Observed postural variations across computer workers during a day of sedentary computer work

摘要

Sedentary computer work is widespread and typically occurs at a fixed-height seated workstation. Bothneutral and at-risk postural classes of the back and neck were observed among 11computer-intensive workersusing such workstations who had reported high discomfort levels. Four video recordings of approximately1 hour each over the working day were analyzed to determine the percent duration and number ofobservations of each body and neck posture. Risky slouching (32.3%±17.3%) and neck forward postures(16.9%±12.3%) varied significantly by participant but not by time of day. Absence from video field ofview of the workstation was not negligible, occurring 23.8%±14.8%. Postural changes of slouch and neckforward occurred several times during each recording (4.8±1.9 and 2.5±0.9, respectively) and varied significantlyby participant but not over the day. Despite these postural adjustments, the prevalence of riskypostures suggests that static workstations are fundamentally problematic.