December 3, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode, Darcie breaks down the foundation of every effective office ergonomics assessment: root cause analysis. She shares why jumping straight to solutions leads to costly mistakes, how the “Five Whys” technique uncovers what’s really driving discomfort, and why engineering controls beat posture reminders every time.
You’ll hear real examples from 20 years of assessments, the common traps new ergonomists fall into, and how understanding root causes makes choosing the right mouse, keyboard, or chair almost effortless.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on confidently selecting ergonomic equipment—and includes access to brand-new comparison tables for keyboards, mice, and chairs.
Get the Ergonomic Equipment Guide. See how ergonomic task chairs, keyboards, and mice stack up against each other with a variety of ergonomic parameters. If you either WANT TO or are ALREADY doing office ergonomics assessments, you need this. Get started here: https://www.ergonomicshelp.com/free-training
Are you a healthcare professional curious about how office ergonomics assessments could fit into your services? I’ve got you covered with some valuable (and free!) resources at www.ergonomicshelp.com/free-training.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well, hey there.
Welcome to the Business ofErgonomics podcast.
Today in the show, we're gonnabe talking about how you can
pick the best ergonomic mice andkeyboards without second
guessing yourself.
So without further ado, let'sdive into this episode right
now.
Welcome to the Business ofErgonomics podcast.
I'm your host, Darcy Jeremy.
(00:20):
I'm a board certifiedprofessional agonist with over
15 years of experiencedelivering ergonomics programs
to employers of all differenttypes.
In this podcast, I share whatother healthcare professionals
are already doing and being withergonomics assessments and how
(00:40):
to land those clients that youdream of.
Without further ado, let's jumpinto this episode right now.
Today's episode is going to beabout the foundation of all
effective ergonomicrecommendations, and this
foundation has to do with theroot cause analysis, the causal
ergonomic analysis, whatever youwant to refer to this as.
(01:04):
This is the part.
Of the ergonomics world thatseparates really value added
ergonomists from the folks thatare just surface level.
And I'll get into what exactlythis means.
And I hope by the end of today'sepisode you'll be set up to
recommend the best type ofergonomic keys and mice, because
(01:29):
if you're like me.
You're constantly surprised onthe new equipment that's almost
constantly hitting themarketplace.
This episode goes hand in handwith a new PDF that I developed
for members of the AccelerateBusiness of Ergonomics program
that I'm sharing with allpodcast listeners.
(01:53):
I'm gonna be putting the link inthe show notes for you to grab.
Basically they're comparisontables and they're so valuable.
But the reason why they arevaluable is that it goes hand in
hand with what I want to sharewith you today, why the root
cause analysis is just sofundamental when picking the
right type of equipment outthere.
(02:15):
So I have been fortunate enoughto be in the industry for 20
years, so I've gone through.
The ropes of learning how to domanufacturing types of
assessments, and then I jumpedto doing office ergonomics
assessments and I thought thatdoing office ergonomics
assessments is going to be acakewalk because unlike
(02:35):
manufacturing where you don'treally know what you're gonna
see, until you actually get tothe assessment, The following
equipment, you know, they'llhave the mouse, the keyboards,
all that stuff.
So I thought this was gonna be acakewalk.
And little did I know thatwithout having a thorough
process when it came toergonomics assessments, that
(02:56):
just jumping to solutionsimmediately without fully
understanding what the rootcause was, will lead to a lot
of.
Frustration.
I like to call this like thefireball of doom, where you're
constantly going over the sametype of adjustment in the
workplace because you haven'tidentified the root cause.
(03:19):
It's all about root causeanalysis.
So when you're first gettingyour start, maybe you've taken
my program, the ergonomicsblueprint, and you're starting
to get experience.
The first five that you do, Ihope, is with your friends and
your family.
When you do a root causeanalysis, you.
Should be doing the fullergonomic assessment and the
(03:42):
report to fully understand themoving parts to this.
What I typically see when I lookat the first two reports that my
students do is.
Getting caught into the symptomsof the issues and not pulling
away the layers of the onion tofigure out what the one cause
(04:02):
for that person's symptoms are.
And there usually is one cause.
Sometimes root cause analysisare called causal ergonomic
analysis, because there might bemore than one, might be two, but
very rarely there's.
A whole bunch of them.
Usually just a handful, one ortwo, especially in the office
environment.
(04:22):
So after practice doing officeergonomic assessment and report
writing, between five and 10 ofthese, you are gonna be noticing
that jumping to an effectiveroot cause analysis is a lot
more speedier.
Between 10 and 20 even faster.
