Ergonomic performance indicators for evaluating office workstation arrangements

Abstract

Ergonomics is the scientific field involved in the process of optimising the relationship between human beings and the working environment to improve human well-being and system performance. In the modern office environment, where knowledge-intensive activity and heavy computer usage are common, workstation design and layout have become a critical factor in determining the comfort, health and output of employees. Office workers spend between six and twelve hours in sedentary workstations. Hence, a suitable computer workstation setup is a requirement to preserve the performance and physical health of the office worker. There are ergonomic risk assessment tools, such as ROSA, RULA, and REBA, but these are mostly designed to measure ergonomic risk factors that contribute to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). However, these tools do not systematically assess the overall arrangement of computer office workstations or determine whether workstations are ergonomically compliant. Therefore, a structured and consistent set of ergonomic performance indicators must be identified, which can be used to assess the workstation arrangement. The purpose of this paper is to determine and validate a list of ergonomic performance indicators across six main areas: the office chair, work surface, monitor, keyboard, mouse and workstation accessories. A literature review of the existing ergonomic standards/guidelines and previous research articles was initially conducted to determine the performance indicators. These scattered indicators were then systematically consolidated. A structured expert interviews were conducted with eleven experienced ergonomic and occupational health specialists. The results created a finalised, expert-validated ergonomic performance indicators, which allows for recognition of workstation deficiencies, prioritising ergonomic interventions and workstation adjustments. This approach is unlike current ergonomic assessment tools, as it focuses on structured, component-wise performance indicators rather than posture-based risk scoring systems.