What’s Different About Alternative Ergonomic Keyboards?

If you’ve spent hours and hours using a keyboard without relief, you know just how much strain it can place on your hands, wrists, and upper body. Most traditional keyboards have their design with little thought to ergonomics. That has changed with the arrival of alternative ergonomic keyboards.

These alternative ergonomic keyboards have been designed not only for functionality but also to help maintain the upper body including the arms, wrists, and hands in a neutral position. This neutral position reduces stress and strain on muscles tendons, and nerves to eliminate possible injury from repetitive stress of using a keyboard. The different designs of the alternative ergonomic keyboards help the user to change their posture to a more neutral and comfortable position. For example, a split keyboard is designed to straighten the wrists by increasing the distance between right and left keyboard sides or by allowing the rotation of each half of the keyboard to position it so it is aligned properly with the forearm. Another keyboard design is the tented keyboard.

A variation of the split keyboard, each half is tiled up thus reducing the rotation of the forearms. Still another type of keyboard design allows the user to raise the front edge of the keyboard. This provides you with a backward slope that straightens the wrist in a more neutral position.

Perhaps one of the most popular alternative ergonomic keyboard designs is that of built in wrist or palm rests. Some researchers question whether these increase the pressure on the wrists or interfere with typing. Still there are those who much prefer a keyboard with wrist rests.

When you try a new keyboard give yourself enough time to adjust to the differences. Once you try it for a few days you’ll know the usefulness of ergonomics on your keyboard.

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Why Left Handed?

If you’re one of the many people considering making the switch to a left handed keyboard, it could be a very wise choice, especially if you spend hours each day using your keyboard. Left handed keyboards have a different layout design than the traditional style keyboards.

These layout changes help to create an efficient ergonomic keyboard. There’s one major change that contributes to the improvements. Traditionally keyboarders spent a lot of time using the numeric keypad. Thus, it was conveniently placed on the right side of the keyboard. Today, most people using a keyboard don’t spend a lot of time with the numeric keypad.

Left handed keyboards have moved the numeric keypad to the left side of the layout. This allows users to place their mouse closer to the alpha keypad. Closer positioning of your mouse helps to promote straight, inline positioning of your forearms, wrists, and hands. This neutral position helps keep tendons, nerves and blood vessels in this area from being compressed.

Compression occurs with many keyboard users. This compression causes what is known as Repetitive Stress Injuries. The main symptoms of Repetitive Stress Injuries include numbness of the fingers, tingling, and pain in the wrists continuing up the forearm or down through the hand. The pain can be chronic and often requires medical treatment. Left handed keyboards can help to prevent this type of injury.

Another popular layout of the left handed keyboard is to remove the numeric keypad and replace it with a touchpad. Since the touchpad performs every function of the mouse, you can get rid of your mouse. Not using a mouse will eliminate the awkward positions occurring when you go from keyboard to mouse and back. You also won’t have to worry about placing your mouse close to your keyboard as the touchpad is built right into your keyboard. So it is not only ergonomic efficient, it is also a space saver.

If you are a constant keyboard user you may not even realize the stress you’re placing on your wrists and hands by using a traditional keyboard. You also may not realize just how much time you spend on a keyboard. At work and at home the computer has become a major part of everyday life. That tired achy feeling, or the tingling could be a big warning sign that you’re damaging the nerves and tendons in these areas. Switching to a left handed keyboard is a wise choice to help prevent further damage.

Set Up Your Desk to Reduce Strain and Stress at Work

Learn these good ergonomic practices for a relaxing workday.

Just the normal stress and strain of the work you do is plenty. However, do you know that the way you sit and use your desk space can add to physical stress and strain at work? You’re probably not aware of just how much strain may be on your body by just being at your desk. Make these few changes and you will begin to see results.

That’s right, you’ll see results in the form of less stress and strain, and most likely you’ll even have more energy than ever after your day at work. Setting up your desk for good ergonomics means the goal is to keep your body in a neutral position as you go about your daily tasks.

Your desk or workspace should allow you to place your monitor at least twenty inches from your eyes and so it is centered with your body. The top of the monitor should be at eye level to prevent eye and neck strain.

Height of your desk should be about elbow height when you are sitting at your desk. Usually this is between twenty and twenty-eight inches from the floor. If you have a fixed desk height, you may consider using a keyboard tray to place your keyboard and mouse at the proper height for optimal ergonomics.

Avoid glass desktops or any finish that could cause a glare. Even a small amount of glare at your workstation can place undue stress on your eyes.