You're streamlining your thoughtprocess, and I'm gonna say about
(04:47):
20 is your golden market assomeone who really wants to hit
their stride doing effective andefficient.
Office ergonomics assessmentswhere you're able to identify
the root cause.
Therefore, you're able to makereally good solutions that build
(05:07):
your reputation.
That's about 20, and what I meanby this, when you're walking in
to see a client, after you'vedone about 20 office ergonomics
assessments and reports, you'regonna be able to identify in
about five seconds what the rootcause of that person's pain is
and what to recommend.
(05:27):
I kid you not.
It's the understanding of a rootcause analysis that adds value
to yourself in terms of speedand to your client, because
you're gonna be able torecommend.
Actually good equipment that'sgonna build yourself up, it's
gonna build your business.
And the reason why I am reallyputting this up on a high level
(05:51):
Ergonomics assessments is this.
You skip doing root causeanalysis in your reports, then
you can fall into a trap.
And the trap is what I like tocall the posture trap.
That's where people recommendsitting correctly or they're
recommending things that aren'tnecessary to fill out that
(06:12):
report and add more content tothe report.
So in terms of ergonomicsolutions, there's four
categories of solutions thatyour recommendations will always
fall with it, starting from themost effective to the least
effective.
We're looking at engineeringsolutions, administrative
solutions, behavioral solutions,and personal protective
(06:35):
equipment.
Let's dive into each one ofthese categories because this is
really gonna steer the types ofsolutions that might work for
your client out there in theoffice.
Engineering solutions have to dowith the products and the
equipment that person is using.
You might have at one point oranother heard an ergonomists
refer to themself as anergonomics engineer.
(06:56):
It's for this reason because asan ergonomists, if you can
engineer out that ergonomicsrisk, then that is something
that is gonna be huge for thatperson's exposure because you're
not reducing, you areeliminating the ergonomic risk.
So that means that person'ssymptoms, it is gone.
So types of engineering types ofsolutions in the office would be
(07:21):
the keyboard, the mice.
These are the things that we'regonna be talking about in parts
two and part three, and what youmight already know about modern
keyboards and mice.
Rarely are they the same typesthat were around 20 years ago.
There are different angles andthere's different setups, and
(07:42):
there's different input devicesthat really add a level of
complexity, and that's why wereally need to fine tune that
root cause analysis.
So engineering solutions are themost effective types of
ergonomic solutions.
Second on the docket isadministrative solutions.
Administrative solutions has todo with the way that the work is
(08:04):
carried out.
Really good examples of this arethings like job rotation, work
enlargement.
A really neat one in the officemight have to do with changing
the work task throughout the dayso you're not overextending a
certain part of the body.
So this might have to do withthat person is filing instead of
(08:24):
filing for like 45 minutes inthe beginning of the day,
breaking it up throughout theday.
Third on the docket isbehavioral solutions, and as I
mentioned in the beginning ofthis podcast, if you don't have
experience doing root causeanalysis or you don't have
enough experience doing throughergonomics analysis or
(08:45):
assessments.
Maybe you weren't taught aprocess via someone who has the
BCPE background like I do, andyou're not getting the board
certification way of doing anergonomics assessment, then you
might be focusing on lesseffective solutions.
And that has to do withbehavioral solutions.
(09:06):
More often than I like to see.
I see a lot of behavioralsolutions out there.
This has to do with posture andbody mechanics.
If you are working in anindustrial type of standpoint,
You might see lift training orstretching programs out there.
Not very effective in theoffice.
You might see other behavioraltypes of solutions having to do
(09:28):
with sitting with the bestposture, using good mechanics
while you're mouthing, or anysort of example related to that.
Fourth in the docket is personalprotective equipment.
Personal protective equipmenthas to do with comfort items.
You might see workplace paddinglike a mouse pad or anti-fatigue
matting to these significantlyeliminate ergonomic risk.
(09:51):
Absolutely not.
But they are comfortable.
As I'm standing on my sit standmat right now, they help.
So this is really valuable,right?
As an agonist, you know,focusing your solutions on just
behavioral solutions is notgonna be the most effective.
However, having a wide varietyof countermeasures that focus
(10:14):
primarily on engineering.
Solutions or ergonomic productsto significantly reduce that
person's exposure to theergonomic risk is gonna be the
most valuable at the same timeas that, you can stack these
types of solutions.
So not only are you looking atlike a, engineering solution by
itself, you're combining thatwith maybe a comfort item, maybe
(10:39):
behavioral and maybe rotation atthe same time.
