Summary Of The Article Titled “Proper Equipment Just First Step To Improve Office Ergonomics, Reduce Injuries”

Introduction

The purpose of this memo is to summarize the article titled’’ proper equipment just first step to improve office ergonomics, reduce injuries. This memo will evaluate the author’s thought on how to improve office ergonomics in the workplace while reducing injuries, which will give a better understanding to the reader. The summary will be written in two formats namely: informative and descriptive. The first to be written is the informative summary.

Informative summary

Workplace ergonomics is a concept which employers and workers constantly struggle with. Most organizations believe that offices should be equipped with the most expensive equipments (workstation and furniture) without taking into cognizance the effect of these equipments on the health of their workers.

Doing this has endangered the lives of their employees. This has made most employees suffer from muscoskeletal disorder. ”US center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that muscoskeletal disorder accounts for 70 million physician visits in the United States”. “According to the US Bureau of Labor Statics report, the incidence rate of muscoskeletal disorder which include carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain occurred at a rate of 35. 8 per10, 000 full time workers in 2013 is down from 37. 4 in 2012”. To improve workplace ergonomics, Organizations should enlist ergonomics expert who will assess each employee and determine their needs in relation to the office environment and design a work environment fit for each employee.

Descriptive summary

Stephanie Goldberg opens the article on how to improve safety and prevent muscoskeletal disorder which is currently been faced by employees in the workplace. She gave the statistics issued by the US center for disease control and prevention which states that muscoskeletal disorder accounts for “70million physician office visits which has led to increased health cost, high compensation, high disability payment and low productivity on the part of employees”.

According to the US Bureau of labor statistics report, the author shows the decrease of injuries and illness caused by muscoskeletal disorder drop from 34% to 33% from 2012 to 2013. Despite this decrease, the author believes that employers and their workers still have the perception that office ergonomics is just all about equipment, and most of them have purchased expensive equipments which has caused more problems for employees. The author quoted Mr Wayne Maynard product director of workers compensation, ergonomics and tribology at Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc in Hopkinton Massachusetts who said that “adjustable chairs, sit stand work station are not enough without proper training on how to use them”. She recommends that employers should enlist ergonomics experts to evaluate workers in person or virtually to assess their needs and training programs should be specifically tailored to educate employees on what the equipment is all about, how it’s to be used, and its benefits which is only the first step to preventing injuries and illness in the workplace.

Conclusion

The memo shows the two summaries for the article written by Stephaine Goldberg on ‘’Proper equipment just first step to improve office ergonomics, reduce, injuries”. The memo has examined the author’s thought on how to improve office ergonomics which the reader can implement. If there are any issues, the reader should consult experts in workplace ergonomics.