Also make sure there is sufficient space under your desk for your legs to be in a comfortable position no matter which way you are sitting. Minimum under desk clearance for your legs should be fifteen inches from your knees. Making a few simple changes to your desk can produce a much more comfortable and less stressful work environment

Reference: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/checklist.html#purchase

Getting Past the Post-Lunch Food Coma

The effects of a big lunch on productivity are well-known - especially if part of your day includes an hour-long conference call beginning at 1pm!

Life-tips blog "Dumb Little Man" has come up with a great posting on several stretches that can keep you alert and productive in that crucial 1pm-3pm stretch. Just a little movement can help you avoid a host of repetitive strain disorders, increase blood flow to your brain, and generally help you get the most out of your time at the office.

Here's a few ideas you can do in the privacy of your own office or cubicle:

1. Touch the Sky. Reach your arms up to the sky and as far back as you can safely go. You can try grasping like you’re trying to reach the stars.
2. Side Stretch. While standing reach your one arm over head and to the opposite side. You can keep the other hand on your hip or in the air.
3. Touch Your Toes. Take off your shoes if you can. Wiggle your toes. Now bend at the hip and reach for your toes. Bending your knees is OK.

Read the full list here.

The Ultimate Guide to Workstation Ergonomics: 10 Easy Tips

HR World published a great "top 10" list yesterday with some tips on how to optimize your workstation. We thought we'd pass them along.

Here's to your continued productivity!



If you're like most people, you spend a good portion of your waking hours sitting at a desk or working with a computer. This time can become painful — and even unbearable — if you don't take steps to properly set up your workstation to work with your body and not against it.

Creating an ergonomic workstation is easier than you might think, and the payoff can be huge. These tips and resources can get you on the path to making your workstation more ergonomic and maybe even more productive.
Tips

1. Work Area: When setting up a work area, make sure that the space is large enough for you to spread out comfortably and allows for a full range of motion, which can be a special concern for those with especially long limbs. You should also leave plenty of room to arrange the items you use most frequently in such a way that there is no strain for you to reach them.

2. Laptops: When using a laptop, it's best to use it while it's on a table rather than on your lap. If you use it frequently, you might be better served by using a separate keyboard and mouse rather than using the built-in keyboard and touch pad to reduce strain on your wrists and hands.

3. Keyboard: If you spend a lot of your workday typing, where you place your keyboard and how you use it can greatly affect your risk for getting RSIs (repetitive stress injuries) like carpal tunnel syndrome. Your keyboard should be placed so that your arms are parallel to your thighs. If your desk doesn't allow for this, try getting a keyboard tray. You'll also want to do your best to use good typing techniques, keeping your wrists elevated and not hitting the keys too hard.

4. Mouse: When setting up your desk, make sure to keep your mouse easily within reach and try not to grip it too tightly, as doing so can strain the muscles in your hand. If you find that using a mouse bothers you too much, try using an alternate input device like a trackball or a touch pad.

5. Desk: There is no one-size-fits-all desk, so choose one that is right for you. You can help reduce your chance of injury by getting a document holder, arranging your electronics within your reach and making sure that the area underneath your desk remains uncluttered.

6. Chair: A good chair can do wonders, as sitting is much harder on your back than it might appear to be. Make sure to keep your lower back supported, and adjust your chair so that you can easily reach your keyboard and mouse. If this means raising the chair so that your feet don't quite reach the floor, get a footrest to help keep your feet from dangling.

7. Monitor: Improperly configured monitors can cause a great deal of eyestrain, resulting in headaches and difficulty concentrating. Center your monitor in front of you at a comfortable distance, and adjust the brightness settings so that it’s easy on your eyes. Make sure to take breaks from staring at your screen, too. Glare can be a problem as well, and if you can't seem to eliminate it, use a glass glare filter.

8. Lighting: Common office lighting can often create a great deal of eyestrain by making your computer monitor difficult to see. Adjust your shades or lights as much as you can to reduce glare, and position your monitor at such an angle to light sources that reflection is reduced. It can be helpful to keep overhead lights dimmed and use a desk lamp for close work.

9. Work Habits: You can arrange your work habits so that you don't put undue stress on any part of your body. Make sure to take frequent breaks, get up and walk around, and change positions frequently so that repetitive tasks and static work won't take their tolls.

10. Phone: It can be tempting to multitask and cradle your phone receiver between your neck and shoulder. However, this should be avoided, as it can create a great deal of strain in your neck muscles. If you need to have your hands free, try using a headset or put the call on speakerphone.

Buyer Beware: Is That "Ergonomic Chair" Really Ergonomic?

KnowledgeField.com has a great series of articles on ergonomic chairs. I discovered this one today, and thought it might also benefit you. It's full of practical advice, as well as some warnings. Anything can truly be ergonomic (as we've said before, it's "fitting the tool to the worker"), but you've got to wonder if some chairs were designed with anyone in mind!

