Office Worker or Site Worker Ergonomics?
eTraining sells both, and the split is the work rather than the job title. One is about a seated workstation. The other is about lifting, carrying and tools.
- Ergonomics Training for the Office Worker. This is the page you are on. Ninety minutes on desk-based work: chair, desk, monitor, keyboard and mouse setup, lighting and glare, microbreaks and stretching, and the self-check that tells you whether your own station fits you. Take it for anyone at a screen most of the day, including staff working from home.
- Ergonomics Training for the Site Worker. The field version. Lifting technique, material handling, tool vibration and the strain that comes from physical work rather than seated work. Take it for warehouse, construction, manufacturing and maintenance crews. View the Ergonomics Training for the Site Worker
- Back Safety in Office Environments. A shorter course on one subject: the back, in an office setting. Useful as a refresher or a toolbox talk where a full ergonomics course is more than the situation needs. View the Back Safety in Office Environments
Match the course to what the person's body does all day. Sitting at a screen is this one. Lifting and carrying is the site worker course. Mixed roles usually take both, and most offices buy this one for everyone.
What Rules Apply to Office Ergonomics?
The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act. There is no OSHA ergonomics standard, and there is a specific reason for that, which is worth knowing before you decide what training to buy.
- There was a standard, and Congress rescinded it. OSHA issued an ergonomics program standard in 2000. Congress passed Senate Joint Resolution 6, the President signed it, and the rule was rescinded. The same resolution bars OSHA from issuing a substantially identical replacement, so the gap is deliberate rather than an oversight.
- The General Duty Clause fills the gap, and OSHA uses it. OSHA cites employers for ergonomic hazards under Section 5(a)(1). Its own guidance sets out the test it applies first: an ergonomic hazard exists, the hazard is recognized, it causes or is likely to cause serious physical harm, and a feasible means exists to reduce it.
- Short of a citation, there are hazard alert letters. Where OSHA does not cite but finds a hazard, it may issue a hazard alert letter describing ways to reduce it, then follow up within 12 months to see what the employer did. Training is one of the things that follow-up looks for.
- California has an actual standard. Title 8 Section 5110 applies once more than one employee doing the same job has a repetitive motion injury diagnosed by a licensed physician, predominantly caused by that job, and reported within the last 12 months. The employer's program then needs worksite evaluation, control of exposures and employee training.
OSHA says it will not focus enforcement on employers making good faith efforts at individual worksites. Training your people is the most visible part of that effort, and it is the part with a date and a name on it.
