Read each scenario carefully, and circle/choose the best solution to each “ergonomic” challenge.
1. John is a hard working employee, who works mainly at his desk. He dislikes the idea of occasional breaks during his working hours; he believes he’s already wasting too much time. Recently, he’s been feeling more stressed than usual, has an ache in his neck and shoulder every time he works for long periods of time.
What should he do?
a) Buy an overly expensive ergonomic chair with 10 different adjustable knobs, armrests and 2 cup holders.
b) Take 2 hour lunch breaks instead of a 30 minute – 1 hour break.
c) Shorten his 8 hour working day to a 6 hour working day
d) Spend 10 – 15 minutes of his working day after several hours as a break to stretch and relax.
2. Pete is a local truck driver, making deliveries every day. The driver’s seat in his truck is torn of most of the comfortable padding and support (mainly in his back), and is now mainly hard plastic and metal. Now, he’s feeling lack of circulation in his thighs, stress on his feet and even lower back pain.
What should he do?
a) Replace his driver’s seat with a new ergonomic seat with support for his lower back and a flat, wide and comfortable seating pad as support for his thighs.
b) Quit his job to find a “comfortable” job elsewhere.
c) Drive smaller trailers, with smaller roads.
d) Buy an ergonomic, supportive steering wheel to prevent stress and strain for joints in his hands and fingers.
3. Dave owns a popular moving company in his community. Daily, he’s used to carrying heavy objects such as boxes and furniture long distances and into his truck. But today, he found a large, heavy box which he could not carry because of a sudden, painful stroke of back pain.
What should he do?
a) Attempt to carry the heavy box by placing it on his back and hold it as if it were a backpack on his back.
b) Remove items from the box, carry the box to his truck, and place the items back in the box one by one.
c) Use a longer inclined plane to push the box up and into his truck
d) Use a mechanical device such as a forklift to lift the box into his truck to reduce risk of injury and move the box efficiently.
4. Janice works as a secretary at a large, busy law firm. Every day, Janice works extremely hard, typing for several hours on her computer, making schedules and writing memos. Suddenly, while typing she felt a sharp pain surge through her wrists, and couldn’t finish her work for the day.
What should she do?
a) Handwrite all the memos, schedules, letters and reminders
b) Use her smart phone to type all the work she needs to complete, so she can do her work almost anywhere.
c) Purchase an ergonomic keyboard, with added palm rests and a separation between the alphabet, to give space between elbows and reduce carpal tunnel injuries.
d) Choose to complete her daily work from the comfort of her own home.
5. Luke is an average 16 year old, high school student, who works in his community every winter, providing snow shovelling services to his neighbours. Luke works every day, all day, even after school, through the frigid winter conditions and temperatures. After 3 weeks worth of snow shovelling, he started to feel a numbing sensation in his hands, overused arm muscles and hints of low back pain.
What should he do?
a) Stop providing his snow shovelling services and become a fry cook, to increase the amount of time during winter to work in a “hot” environment
b) Take some days off from snow shovelling when the conditions are extremely frigid, and when the snow is very ice and hard to shovel.
c) Share half of his earnings with a friend and “hiring” them as his snow shovelling assistance.
d) Every day, practise harder and more excruciating hand and lower back exercises.
6. Mark is a middle aged filing clerk, who works at a large accounting firm. His schedule involves working 10 hours every single day, sometimes overtime, in a small, dark filing room, climbing shelves to reach higher placed, heavy filing boxes. Quickly after 3 or 4 days, he notices a pain extending in his arm to his shoulder, and a painful dash of eyestrain.
What should he do?
a) Improve the lighting in the room to provide adequate light for reading files and loads of paperwork, to reduce and relieve eyestrain.
b) Have “steps” or a short ladder mechanism handy in the room, for easier reach of higher, heavy filing boxes.
c) Carry a small flashlight in his pocket, to provide lighting with ease and mobility.
d) Options a and b.
7.Kevin is a newly hired employee, who spends most of his working day at his desk. New to the working force, he does not own any cabinets in his cubicle or any shelves, therefore leaving all of his files sprawled on his desk area. Every afternoon, his “neighbour” in the office enjoys playing loud, distracting music, which is when Kevin usually completes all of his work. After several weeks in his new job, Kevin realizes that most of his work is delayed and unproductive, he feels a huge amount of stress and now daily, has a throbbing headache.
What should he do?
a) Kindly tell his “neighbour” that playing loud music during work hours is distracting for both of them, therefore stopping his “neighbour’s” daily habit and increasing work productivity and quality.
b) Find more office, organizational furniture such as cabinets and shelves to organize and separate his files and work.
c) Make a schedule full of projects, deadlines and meetings coming up weekly to spread his work load over periods of time.
d) All of the Above.
8. James is the typical, 12 year old student. Every day, after school, James uses his computer to finish up some homework and, lounges all the way back on his roller chair, stretch his arms to type and stares at his monitor for more than 2 hours. At school, he’s been feeling pain looking at long distances, has a painful sensation at the back of his neck and, a little pain in his arms.
What should he do?
a) Ask his parents for an ergonomic computer desk, with movable features such as increasing its length and width for wider comfort.
b) Change his lounging chair position into a full, close, upright position, making his head and line of vision around 15 inches.
c) Improve his own posture on his chair while working, to allow comfort and release stress from his neck and reduce his arm stretching.
d) Ignore the pain because it is just temporary. Therefore, don’t make any changes to the way he works.