A really good example of thiswould be combining the
administrative with behavioral,which is to include left-handed
mouthing throughout the day,especially if that person has
high symptomatic right arm, thatyou just wanna give them a break
(10:59):
rotating that throughout the daycan be valuable, however.
you're keeping it in mind thatyou're not engineering out the
solution.
You're looking at administrativeand behavioral.
So that's a really good exampleand I hope I'm painting a really
thorough picture to you on thevalue of a root cause analysis.
The quality of the root causeanalysis that you complete will
(11:22):
have a direct bearing on theeffectiveness of any solution
that you recommend.
The reason why this is so usefulis that it ensures that you, as
the ergonomics assessor.
understand why the risk is therebefore you jump to a solution.
the problem that I see,especially when those folks are
(11:44):
starting out, getting betweenone and five office ergonomics
assessments.
The value of completing a rootcause analysis for every
assessment that you do is thatthe root cause has a direct
bearing on the effectiveness ofyour solution.
It allows you to understand whythe risk exists before you
(12:04):
recommend a solution that maynot even work in the first
place.
Generally speaking, if you'regonna be skipping a root cause
analysis, you typically see lowimpact administrative and
behavioral recommendations beingmade.
These aren't just mistakes thataffect that client's life,
because you're not actuallyengineering out the ergonomic
(12:25):
risk.
This is going to affect yourprofessional reputation, and
it's gonna represent the.
Reputation of ergonomists ingeneral as well.
If someone is going to be justjumping to generic equipment.
Shopping advice, rather thandelivering meaningful
evidence-based risk reduction,you're going to lose that
(12:47):
client's trust.
Losing the client's trust notonly means that they're not
gonna refer you.
It also means that person'sprobably just gonna be sitting
in pain thinking that they haveto solve whatever problem that
they have themselves, and that'snot good either.
So let's talk big picture here.
How I like to do a root causeanalysis, and this is the way
that I recommend students of myprogram, the ergonomics
(13:10):
blueprint too.
The root cause analysis comesinto play after you do a
thorough interview, a jobdescription, measurements,
pictures, and observations, Thisis the point where you start to
analysis what the heck is goingon.
Normally, there's one elementthat is leading to a greater
proportion of ergonomic risk,and you wanna pinpoint that.
(13:33):
There are tons of systems outthere when it comes to
identifying that root cause.
I like to keep it simple.
I like to use the five whystrategy, and this is as easy as
asking why.
Five times, and normally you canget to the root cause and fewer
(13:55):
than five why's, especially inthe office.
Let's talk about this five.
Why strategy.
And I really wanna encourageyou, if this is new to you, I do
have a program that dives intothorough analysis, and that's my
ergonomics blueprint program.
And I really wanna encourage youto dive into that if you're not
doing a root cause analysisright now, because your
(14:18):
reputation is at stake and the.
Discomfort and pain of yourclients is at stake too.
so there's five mistakes thathappen when ergonomists skip
root cause analysis.
Specifically why jumping tosolutions is dangerous.
Number one, you're gonna betreating the symptoms of the
problem and instead of thecauses.
(14:40):
If you're not doing a root causeanalysis, you're gonna just be
adjusting the posture.
Maybe you're gonna add acushion, maybe you're gonna
suggest micro breaks, none ofwhich actually address the
design mismatch.
It could be that the root causeis actually the desk is too
high, the monitor is poorlypositioned, or the workflow
(15:02):
itself is forcing repetitivemouse use.
Okay, focusing on just thesymptoms of that person's
problem only gives temporary orsuperficial relief.
Number two, there's anover-reliance on training or
posture reminders.
If you assume that the problemis with the worker specifically
(15:24):
bad posture, behavioral, youmight.
Default to training, butresearch suggests that education
and training alone is oftenineffective for preventing
musculoskeletal disorderscompared with physical or
environmental controls.
So this can include break takingsoftware.
(15:44):
This reminds employees to take abreak and stand every so often.
There are a variety of these onthe market today, The worst of
these will lock out an employeeno matter what the best of
these, give an employee somesort of choice in the matter.
However, one would wonder thetotal effectiveness of the
(16:04):
system if that employee is givena choice, whether or not they're
getting to get locked out oftheir system.
I have also seen keyboards thatwill change colors when that
person needs a break.
I would wonder first if athorough root cause analysis has
ever been done, including thetype of keyboard that's
(16:28):
available.
Number three, if you're notlooking at a root cause
analysis, then you can implementcostly or unnecessary controls
without knowing the root cause.
You might tell your clients tobuy expensive ergonomic chairs
or gadgets without actuallyaddressing the hazard, and you
(16:51):
would be surprised.
