DESIGN FOR THE
STANDING OPERATOR
Standing is a natural human posture
and by itself poses no particular
health hazard. However, working in a
standing position on a regular basis
can cause sore feet, swelling of the
legs, varicose veins, general muscular
fatigue, low back pain, stiffness in the
neck and shoulders, and other health
problems. These are common
complaints among sales people,
machine operators, assembly-line
workers and others whose jobs require
prolonged standing.
Move, don’t stand still - standing is used as a working posture if
sitting is not suitable, either because very large forces must be
exerted with the hands or because the operator has to cover a
fairly large work area.
Work near elbow height – the height of the workstation depends
largely on the activities to be performed with the hands and the
size of the object.
Shoes and walking surface – sufficient room for the
feet of operator must be provided, including toe
and knee space to move up close to the working
surface. Of course, the floor should be flat and free
of obstacles. Elevated platforms should be
avoided if possible, because one may stumble
over an edge. Elastic floor mats and soft shoe soles
can reduce foot, leg, and back discomfort.
Appropriate friction between soles and the
walkway surface helps to avoid slips and falls.
No twists or bends – basically body movements
associated with work while walking or standing
are desirable in physiological respects, but they
should not involve excessive bends, and reaches
and specially should not include twisting motions
of the trunk. People should never be forced to
stand (or even worse, to stand still) at a
workstation just because the equipment was
originally ill designed or badly placed.
Semisitting – so called stand seats
may allow the operator to assume
a somewhat support posture
somewhere between.
Occasionally, high stools can be
employed to allow (rather
uncomfortable) sitting at
workstations at which the operator
otherwise would stand. Such
semiseats usually do not have full
backrests and do not support the
body fully; therefore, and for
reasons of stability, much weight
remains on the feet. Thus,
semisitting, although better than
standing in place is by no means
satisfactory.
How long can you stand at work?
Sitting behind your desk all day is bad for your health and
experts have long been advising people to stand at their
workstations for about 15 minutes an hour. But a University
of Waterloo professor says his research shows that people
should be standing for at least 30 minutes per hour to get
health benefits.
DESIGNING FOR THE
SITTING OPERATOR
Sitting is a much less strenuous
posture than standing, mostly
because it requires fewer
muscle to be contracted to
stabilize the body, which, in
turn, is largely due to the
support that the body enjoy at
its midsection through the seat
pan and seat back. Sitting
allows better-controlled hand
movements, but coverage Is
of a smaller area, and the
hands exert less force.
In designing a workstation
for a seated operator, one
must consider in particular
the free space required
by the legs and feet.
Some persons who sit at
work complain a low back
pain and foot swelling,
usually because the same
posture has been
maintained for a long
time.
The preferred working area is in front of the
body, at about elbow height with the upper arm
hanging (as for a standing operator). Exact and
fast manipulation are must easily done in this
area. Many activities of seated operators
requires close visual observation, which
codetermines the proper height of the area to
be used for manipulation, depending on the
operators preferred visual distance and
direction of gaze.
STANDING OPERATOR SITTING OPERATOR