Not everybody knows exactly what ergonomic means, but it's getting to the point where everybody knows an "ergonomic chair" is better than just some plain old chair. Thus even Joe Newbie is more likely to buy the ergonomic chair than the chair that is not advertised as ergonomic.

The problem is stores and manufacturers are starting to put the word ergonomic in front of every chair they sell, whether it has anything to do with ergonomics or not. There is more to ergonomics than a little added cushioning in the seat.

So, What Is an Ergonomic Chair?

Ergonomics is the study of equipment designed with humans in mind, meant to reduce operator fatigue and discomfort. Specifically, an ergonomic chair should be highly adjustable, including not just a knob for lowering and raising the chair but adjustability in the back tilt and the height of the arm rests. An ergonomic chair should also have a sturdy frame (avoid plastic), a great deal of support, especially in the lumbar region, and padding that has some give and supports your body without losing shape.

Real ergonomic chairs cost hundreds of dollars. Look for manufacturers that specialize in ergonomics and are known for producing quality chairs. Examples are Herman Miller, Neutral Posture, and BodyBilt. Avoid gimmicky chairs (such as kneeling chairs and ball chairs) unless you have actually had the opportunity to try one and feel it's a good fit for your body. Remember, the chair that is comfortable when you first sit in it may not remain so after several hours.

Why and When Should You Consider Buying an Ergonomic Chair?

An ergonomic chair promotes good posture, reduces the fatigue that comes with sitting in one position for a protracted period of time, and it can even reduce the likelihood of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries (many of these hand and wrist injuries start with poor posture at the computer).

Anybody who spends more than an hour a day at the computer should consider buying a good ergonomic chair. If you work 8 hours a day or more at the computer, you should definitely have a good ergonomic chair.

See Ergonomic Resources' full line of ergonomic chairs

8 Office Tips to Help Your Acoustic Environmen

8 Office Tips to Help Your Acoustic Environment
by Thomas Horrall

The number one facility-related complaint expressed by people working in the open plan office environment is inadequate acoustical privacy from neighbors. The increasing trend of lower cubicle wall heights directly contributes to the transfer of more unwanted sound from one cubicle to surrounding ones. The single most effective acoustical tool for reducing the annoyance of this sound transfer is adequate background sound, usually generated by an effective sound masking system. However, even the best sound asking system may not be able to fully reduce acoustical annoyance by itself. If implemented, the following recommendations will go a long way toward further enhancing acoustical privacy.

1. Never use a speakerphone. Not only is speakerphone sound an annoyance in itself, but people usually speak louder when using a speakerphone, causing further annoyance to their neighbors. The office noise transmitted to the external party by a speakerphone is also an annoyance to them, and may even degrade their ability to hear the conversation. Pick up the telephone handset or use a headset.
2. Develop a softer telephone voice. Many telephones have an adjustment called “sidetone” which can help with this. Sidetone is the amount of the telephone user's own voice that he hears in his receiver. If it is set too low, the user usually speaks louder than necessary, annoying his neighbor. Many telephone vendors don't take the time to adjust the sidetone properly during installation, and they may have to be called to make the adjustment. There are also “stoplight” type monitor devices available that remind the user to keep his voice down.
3. Adjust telephone ring loudness. If your phone has an adjustable ring loudness setting, make sure it is only as loud as necessary.
4. Set cell phones and pagers to minimum ring volume, or better still, vibrate mode. If vibrate mode is not feasible, make sure the ringtone setting is subtle and that the phone is as close to the user's work position as feasible so that it is audible at a low volume setting. Don't leave the cell phone when going to lunch - take it with you so that ringtones don't annoy neighbors when there is no one to pick up the phone.
5. Take cell phones to a break room or other private space if a call is likely to be protracted. Also consider letting voicemail take a message and return the call from a landline. One of the worst breaches of office etiquette is those people who make long, loud personal calls at their cubicle desks instead of stepping outside (or into a more private area).
6. Listen to any music over headphones, not loudspeakers. Music listening in the office is increasingly acceptable, but remember that one person's music is another's noise. If it is frequently necessary to hear colleagues entering your office while listening to music, use “open air” type headphones, or even a single earbud, rather than one in each ear. Don't hum or sing along to the music.
7. Use Instant Messaging. IM is also becoming commonplace in the office. Do you really need to go have a verbal conversation with a colleague or would a brief IM do just as well, or maybe even better.
8. Don't make unnecessary noise in the office. Gum-cracking, coffee-slurping, ice-chomping, pen-tapping and, most offensive of all, full-bellied belching potentially annoy all of your neighbors. A cubicle is a public area, and those working inside should act as they would in any other public area.


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