Osmond Ergonomics

This article was originally emailed as our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 13/01/2016. You can view older eBulletins here and register to receive them monthly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we enter 2016, there are many pundits predicting what we should expect in the coming year.  To me, this seems rather like playing Russian Roulette with a bullet in every chamber: you just can’t win. The best you can hope for is that you look smug and/or lucky at the end of the year and the worst is that you just look an idiot! There are, however, a few certainties. The nature of work and work environments will continue to evolve, probably at an ever increasing pace, we shall become more dependent on technology – especially mobile technology – and the importance of health and wellbeing as a vehicle for greater productivity will continue to gain traction. We shall also launch a second monthly eBulletin with a rather different perspective (see below).

TABLET USER SURVEY RESULTS

We have now collated the data from our comprehensive survey completed last year. In my view, the most significant result is that only one fifth (20.5%) of respondents use a tablet supplied by their employer but 81.2% do at least some work on a tablet. This means that employers can no longer assume that ‘we have no tablet users’ just because they do not issue them. Combine this with the fact that 43.2% reported musculo-skeletal problems that they attributed to tablet use and there is obvious cause for concern. See the full report here.

EBULLETIN FEEDBACK

As notified last month, we have created a new survey to find out what you think of this eBulletin. After six years, it continues to work well for us but we know that it is getting harder to stand out from the deluge of email dross that we all receive and we must not be complacent. To ensure we meet your expectations and maintain our relevance, we would love to hear your views. Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey here. All participants will be entered in a draw to win a £200 Red Letter Day Voucher.

HEALTH & WELLBEING AT WORK 2016

We shall be back at the NEC in Birmingham on March 8 – 9 and our stand is just inside the exhibition entrance on the left – the same location as last year. What we display will be dependent on new product developments that are still being finalised but, as always, we shall have an interesting array with plenty for you to see, discuss and think about. Find out more about the exhibition and/or register for the conference here.

WORKPLACE DESIGN & MANAGEMENT

After more than 70 editions of this eBulletin, we think it is time to introduce a sister newsletter alongside it. Our new Workplace Design & Management email will be sent out in the third week of each month. It will cover more strategic issues relating to facilities design and people management. This will enable to us to explore the interaction between physical and human factors issues that need to be considered in the design and implementation of the modern workplace. You will not receive it automatically, so please register here if you think it will be of interest.