About the amount of times that Igo see a client,'cause I still
do ergonomics assessments tothis day, and they say they have
back pain with their chair.
If you just wanna jump tosolutions, you might recommend
another lumbar support for theirchair or a new chair in general.
However, doing a really thoroughergonomic analysis may figure
(17:12):
out that chair has never beenadjusted for them.
So they're not able to sit witha comfortable position on their
lumbar support and that'sresulting in their back
discomfort.
Implementing costly orunnecessary controls is the
number one issue with root causeanalysis not being performed.
The fourth mistake that happenswhen agonists skip root cause
(17:36):
analysis is that you're missingmultifactor causes.
Musculoskeletal disorderhazards, especially in office
work often arise from acombination of factors that
could be workstation design,task repetition, psychosocial
stress, lighting.
Work, organization, equipment,environment, you name it, root
(17:58):
cause analysis, and that meansdoing the five why's combined
with all the work that you didup to that point, getting that
employee involved, asking themquestions.
Seeing if certain solutions maywork.
These help to identify the mix.
So the poor desk layout withheavy mouse, work with tight
(18:19):
deadlines so you can implementcontrols that address all the
relevant work factors, not justone.
What can happen if you skip aroot cause analysis is that you
can fall into the trap of shortterm fixes leading to
recurrence.
If the root cause remains,symptoms will likely return.
(18:41):
Musculoskeletal risks in theoffice, sometimes need more
analysis to discover.
That's kind of like peeling awaythe multiple layers of the onion
to get to the core especiallywith musculoskeletal disorders
in the office.
These types of injuries usuallyhappen over months and years
(19:03):
related to the specific risksthat you see related to sitting,
awkward postures, repetitivemovements, forceful exertions,
right?
That's all happening there.
And you might be saying toyourself, forceful exertions,
well, hello.
No, we're talking about typingon the keyboard.
Ergonomic risk assessments, rootcause analysis.
(19:26):
When you're doing an assessment,should be one of your main
priorities.
If this takes you five or 10minutes to really consider and
be thoughtful about, then Ithink that's perfectly fine if
you have to go back and forthasking that employee questions
to really nail down what's goingon in that office when symptoms
(19:46):
started.
Possible solutions too.
That is awesome.
Because musculoskeletaldisorders in the office happen
over years and months, and oftenthey go unnoticed.
And we all know those symptomscan be a result of the ergonomic
risk factors, whether it'sforce, posture, repetition.
(20:09):
For most of the clients that yousee, you're not gonna notice it.
It's not gonna be like a redflag moment.
It's gonna be very slow.
But because these risksaccumulate over time, it's
especially important to reallybuckle down on your root cause
analysis to figure what's goingon.
So that the interventionsactually prevent long-term harm,
(20:33):
whether that's surgery or timeoff work.
Not only that, providingvaluable insights to that
workplace can lead to a betterreputation for yourself as well.
And the ergonomics as a wholeroot cause analysis helps tailor
realistic site specific andsustainable solutions.
(20:54):
Not generic.
One size fits all fixes.
any agonist worth.
Their salt will tell you averagedoes not exist.
And ergonomics is all aboutfitting the workstation to the
worker.
So whether or not a particularsolution is gonna be relevant to
(21:15):
the worker that you see istotally dependent on the context
that you are working in.
There's no way that what you'rerecommending for employee is
going to work for employee B oremployee c.
An agonist that has theexperience will take the time
and really look at employee A,B, and C to develop a control
(21:40):
strategy from really thoroughlyanalyzing that root cause in
each of those specificscenarios.
So if you skip a root causeanalysis.
As I mentioned, five why's is mygo-to and it's very useful.
The risk is that client is goingto be buying expensive,
ergonomic chairs or accessoriesthat don't even address was
(22:02):
actually going on at theworkplace.
For example, if someone.
Is complaining of back pain.
Remember that example I talkedabout so the solution is just to
buy another chair?
Well, that person's probablygonna still end up with
discomfort because that chairprobably will never be adjusted
(22:24):
for them.
So there you have it.
That's.
Part one of a three part seriesof how to confidently pick the
best ergonomic mice andkeyboards without second
guessing yourself, without overresearching or hoping the
manufacturer's marketing claimsare accurate.
I wanna encourage you to developyour thorough five y strategy
(22:49):
when you are looking at theergonomic risk and developing
solutions to fit that.
It may seem like overkill, butit is not.
This is something that you haveto spend time on to fully
develop, and if you wanna reachout to me.
To help you along the way.
I would love to help you doreally thorough office ergonomic
analysis that your clients areconfident in and will pay you
(23:13):
the big bucks.
