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We’ve published and shared thousands of ergonomics articles and resources since 1993. Search by keyword or browse for topics of interest.

Downloadable Guides

5 Essential Elements of a Successful Ergonomics Process

5 Essential Elements of a Successful Ergonomics Process

This 14 page guide explains 5 essential elements successful ergonomics programs share, including ...
Guide to Successful Site Ergonomics

Guide to Successful Site Ergonomics

This 10 page guide is for individuals or teams responsible for establishing a systematic workplace ergonomics program and processes at a company site or facility.
ergonomics-plan-screenshot

Site Ergonomics Planning Template

This Microsoft Excel spreadsheet contains 6 fillable template sheets you can complete to expedite planning and gain approvals for a site ergonomics process. The download also includes ...
Ergoweb_Enterprise_MA_03

Guide to Picking the Best Ergo Analysis Tool for the Job

There are many ergonomics assessment methods, but which one is right for each specific type of task? This guide summarizes 23 evidence-based tools ...
Using Setting-Specific Ergonomic Checklists for Non-Cyclical Work

Using Setting-Specific Ergonomic Checklists for Non-Cyclical Work

This short guide explains a strategy using setting-specific checklists to assess and improve non-cyclical or unstructured work.
Ergoweb_Enterprise_MA_01

Guide to Assessing Ergonomic Risk of Non-Cyclical Work

This companion guide delves deeper into assessing risk in in non-cyclical and unstructured work.

Open Access Articles

February 6, 2013
February 6, 2013

Hospital Bed Research to Improve Patient and Nurse Safety and Performance

Researchers have devised new methodologies and metrics to analyze patient migration while laying in hospital beds. The results of the study reviewed here should help hospital bed designers better understand patient migration patterns and influence new designs that will reduce migration, as well as reducing the pressure ulcers and skin tears migration can cause, and reducing the caregiver patient repositioning tasks that lead to high rates of back injury among nurses.
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January 30, 2013
January 30, 2013

Thumb Reach Distances and Envelopes for Handheld Devices

Applied researchers Otten, Karn and Parsons where tasked with designing a handheld consumer camera requiring thumb operated controls. They were surprised to find that very little data was available for such devices, so they embarked on a collaborative research and design project to collect their own data, which they later shared in the published journal Human Factors. Peter Budnick reviews their work, describing it as a good example of "informed design," which he describes requiring an ergonomic, human-centered approach. The researchers also used novel techniques to collect thumb reach distance and envelope data, and also applied the "Mr. Potato Head" method to investigate control location preferences.
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December 3, 2012
December 3, 2012

Effects of Anti-Fatigue Mats on Discomfort and Weight-Shifting

University of Michigan based researchers Neal Wiggermann and W. Monroe Keyserling conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of "anti-fatigue" mating on the perceived discomfort and weight shifting during prolonged standing. Their results are of great interest to ergonomists and employers seeking to reduce discomfort related to long duration standing. This article reviews the state-of-the-art understanding of the relationship between floor surface and standing discomfort and concludes with applicable recommendations for selecting anti-fatigue mats.
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November 30, 2012
November 30, 2012

Body Mass Index Related to Musculoskeletal Discomfort and Job Stress (Reprint)

In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report, Gene Kay and Peter Budnick review a research article summarizing the findings of a team of researchers from India that performed a study looking at various associations between body mass index BMI, musculoskeletal discomfort, and occupational stress among computer workers. Their results add to the growing understanding that being overweight can have a significant effect on musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress measures.
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Read more
April 18, 2012
April 18, 2012

Study: Psychosocial Factors Significantly Related to Shoulder Pain

This article, reprinted from The Ergonomics Report, summarizes a research article that showed that marked shoulder pain occurred three times more frequently among hotel room cleaners when psychosocial risk factors were present according to a University of California investigation. Sometimes, risk factors alone are not the source of perceived pain or injury.
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Read more
January 25, 2012
January 25, 2012

The Trouble with RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment)

RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) is an assessment method often discussed and applied by occupational ergonomists. In this article, reprinted from The Ergonomics Report Archives, Ergoweb's Peter Budnick reviews the popular method, recognizing its strengths, but also noting that it has limitations and can be -- and perhaps often is -- horribly misapplied, misrepresented, and misinterpreted without adequate training, experience, and professional perspective.
Do you like it?
Read more
February 6, 2013
February 6, 2013

Hospital Bed Research to Improve Patient and Nurse Safety and Performance

Researchers have devised new methodologies and metrics to analyze patient migration while laying in hospital beds. The results of the study reviewed here should help hospital bed designers better understand patient migration patterns and influence new designs that will reduce migration, as well as reducing the pressure ulcers and skin tears migration can cause, and reducing the caregiver patient repositioning tasks that lead to high rates of back injury among nurses.
Do you like it?
Read more
January 30, 2013
January 30, 2013

Thumb Reach Distances and Envelopes for Handheld Devices

Applied researchers Otten, Karn and Parsons where tasked with designing a handheld consumer camera requiring thumb operated controls. They were surprised to find that very little data was available for such devices, so they embarked on a collaborative research and design project to collect their own data, which they later shared in the published journal Human Factors. Peter Budnick reviews their work, describing it as a good example of "informed design," which he describes requiring an ergonomic, human-centered approach. The researchers also used novel techniques to collect thumb reach distance and envelope data, and also applied the "Mr. Potato Head" method to investigate control location preferences.
Do you like it?
Read more
December 3, 2012
December 3, 2012

Effects of Anti-Fatigue Mats on Discomfort and Weight-Shifting

University of Michigan based researchers Neal Wiggermann and W. Monroe Keyserling conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of "anti-fatigue" mating on the perceived discomfort and weight shifting during prolonged standing. Their results are of great interest to ergonomists and employers seeking to reduce discomfort related to long duration standing. This article reviews the state-of-the-art understanding of the relationship between floor surface and standing discomfort and concludes with applicable recommendations for selecting anti-fatigue mats.
Do you like it?
Read more
November 30, 2012
November 30, 2012

Body Mass Index Related to Musculoskeletal Discomfort and Job Stress (Reprint)

In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report, Gene Kay and Peter Budnick review a research article summarizing the findings of a team of researchers from India that performed a study looking at various associations between body mass index BMI, musculoskeletal discomfort, and occupational stress among computer workers. Their results add to the growing understanding that being overweight can have a significant effect on musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress measures.
Do you like it?
Read more
April 18, 2012
April 18, 2012

Study: Psychosocial Factors Significantly Related to Shoulder Pain

This article, reprinted from The Ergonomics Report, summarizes a research article that showed that marked shoulder pain occurred three times more frequently among hotel room cleaners when psychosocial risk factors were present according to a University of California investigation. Sometimes, risk factors alone are not the source of perceived pain or injury.
Do you like it?
Read more
January 25, 2012
January 25, 2012

The Trouble with RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment)

RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) is an assessment method often discussed and applied by occupational ergonomists. In this article, reprinted from The Ergonomics Report Archives, Ergoweb's Peter Budnick reviews the popular method, recognizing its strengths, but also noting that it has limitations and can be -- and perhaps often is -- horribly misapplied, misrepresented, and misinterpreted without adequate training, experience, and professional perspective.
Do you like it?
Read more