Hot-Desking, Hoteling, Home Office or Flexible Workspace: Where Does Ergonomics Fit In?

Written by: Kim Meszaros, CCPE, Senior Ergonomist

Do you, or your staff, work from home or travel between different locations? Is it difficult or costly to access ergonomic services? Our clients are saying “yes” to both questions. We hear that you have a need to support workers throughout the province and across the country in both a cost effective and efficient manner.

According to the Globe and Mail article, “Mobile workers are the new norm” there has been an increase of mobile workers from 68.9% in 2012 to 73% in 2016 across Canada. That means at least 3 of 4 people are in this group, and if this isn’t you, then you likely have a colleague or employee that uses a mobile set up. Achieving the ideal workstation set up can be difficult for mobile workers since a portion of their work may be completed at various locations and/or at a home office. Mobile office workers typically use a laptop, which inherently does not promote ideal working postures. However, compact lightweight assistive aids are available to achieve the ideal mobile office set up on the go. Creating the most ideal workstation set up is beneficial for injury prevention as well as improving productivity.

Upon review of 200 on-site office assessments that Options Inc. completed in 2017, two solutions were prominent in addressing workers’ concerns and/or discomfort. One was providing education around adjusting the workstation to empower individuals to set themselves up in ideal working postures. The second was ensuring the required assistive aids were recommended to support these ideal postures. To support the need for education, Options Inc. continues to offer complimentary online education for office workstation set up through our Office Ergo Online tool. Identifying additional equipment to achieve the ideal set up could be possible on an independent basis, or may require a follow up assessment. As a result, to help support the needs of your remote/mobile workers, Options Inc. is moving forward with the development of remote office ergonomics services.

As a valued client, we encourage you to share our Office Ergo Online tool with your team and colleagues. We are also interested in your feedback and hope you will participate in a short survey (button below) to assist us in assembling another solution for you. In addition, we are looking for “early adopters” to participate in pilot trials. If you are interested, please contact us through the link below for more information.

Reference:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/the-future-of-work/mobile-workers-are-the-new-norm/article8295535/