I'm going to leave someinformation, how I can help you
get to where you need to be.
And then I'm also gonna give youthe download.
Or how to access it for thecomparison charts of the most
ergonomic keyboards, mice, andchairs available on the market
today so that you can make aneducated guess.
(23:35):
You can get started with officeergonomics assessments.
Today, healthcare professionalsare seeing the potential and
opportunity to add officeergonomics assessments to their
practice and services.
Just head to ergonomicshelp.com/begin
Well, hey there.
Welcome to the Business ofErgonomics podcast.
Today in the show, we're gonnabe talking about how you can
pick the best ergonomic mice andkeyboards without second
guessing yourself.
So without further ado, let'sdive into this episode right
now.
Welcome to the Business ofErgonomics podcast.
I'm your host, Darcy Jeremy.
(00:20):
I'm a board certifiedprofessional agonist with over
15 years of experiencedelivering ergonomics programs
to employers of all differenttypes.
In this podcast, I share whatother healthcare professionals
are already doing and being withergonomics assessments and how
(00:40):
to land those clients that youdream of.
Without further ado, let's jumpinto this episode right now.
Today's episode is going to beabout the foundation of all
effective ergonomicrecommendations, and this
foundation has to do with theroot cause analysis, the causal
ergonomic analysis, whatever youwant to refer to this as.
(01:04):
This is the part.
Of the ergonomics world thatseparates really value added
ergonomists from the folks thatare just surface level.
And I'll get into what exactlythis means.
And I hope by the end of today'sepisode you'll be set up to
recommend the best type ofergonomic keys and mice, because
(01:29):
if you're like me.
You're constantly surprised onthe new equipment that's almost
constantly hitting themarketplace.
This episode goes hand in handwith a new PDF that I developed
for members of the AccelerateBusiness of Ergonomics program
that I'm sharing with allpodcast listeners.
(01:53):
I'm gonna be putting the link inthe show notes for you to grab.
Basically they're comparisontables and they're so valuable.
But the reason why they arevaluable is that it goes hand in
hand with what I want to sharewith you today, why the root
cause analysis is just sofundamental when picking the
right type of equipment outthere.
(02:15):
So I have been fortunate enoughto be in the industry for 20
years, so I've gone through.
The ropes of learning how to domanufacturing types of
assessments, and then I jumpedto doing office ergonomics
assessments and I thought thatdoing office ergonomics
assessments is going to be acakewalk because unlike
(02:35):
manufacturing where you don'treally know what you're gonna
see, until you actually get tothe assessment, The following
equipment, you know, they'llhave the mouse, the keyboards,
all that stuff.
So I thought this was gonna be acakewalk.
And little did I know thatwithout having a thorough
process when it came toergonomics assessments, that
(02:56):
just jumping to solutionsimmediately without fully
understanding what the rootcause was, will lead to a lot
of.
Frustration.
I like to call this like thefireball of doom, where you're
constantly going over the sametype of adjustment in the
workplace because you haven'tidentified the root cause.
(03:19):
It's all about root causeanalysis.
So when you're first gettingyour start, maybe you've taken
my program, the ergonomicsblueprint, and you're starting
to get experience.
The first five that you do, Ihope, is with your friends and
your family.
When you do a root causeanalysis, you.
Should be doing the fullergonomic assessment and the
(03:42):
report to fully understand themoving parts to this.
What I typically see when I lookat the first two reports that my
students do is.
Getting caught into the symptomsof the issues and not pulling
away the layers of the onion tofigure out what the one cause
(04:02):
for that person's symptoms are.
And there usually is one cause.
Sometimes root cause analysisare called causal ergonomic
analysis, because there might bemore than one, might be two, but
very rarely there's.
A whole bunch of them.
Usually just a handful, one ortwo, especially in the office
environment.
(04:22):
So after practice doing officeergonomic assessment and report
writing, between five and 10 ofthese, you are gonna be noticing
that jumping to an effectiveroot cause analysis is a lot
more speedier.
Between 10 and 20 even faster.
You're streamlining your thoughtprocess, and I'm gonna say about
(04:47):
20 is your golden market assomeone who really wants to hit
their stride doing effective andefficient.
Office ergonomics assessmentswhere you're able to identify
the root cause.
Therefore, you're able to makereally good solutions that build
(05:07):
your reputation.
That's about 20, and what I meanby this, when you're walking in
to see a client, after you'vedone about 20 office ergonomics
assessments and reports, you'regonna be able to identify in
about five seconds what the rootcause of that person's pain is
and what to recommend.
