomics intervention study of reducing health complaints among office employees

• Published in: 2008 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management pp. 1966 - 1970
• Main Authors: Shikdar, A., Khadem, M., Al-Harthy, S.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.12.2008
• Subjects: Displays; Employment; Ergonomics; Ergonomics Intervention; Health Complaints; Injuries; Job design; Management training; Office Ergonomics; Oil refineries; Pain; Productivity; Workstations
• ISBN: 9781424426294; 1424426294
• ISSN: 2157-3611; 2157-362X
• DOI: 10.1109/IEEM.2008.4738215

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of alternate methods of ergonomics intervention in the office environment of an oil refinery company in Oman. A year long study was conducted on a sample of 40 representative employees of the company. The employees were randomly divided into four groups and assigned to four experimental conditions. A Checklist developed for the evaluation was administered before the intervention and six months after the intervention with ergonomics conditions. The result showed a significant reduction in health complaints such as backache, headache, shoulders and neck pain in groups with an ergonomics intervention. The investigation showed that ergonomic facilities along with ergonomics training was significantly better than providing only ergonomics training or ergonomics facilities alone. This type of research will have immense implications for managers who are interested in improving worker productivity, health, safety and satisfaction in work environment where computers are used intensively.