I got a call the other day from a gentelman who is a screenwriter and works from home. He recently bought new furniture for his home office and had some minor discomfort. We discussed different options, from having one of our ergonomists conduct an assessment to our online self assessment questionnaire and web based office ergonomics course. He opted for the self assessment to start and if hiw workstation set up didn’t help, he would call us back to bring in an ergonomist and possibly sign up for the course.
It got me thinking – telecommuting has always been a “workplace of the future” for the last 15 years or so but lately, it seems to me that the future is now. Staff working from home is something that’s occurring more frequently. Organizations, even at municipal, provincial and federal levels, are feeling the crunch of expensive office space. Some smaller businesses are now contracting virtual assistants – executive and administrative assistants who work from home via the internet – to save money. Many of these smaller business owners work from home themselves.
What many of these organizations and individuals need to know, however, is that musculoskeletal injuries and discomfort is just as easily going to occur at home as it is in the office – probably even more so. If they haven’t invested in home office furniture, they’re sitting at the kitchen table or working on their laptop on the couch. If they do have an office in a spare bedroom, there’s a good chanc it hasn’t been set up properly.
In light of this trend toward telecommuting, EWI has been working with one of our clients to develop a home office training course based on the online office ergonomics course that we currently offer. The course will address the unique issues of working from home to teach this organization’s employees how to work in comfort and reduce injury.
Before flipping open your laptop on your kitchen table or rushing out to buy all of your new home office equipment, keep in mind that what applies in the workplace applies at home as well. If you do work from home, and you’re feeling discomfort, contact an ergonomist to see what you can do to work more comfortably. You can also check out our online self-assessment questionnaire at www.ewiworks.com and stay tuned for tips on home office environments.