(05:27):
I kid you not.
It's the understanding of a rootcause analysis that adds value
to yourself in terms of speedand to your client, because
you're gonna be able torecommend.
Actually good equipment that'sgonna build yourself up, it's
gonna build your business.
And the reason why I am reallyputting this up on a high level
(05:51):
Ergonomics assessments is this.
You skip doing root causeanalysis in your reports, then
you can fall into a trap.
And the trap is what I like tocall the posture trap.
That's where people recommendsitting correctly or they're
recommending things that aren'tnecessary to fill out that
(06:12):
report and add more content tothe report.
So in terms of ergonomicsolutions, there's four
categories of solutions thatyour recommendations will always
fall with it, starting from themost effective to the least
effective.
We're looking at engineeringsolutions, administrative
solutions, behavioral solutions,and personal protective
(06:35):
equipment.
Let's dive into each one ofthese categories because this is
really gonna steer the types ofsolutions that might work for
your client out there in theoffice.
Engineering solutions have to dowith the products and the
equipment that person is using.
You might have at one point oranother heard an ergonomists
refer to themself as anergonomics engineer.
(06:56):
It's for this reason because asan ergonomists, if you can
engineer out that ergonomicsrisk, then that is something
that is gonna be huge for thatperson's exposure because you're
not reducing, you areeliminating the ergonomic risk.
So that means that person'ssymptoms, it is gone.
So types of engineering types ofsolutions in the office would be
(07:21):
the keyboard, the mice.
These are the things that we'regonna be talking about in parts
two and part three, and what youmight already know about modern
keyboards and mice.
Rarely are they the same typesthat were around 20 years ago.
There are different angles andthere's different setups, and
(07:42):
there's different input devicesthat really add a level of
complexity, and that's why wereally need to fine tune that
root cause analysis.
So engineering solutions are themost effective types of
ergonomic solutions.
Second on the docket isadministrative solutions.
Administrative solutions has todo with the way that the work is
(08:04):
carried out.
Really good examples of this arethings like job rotation, work
enlargement.
A really neat one in the officemight have to do with changing
the work task throughout the dayso you're not overextending a
certain part of the body.
So this might have to do withthat person is filing instead of
(08:24):
filing for like 45 minutes inthe beginning of the day,
breaking it up throughout theday.
Third on the docket isbehavioral solutions, and as I
mentioned in the beginning ofthis podcast, if you don't have
experience doing root causeanalysis or you don't have
enough experience doing throughergonomics analysis or
(08:45):
assessments.
Maybe you weren't taught aprocess via someone who has the
BCPE background like I do, andyou're not getting the board
certification way of doing anergonomics assessment, then you
might be focusing on lesseffective solutions.
And that has to do withbehavioral solutions.
(09:06):
More often than I like to see.
I see a lot of behavioralsolutions out there.
This has to do with posture andbody mechanics.
If you are working in anindustrial type of standpoint,
You might see lift training orstretching programs out there.
Not very effective in theoffice.
You might see other behavioraltypes of solutions having to do
(09:28):
with sitting with the bestposture, using good mechanics
while you're mouthing, or anysort of example related to that.
Fourth in the docket is personalprotective equipment.
Personal protective equipmenthas to do with comfort items.
You might see workplace paddinglike a mouse pad or anti-fatigue
matting to these significantlyeliminate ergonomic risk.
(09:51):
Absolutely not.
But they are comfortable.
As I'm standing on my sit standmat right now, they help.
So this is really valuable,right?
As an agonist, you know,focusing your solutions on just
behavioral solutions is notgonna be the most effective.
However, having a wide varietyof countermeasures that focus
(10:14):
primarily on engineering.
Solutions or ergonomic productsto significantly reduce that
person's exposure to theergonomic risk is gonna be the
most valuable at the same timeas that, you can stack these
types of solutions.
So not only are you looking atlike a, engineering solution by
itself, you're combining thatwith maybe a comfort item, maybe
(10:39):
behavioral and maybe rotation atthe same time.
A really good example of thiswould be combining the
administrative with behavioral,which is to include left-handed
mouthing throughout the day,especially if that person has
high symptomatic right arm, thatyou just wanna give them a break
(10:59):
rotating that throughout the daycan be valuable, however.
you're keeping it in mind thatyou're not engineering out the
solution.
You're looking at administrativeand behavioral.
So that's a really good exampleand I hope I'm painting a really
thorough picture to you on thevalue of a root cause analysis.
The quality of the root causeanalysis that you complete will
(11:22):
have a direct bearing on theeffectiveness of any solution
that you recommend.