Worksheet #1: Multiple choice
Level: Easy
Read each scenario carefully, and circle/choose the best solution to each “ergonomic” challenge.
1. John is a hard working employee, who works mainly at his desk. He dislikes the idea of occasional breaks during his working hours; he believes he’s already wasting too much time. Recently, he’s been feeling more stressed than usual, has an ache in his neck and shoulder every time he works for long periods of time.What should he do?
a) Buy an overly expensive ergonomic chair with 10 different adjustable knobs, armrests and 2 cup holders.
b) Take 2 hour lunch breaks instead of a 30 minute – 1 hour break.
c) Shorten his 8 hour working day to a 6 hour working day
d) Spend 10 – 15 minutes of his working day after several hours as a break to stretch and relax.
2. Pete is a local truck driver, making deliveries every day. The driver’s seat in his truck is torn of most of the comfortable padding and support (mainly in his back), and is now mainly hard plastic and metal. Now, he’s feeling lack of circulation in his thighs, stress on his feet and even lower back pain.
What should he do?
a) Replace his driver’s seat with a new ergonomic seat with support for his lower back and a flat, wide and comfortable seating pad as support for his thighs.
b) Quit his job to find a “comfortable” job elsewhere.
c) Drive smaller trailers, with smaller roads.
d) Buy an ergonomic, supportive steering wheel to prevent stress and strain for joints in his hands and fingers.
3. Dave owns a popular moving company in his community. Daily, he’s used to carrying heavy objects such as boxes and furniture long distances and into his truck. But today, he found a large, heavy box which he could not carry because of a sudden, painful stroke of back pain.
What should he do?
a) Attempt to carry the heavy box by placing it on his back and hold it as if it were a backpack on his back.
b) Remove items from the box, carry the box to his truck, and place the items back in the box one by one.
c) Use a longer inclined plane to push the box up and into his truck
d) Use a mechanical device such as a forklift to lift the box into his truck to reduce risk of injury and move the box efficiently.
4. Janice works as a secretary at a large, busy law firm. Every day, Janice works extremely hard, typing for several hours on her computer, making schedules and writing memos. Suddenly, while typing she felt a sharp pain surge through her wrists, and couldn’t finish her work for the day.
What should she do?
a) Handwrite all the memos, schedules, letters and reminders
b) Use her smart phone to type all the work she needs to complete, so she can do her work almost anywhere.
c) Purchase an ergonomic keyboard, with added palm rests and a separation between the alphabet, to give space between elbows and reduce carpal tunnel injuries.
d) Choose to complete her daily work from the comfort of her own home.
5. Luke is an average 16 year old, high school student, who works in his community every winter, providing snow shovelling services to his neighbours. Luke works every day, all day, even after school, through the frigid winter conditions and temperatures. After 3 weeks worth of snow shovelling, he started to feel a numbing sensation in his hands, overused arm muscles and hints of low back pain.
What should he do?
a) Stop providing his snow shovelling services and become a fry cook, to increase the amount of time during winter to work in a “hot” environment
b) Take some days off from snow shovelling when the conditions are extremely frigid, and when the snow is very ice and hard to shovel.
c) Share half of his earnings with a friend and “hiring” them as his snow shovelling assistance.
d) Every day, practise harder and more excruciating hand and lower back exercises.
6. Mark is a middle aged filing clerk, who works at a large accounting firm. His schedule involves working 10 hours every single day, sometimes overtime, in a small, dark filing room, climbing shelves to reach higher placed, heavy filing boxes. Quickly after 3 or 4 days, he notices a pain extending in his arm to his shoulder, and a painful dash of eyestrain.
What should he do?
a) Improve the lighting in the room to provide adequate light for reading files and loads of paperwork, to reduce and relieve eyestrain.
b) Have “steps” or a short ladder mechanism handy in the room, for easier reach of higher, heavy filing boxes.
c) Carry a small flashlight in his pocket, to provide lighting with ease and mobility.
d) Options a and b.
7.Kevin is a newly hired employee, who spends most of his working day at his desk. New to the working force, he does not own any cabinets in his cubicle or any shelves, therefore leaving all of his files sprawled on his desk area. Every afternoon, his “neighbour” in the office enjoys playing loud, distracting music, which is when Kevin usually completes all of his work. After several weeks in his new job, Kevin realizes that most of his work is delayed and unproductive, he feels a huge amount of stress and now daily, has a throbbing headache.
What should he do?
a) Kindly tell his “neighbour” that playing loud music during work hours is distracting for both of them, therefore stopping his “neighbour’s” daily habit and increasing work productivity and quality.
b) Find more office, organizational furniture such as cabinets and shelves to organize and separate his files and work.
c) Make a schedule full of projects, deadlines and meetings coming up weekly to spread his work load over periods of time.
d) All of the Above.
8. James is the typical, 12 year old student. Every day, after school, James uses his computer to finish up some homework and, lounges all the way back on his roller chair, stretch his arms to type and stares at his monitor for more than 2 hours. At school, he’s been feeling pain looking at long distances, has a painful sensation at the back of his neck and, a little pain in his arms.
What should he do?
a) Ask his parents for an ergonomic computer desk, with movable features such as increasing its length and width for wider comfort.
b) Change his lounging chair position into a full, close, upright position, making his head and line of vision around 15 inches.
c) Improve his own posture on his chair while working, to allow comfort and release stress from his neck and reduce his arm stretching.
d) Ignore the pain because it is just temporary. Therefore, don’t make any changes to the way he works.
For Solutions:
Andrea's Ergonomic Worksheet Solutions