“Enable the Disabled; Translate Disability into Ability; Capability, a winning Opportunity-Indeed a Reality”
– Dr Veena Kumari
Introduction
People with disabilities must not be excluded from the workplace simply because of an inability to bend their knee, communicate without assistance or walk like other workers..
This Step-by-Step ‘Ergonomic Office Guide for Employees with Disabilities’ provides information on key issues such as redesigning your workplace to accommodate the individual needs of people with disabilities. This guide also covers important work-related issues for the disabled such as:
- Challenges faced by employees with disabilites at the workplace
- How ergonomically designed office furniture can help people with disabilites enjoy improved work access
- An ergonomics checklist for office furniture designed to accommodate the needs of handicapped and disabled employees.
- Detailed information on ergonomically designed workstations including desks, keyboards, monitor etc.
Step 1: Get familiar with the problems and difficulties commonly faced by people with disabilities.
With workplace environments notoriously negligent of the needs of individuals with disabilites, it comes as no surprise that people with disabilites feel out of place and most times downright stressed out trying to fit into a ‘regular’ work environment.
Disabled workers face several challenges at the workplace:
- The irony of workplace environments is that they have been designed by people without disabilities for people without disabilities.
- Desks, chairs and computer workstations have been modeled to accommodate disability-free individuals exclusively and prove unsuitable for use by disabled individuals.
- It is challenging for a person with disabilities to move his/her desk, filing cabinets and workstation to a position that works best for them.
- Handling phone headsets and reaching out to use the mouse can be very difficult, involving considerable expenditure of time and effort.
- Due to unfriendly workplace design, workers with disabilities often experience fatigue and exhaustion consequently leading to depression.
- Inadequate lighting and small keyboard monitors make it difficult to read and type.
Step 2: Assuming increased responsibility and offering assistance
Workplace organizations need to provide a sense of belonging to workers with disabilities by taking a proactive role in redesigning workplace environments to suit those individuals. Businesses must assume greater responsibility and provide clear, tangible assistance to ensure the health and well-being of every employee, regardless of their ability to lack there of.
By redesigning your workplace to suit workers with disabilites, you are helping a disabled person with knowledge or qualifications to earn a dignified living.
Step 3: Get your workplace environment assessed by a professional
 |
| Image Credit: Cornell University |
To begin with, get your workplace environment assessed by a professional. He or she will tell you exactly what you need to buy and where you need to place it to make your office a friendlier place for people with disabilities.
Having your workspace ergonomically designed for ALL employees is not as intimidating as it sounds and can be accomplished with a minimum investment of time and effort.
Step 4: Purchasing ergonomic office furniture for employees with a disability
 |
| Image Credit: ergo.human.cornell.edu |
The next step is to survey the market for reliable and reputable office furniture retailers. The best way to ensure that you are investing in a quality product for your office is to choose an excellent retailer of office furniture.
They will be happy to show you different models, sizes and types to suit your budgetary and office requirements. Remember, this is a long term investment so it’s better to select the best retailer in your area. You might want to purchase sturdy, durable pieces of high quality that would not require replacement or repairing for a long time.
*We Recommend the use of electric height adjustable desks where possible
Step 5: Where to position workstations for workers with disabilities.
- Place the workstation in an accessible spot where the employee finds it easy to get in and out of his/her workspace.
- Position the employee’s desk to allow convenient access to a wheelchair. For example, avoid positioning the work area around corners or up an incline (in multi-level work environments) etc which can be hard to negotiate.
- Place the workstation in a position that enjoys adequate lighting and is close to the exit for convenient access to restrooms.
- Where possible, use an electric height adjustable desk as this will not only accomodate the wheelchair but it also gives the employee in question freedom to change it slightly. (remember that we take for granted the fact that our ergonomic office chair has the ability to go up and down – most wheelchairs do not)
Step 6: How to design your workplace environment to accommodate … everyone!
This “Office Checklist” serves as a guideline for redesigning your work environment to accommodate the needs of persons with a disability.
- Height adjustable work desks for individuals using wheelchairs: Using a desk while simultaneously using a wheelchair can prove very difficult unless you have a desk that can be adjusted according to the height of the user
- Desks with attached wheels: Moving a desk is no mean feat even for a person with no disability and proves impossible for a those who are not fully able. A desk with wheels is much easier to maneuver into position
- Ergonomically designed chairs for employees with a disability equipped with adjustable backrest, height and lifting seats. Chairs equipped with wheels or those that are electrically operated are also excellent options.