The reason why this is so usefulis that it ensures that you, as
the ergonomics assessor.
understand why the risk is therebefore you jump to a solution.
the problem that I see,especially when those folks are
(11:44):
starting out, getting betweenone and five office ergonomics
assessments.
The value of completing a rootcause analysis for every
assessment that you do is thatthe root cause has a direct
bearing on the effectiveness ofyour solution.
It allows you to understand whythe risk exists before you
(12:04):
recommend a solution that maynot even work in the first
place.
Generally speaking, if you'regonna be skipping a root cause
analysis, you typically see lowimpact administrative and
behavioral recommendations beingmade.
These aren't just mistakes thataffect that client's life,
because you're not actuallyengineering out the ergonomic
(12:25):
risk.
This is going to affect yourprofessional reputation, and
it's gonna represent the.
Reputation of ergonomists ingeneral as well.
If someone is going to be justjumping to generic equipment.
Shopping advice, rather thandelivering meaningful
evidence-based risk reduction,you're going to lose that
(12:47):
client's trust.
Losing the client's trust notonly means that they're not
gonna refer you.
It also means that person'sprobably just gonna be sitting
in pain thinking that they haveto solve whatever problem that
they have themselves, and that'snot good either.
So let's talk big picture here.
How I like to do a root causeanalysis, and this is the way
that I recommend students of myprogram, the ergonomics
(13:10):
blueprint too.
The root cause analysis comesinto play after you do a
thorough interview, a jobdescription, measurements,
pictures, and observations, Thisis the point where you start to
analysis what the heck is goingon.
Normally, there's one elementthat is leading to a greater
proportion of ergonomic risk,and you wanna pinpoint that.
(13:33):
There are tons of systems outthere when it comes to
identifying that root cause.
I like to keep it simple.
I like to use the five whystrategy, and this is as easy as
asking why.
Five times, and normally you canget to the root cause and fewer
(13:55):
than five why's, especially inthe office.
Let's talk about this five.
Why strategy.
And I really wanna encourageyou, if this is new to you, I do
have a program that dives intothorough analysis, and that's my
ergonomics blueprint program.
And I really wanna encourage youto dive into that if you're not
doing a root cause analysisright now, because your
(14:18):
reputation is at stake and the.
Discomfort and pain of yourclients is at stake too.
so there's five mistakes thathappen when ergonomists skip
root cause analysis.
Specifically why jumping tosolutions is dangerous.
Number one, you're gonna betreating the symptoms of the
problem and instead of thecauses.
(14:40):
If you're not doing a root causeanalysis, you're gonna just be
adjusting the posture.
Maybe you're gonna add acushion, maybe you're gonna
suggest micro breaks, none ofwhich actually address the
design mismatch.
It could be that the root causeis actually the desk is too
high, the monitor is poorlypositioned, or the workflow
(15:02):
itself is forcing repetitivemouse use.
Okay, focusing on just thesymptoms of that person's
problem only gives temporary orsuperficial relief.
Number two, there's anover-reliance on training or
posture reminders.
If you assume that the problemis with the worker specifically
(15:24):
bad posture, behavioral, youmight.
Default to training, butresearch suggests that education
and training alone is oftenineffective for preventing
musculoskeletal disorderscompared with physical or
environmental controls.
So this can include break takingsoftware.
(15:44):
This reminds employees to take abreak and stand every so often.
There are a variety of these onthe market today, The worst of
these will lock out an employeeno matter what the best of
these, give an employee somesort of choice in the matter.
However, one would wonder thetotal effectiveness of the
(16:04):
system if that employee is givena choice, whether or not they're
getting to get locked out oftheir system.
I have also seen keyboards thatwill change colors when that
person needs a break.
I would wonder first if athorough root cause analysis has
ever been done, including thetype of keyboard that's
(16:28):
available.
Number three, if you're notlooking at a root cause
analysis, then you can implementcostly or unnecessary controls
without knowing the root cause.
You might tell your clients tobuy expensive ergonomic chairs
or gadgets without actuallyaddressing the hazard, and you
(16:51):
would be surprised.
About the amount of times that Igo see a client,'cause I still
do ergonomics assessments tothis day, and they say they have
back pain with their chair.
If you just wanna jump tosolutions, you might recommend
another lumbar support for theirchair or a new chair in general.
However, doing a really thoroughergonomic analysis may figure
(17:12):
out that chair has never beenadjusted for them.
So they're not able to sit witha comfortable position on their
lumbar support and that'sresulting in their back
discomfort.
Implementing costly orunnecessary controls is the
number one issue with root causeanalysis not being performed.
