1–2
Safety & Comfort Guide
Promoting a Safe and Comfortable Work Environment
Important Choices
Posture, lighting, furniture, work organization, and other
work conditions and habits cay affect the way you feel and
how well you work. By adjusting your work environment
and personal practices, you may be able to minimize
fatigue and discomfort, and reduce the risk of resulting
strains that some scientists believe can lead to injury.
Whenever you use a computer, you make choices that
can affect your comfort and potentially your safety. This is
true whether you use a desktop keyboard and monitor in
an office, notebook computer in a college dormitory,
wireless keyboard on your lap, or handheld at the airport.
In every case, you choose your working posture and your
body’s position relative to your computer, phone,
reference books, and papers. You may also have some
control over lighting and other factors.
Take Action for Safety and Comfort
Many factors in our work environment determine whether
we work efficiently and in a manner that promotes good
health and safety. By considering, acting on, and
periodically reevaluating the recommendations in this
Guide, it is possible to create a safer, more comfortable,
healthful, and efficient work environment.
Students and Teachers
The recommendations in this Guide apply to students of
all ages. Learning to adjust your work area and finding
your comfort zone when you first learn to use a computer
is a lot easier than trying to break incorrect work habits
after years of computer use. Teachers, have your
students work in teams to find inventive solutions when
adjustable furniture designed for computer use is not
available.
IMPORTANT
Some scientists
believe that working
intensely, or for a
long time in
uncomfortable or
unnatural positions,
may pose risks,
such as those
mentioned in the
Warning
at the
beginning of this
Guide. The
information included
in this Guide is
designed to help you
work more safely by
recommending ways
to work more
comfortably and
effectively.
TIP
Self check
After reviewing the
information in
Chapters 1 through
5, double-check your
postures and habits
using
Chapter 6,
“Your Safety &
Comfort Checklist.”
