ONE's health and wellbeing are determined by various factors. Often times, only heavy, dangerous work is linked with occupational diseases. However, do you know that those working in the office and those who do sedentary jobs are also at risk?
This is because being in a static position for a long period of time will make the doer become fatigued and his body aches in certain places. Thus, it is important for an individual to know the impact of the ergonomic issue especially amid the global pandemic, Covid-19.
Why is being ergonomic linked with the pandemic? Covid-19 offers a new norm in the form of wider digitalisation of businesses and services. The digital platform is even more significant in life affairs, including in the teaching and learning process be it at schools or learning institutions, working from home or doing transactions of necessities.
The presence of the pandemic sees every layer of the society try to minimise the face-to-face communication and practice social distancing. Reversibly, the two-way or multiple-ways communication can now be done online from the comfort of one's own chair.
If the activity is done in quite a long time, it will indirectly lead to fatigue, body ache, and back pain. These happen due to the abandonment of the ergonomic factor on the furniture (in which case is the chair) used and the environment (air ventilation and lighting) where the communicative activity or work is done.
Thus, the chair and the surrounding, be it at home or in the organisation, must instill the ergonomic aspect so that the pandemic does not create other health complications. It is apparent here, that the comfort at the workplace be it at home or at the office cannot be taken lightly or cast aside, amid this pandemic.
The ergonomic aspect that stresses on the comfort of the surrounding at the work station is an important issue. The ergonomic design of a piece of equipment or furniture, for instance, must use all the humanity factors which is through the adaptation of the physical state or the needs of the users.
Such an ergonomic design at the workplace is among the important strategies as to minimise the stress to individuals. The workplace arrangement of the traditional surroundings whether at the office or at home must be changed and adapted with the current working environment.
This change should be in line with the latest technological development. Studies have shown that an ergonomic work environment is really effective in minimising pain and discomfort that can lead to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD).
Studies that compare the ergonomic work station and non-ergonomic workstation on productivity reveal that employees' productivity becomes higher when they are placed in the ergonomic workstation. Studies have also proven that the design of ergonomic workstation can minimise stress other than increasing motivation and work satisfaction.
In turn, an uncomfortable working environment can easily lead to various somatic complaints like fatigue, back ache, muscle ache and neck pain. Thus, it is not wrong to say that the work station environment must be given due attention as it is the location where one spends time the most, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The change towards a more comfortable workstation gives a great meaning to individual health and wellbeing, also to the people in organisations during and post-Covid-19. In general, complete facilities and equipment also ongoing training and development will create high performance among individuals and employees in organisations.
By contrast, unsatisfactory environment coupled with equipment that does not support one's efficacy and effectiveness in the task implementation will only lead to the deterioration of performance.
The writer is Professor of HRM and Organisational Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times