The fourth mistake that happenswhen agonists skip root cause
(17:36):
analysis is that you're missingmultifactor causes.
Musculoskeletal disorderhazards, especially in office
work often arise from acombination of factors that
could be workstation design,task repetition, psychosocial
stress, lighting.
Work, organization, equipment,environment, you name it, root
(17:58):
cause analysis, and that meansdoing the five why's combined
with all the work that you didup to that point, getting that
employee involved, asking themquestions.
Seeing if certain solutions maywork.
These help to identify the mix.
So the poor desk layout withheavy mouse, work with tight
(18:19):
deadlines so you can implementcontrols that address all the
relevant work factors, not justone.
What can happen if you skip aroot cause analysis is that you
can fall into the trap of shortterm fixes leading to
recurrence.
If the root cause remains,symptoms will likely return.
(18:41):
Musculoskeletal risks in theoffice, sometimes need more
analysis to discover.
That's kind of like peeling awaythe multiple layers of the onion
to get to the core especiallywith musculoskeletal disorders
in the office.
These types of injuries usuallyhappen over months and years
(19:03):
related to the specific risksthat you see related to sitting,
awkward postures, repetitivemovements, forceful exertions,
right?
That's all happening there.
And you might be saying toyourself, forceful exertions,
well, hello.
No, we're talking about typingon the keyboard.
Ergonomic risk assessments, rootcause analysis.
(19:26):
When you're doing an assessment,should be one of your main
priorities.
If this takes you five or 10minutes to really consider and
be thoughtful about, then Ithink that's perfectly fine if
you have to go back and forthasking that employee questions
to really nail down what's goingon in that office when symptoms
(19:46):
started.
Possible solutions too.
That is awesome.
Because musculoskeletaldisorders in the office happen
over years and months, and oftenthey go unnoticed.
And we all know those symptomscan be a result of the ergonomic
risk factors, whether it'sforce, posture, repetition.
(20:09):
For most of the clients that yousee, you're not gonna notice it.
It's not gonna be like a redflag moment.
It's gonna be very slow.
But because these risksaccumulate over time, it's
especially important to reallybuckle down on your root cause
analysis to figure what's goingon.
So that the interventionsactually prevent long-term harm,
(20:33):
whether that's surgery or timeoff work.
Not only that, providingvaluable insights to that
workplace can lead to a betterreputation for yourself as well.
And the ergonomics as a wholeroot cause analysis helps tailor
realistic site specific andsustainable solutions.
(20:54):
Not generic.
One size fits all fixes.
any agonist worth.
Their salt will tell you averagedoes not exist.
And ergonomics is all aboutfitting the workstation to the
worker.
So whether or not a particularsolution is gonna be relevant to
(21:15):
the worker that you see istotally dependent on the context
that you are working in.
There's no way that what you'rerecommending for employee is
going to work for employee B oremployee c.
An agonist that has theexperience will take the time
and really look at employee A,B, and C to develop a control
(21:40):
strategy from really thoroughlyanalyzing that root cause in
each of those specificscenarios.
So if you skip a root causeanalysis.
As I mentioned, five why's is mygo-to and it's very useful.
The risk is that client is goingto be buying expensive,
ergonomic chairs or accessoriesthat don't even address was
(22:02):
actually going on at theworkplace.
For example, if someone.
Is complaining of back pain.
Remember that example I talkedabout so the solution is just to
buy another chair?
Well, that person's probablygonna still end up with
discomfort because that chairprobably will never be adjusted
(22:24):
for them.
So there you have it.
That's.
Part one of a three part seriesof how to confidently pick the
best ergonomic mice andkeyboards without second
guessing yourself, without overresearching or hoping the
manufacturer's marketing claimsare accurate.
I wanna encourage you to developyour thorough five y strategy
(22:49):
when you are looking at theergonomic risk and developing
solutions to fit that.
It may seem like overkill, butit is not.
This is something that you haveto spend time on to fully
develop, and if you wanna reachout to me.
To help you along the way.
I would love to help you doreally thorough office ergonomic
analysis that your clients areconfident in and will pay you
(23:13):
the big bucks.
I'm going to leave someinformation, how I can help you
get to where you need to be.
And then I'm also gonna give youthe download.
Or how to access it for thecomparison charts of the most
ergonomic keyboards, mice, andchairs available on the market
today so that you can make aneducated guess.
(23:35):
You can get started with officeergonomics assessments.
Today, healthcare professionalsare seeing the potential and
opportunity to add officeergonomics assessments to their
practice and services.
Just head to ergonomicshelp.com/begin
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