- You can consider installing screen reading software for visually impaired workers
- Movable or file cabinets fitted with wheels allow easy maneuverability
- Clearly defined or specially colored desks and chairs make it easier for visually impaired workers to identify their workspace boundaries
- Voice recorders to help hearing impaired employees gain access to instructions
Step 7: Buy what you need and know your budget
Assess the unique requirements for your workspace and only purchase what you need and in the right quantities. Factors that will influence your decision will be the number of disabled workers on your workforce as well as the layout and space available to you.
Assistive technologies or technologies designed to transform a workspace into a compatible environment for employees with a disability play a key role in the design of work equipment for the office.
Step 8: Familiarizing yourself with ergonomically designed office equipment.
 |
| When Ergonomics goes too far! |
1. Ergonomically designed desks for the disabled
Desks come first on the list. Opt for Electric height adjustable desks.
- A height adjustable desk is particularly useful because it allows space for the wheelchair to fit underneath with no adjustments required (other than the adjusting of the table height of course)
- Desks for individuals with a disability must be equipped with wheels. This allows for greater flexibility in moving the desk to convenient positions
- Ergonomic desks for individuals with a disability are also equipped with book storage, conveniently placed knobs to control height adjustment (manual) and a tilt feature that allows wheelchair access.
- The height adjustment feature should be easily operable and must require minimum effort to use. Electrically controlled height adjustable desks make an excellent investment.
- Sit-and-stand desks make it easier for disabled workers to adjust their positions to prevent sitting for too long in one posture. This reduces fatigue.
- Ergonomically desks come in a variety of interesting colors and design; you can always combine aesthetics with utility.
2. Ergonomic chairs for the disabled.
- Ergonomic chairs are designed to improve productivity and comfort at work – regardless of ability.
- High back rest fixture to provide maximum support to the head and shoulder area. The back rest width must be longer than normal shoulder blade width to allow for comfortable positioning as well as to accommodate changes of posture
- The arm rests must be slightly forward sloping so as to minimize stress on the wrists areas while standing up from a sitting position. A well-placed arm rest can assist a workers with disabilities to get from their chair without aid.
3. Armrests can also be padded to provide a firm surface for resting the arms.
- There should be a minimum space between the legs of the chair so as to enable the disabled employee to get up by comfortably placing his feet in the space.The lower back of the chair should provide firm and comfortable cushioning to the lower back portions of the disabled worker. Remember that disabled employees may often feel back pain much faster than a disability-free person and this is good reason why the back of the chair should offer adequate lumbar support.
- Extra width on the seat of the chair is advisable to allow for comfortable sitting position as well as for sitting suddenly or awkwardly. A wide seat improves the chances of not hitting an armrest when a disabled person is lowering himself in the chair.
- Ergonomically designed chairs must be equipped with a knob that can tilt the back or raise the leg rests from sitting the position.
- Comfortable and wide leg rests can be used to provide well-padded support to spread out pressure from body weight.
- The material used as chair seat must be firm and lasting without creating a ‘hollow’ into which the disabled individual can slide and find it difficult to get out of. While vinyl is a good material for seat padding, it could make the backrest of a chair feel hot and sweaty. Fabric is a better option for the backrest.
4. Ergonomically designed keyboards for the disabled
Employees with a disability typically find it very challenging to work with conventional keyboard designs.
- The size of the individual keys on the board can be larger or smaller depending on the disability. Certain disabilities involve small motor movement and require smaller keyboards while employees suffering from visual impairments may require larger keys for easy readability.
- Expandable keyboards (that can be customized to both larger as well as smaller sizes) are a good option to consider.
- Another notable type is what is called the ‘touchless keyboard’ that enables users to use their heads for typing by using a specially designed headgear to be worn while working.
- Keyboards can also be customized to slow down typing response or incorporate what is called ‘sticky keys’ or ‘filter keys’ that make it easier to identify specific keys on a keyboard.
5. Ergonomic monitors
- ‘Talking monitors’ come with other additions including a speaking and visual option for both hearing impaired as well as visually impaired workers.
6. Ergonomic mouse
- Conventional mouse controls can be extremely challenging for those with motor related disabilities, especially when it comes to fine-tuned control over scrolling, sliding or positioning objects on screen.
- Ergonomically designed trackballs, lightweight and wireless mouse controls and joysticks are available to help disabled workers who have restricted motor skills.
For more information on working with a disability or for further clarification on ANY of these points, please visit JobAccess.gov.au or see the resources below
Resources:
JobAccess—help and workplace solutions for the employment of people with disability
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/factsheet/ergonomics-and-computing
http://www.ncsu.edu/ehs/www99/right/handsMan/office/ergonomic.html
http://www.disabledonline.com/disabled-online-store/keyboards-and-mice/ergonomic-mice/
http://www.iltsource.com/Workstations_s/26.htm
Leave a Reply