In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report, Peter Budnick sets out to document the underlying ergonomics theories behind the design of various styles of the ubiquitous computer mouse. Tracing its beginnings back to the 1960's, he attempts to categorize them by style, such as forearm flat, forearm angled, specialized grips, touch pad, foot mouse, etc., offering a high-level opinion regarding the potential benefits and concerns for each.

Subscribers to The Ergonomics Report represent our most loyal readers, and tend to share Ergoweb's goals to grow the value, influence and application of ergonomics around the world. As such, we're especially interested in what this group of influential readers finds of interest. The top 5 articles accessed in The Ergonomics Report library are ...

Musculoskeletal Disorders are among the leading causes of morbidity among working aged adults and armed service members. The most common cause for medical evacuation in the Iraq war was an MSD, and MSDs are also quite common in basic training. Functional Movement Screening (FMS) is thought by many to offer a new paradigm for predicting MSDs. This study is the first large scale to test the predictive validity of this hypothesis, and the results indicate FMS is not a reliable predictor of future injury.

A team of researchers from India 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.

The prevention of slips, trips and falls are a nearly forgotten part of an ergonomists improvement opportunities. In this article, Peter Budnick summarizes a recent study of slips/trips/falls in an aircraft manufacturing facility, using it to demonstrates and promote the critical safety and cost improvement role ergonomics can and should play in reducing or eliminating their occurrence.

Peter Budnick reviews the new international ergonomics standard, ISO 26800:2011, "Ergonomics -- General approach, principles and concepts." Recognizing the challenges in developing and publishing any standard dealing with ergonomics, Budnick concludes, "I'm sure we could pick this standard apart word-by-word and debate a few things, but I'm happy to report that it is a concise high level introduction to the basics of human-centered design (ergonomics) ..."

An recent journal article published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise presents a simple method to determine the metabolic demands of sustained physical exertions in field or work environments. This new approach may have application in assessing work tasks that require cardiovascular endurance, and may become important with an aging and increasingly overweight and frail workforce.

Contributor Gene Kay, MS has written about an emerging phenomena called metabolic syndrome, or in the popular literature, sitting disease. The article summarizes some relevant articles and provides some suggestions for what we can do as ergonomics practitioners.