Ergonomic field analysis of the software design workstation

Abstract

This research has been carried out in order to verify in the field the exigencies yielded by a particular task and report indications for the ergonomic optimization of the relevant workstation. The task under examination was software design executed by 127 subjects in different environments. The steps in which this research was carried out were as follows: analysis of the task; analysis of subjects; analysis of the workstation and environment; and observations on 24 subjects representative of the population. The observations were in order to discover the level of posture variability and establish the physical parameters to be optimized. Results show that, for the activity examined, the heaviest restrictions imposed by the hardware refer to the eye-screen distance, head movement and curvature of the trunk. Therefore, the physical parameters to be optimized are height, width and depth of the table, and height and design of the chair.