Better technologies, design and care in the future workplace

The impact of workplace injuries stretches broadly outside the impact on the individual – medical and legal expenses, costs of retraining, loss of productivity and morale among co-workers.

Even so, employers are increasingly recognising the need for a safe, comfortable and productive workplace, according to ergonomics engineer and founder of www.Solve.org.au, Mark Dohrmann.

“Employers are now more sympathetic to human needs – they´re sensitive to the ´person´ that is their staff, knowing that they´re not just machines,” says Mr Dohrmann.

“A safe workplace through good ergonomic design is not a ´one size fits all´ solution – it´s more than getting a comfortable chair.”

As technologies evolve, and workplace designers embrace the importance of safety and functionality, ergonomics is increasingly becoming an important part of the design and development process – with a larger interest in injury prevention through the tools and devices we are accustomed to working with every day.

“We are working more with product designers on increasing the physical useability of software and handheld devices. The design of these products is all about how we can make these devices more user friendly, and focusing on how we can make this work for the person.

So as ergonomics becomes an increasingly important part of workplace design, and as technology grows, we will see an increase in the number of touch screen technologies and voice activation

in the products that we use every day.”

Even so, Mr Dohrmann predicts that overall, we will see an increase in the incidence rate of back pain as we become more reliant on technologies to do the work for us – distracting us from having an active lifestyle.

“There is a recognition of the need for moving around and having a break from repetitive activity. Employers are encouraging healthy living at work – with the encouragement of exercise and well being through access to good food, gym memberships and well-being programs.”

Still the most common injury in the workplace is strains – caused by heavy lifting or repetitive activities. “Many employers have the tools and resources available for staff to prevent strain injuries, but unfortunately this is often not supported by effective training in how spot a strain hazard or how to use the resources available to control a risk,” says Mr Dohrmann.


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