Lunchtime Talk: Office Ergonomics & How it can help Minimise Body Pains

in
25 Feb 2010 - 12:30pm
25 Feb 2010 - 1:30pm

A high number of people spend a significant amount of time working in an office environment and the use of personal computers (PCs) has become very common. A poorly designed workstation or poor work habits can cause muscular aches and pains, visual discomfort, work stress, lower worker motivation, absenteeism and sub-optimal productivity. A recent survey has also shown that many office workers reported having muscular aches. Most of these problems may be prevented by applying ergonomic principles in the workplace. The purpose of the talk is to provide guidance to users in applying ergonomic principles that they are sufficiently informed and thus are able to participant actively in their own protection.

 

The topics covered include:

  • Common injuries due to poor ergonomics
  • Correct working postures
  • Setting up a user-friendly work-station
  • Use of “ergonomic” furniture and aids
  • Stretching and strengthening exercises

 

Speaker: Mr Patrick Ker, Senior Principal Occupational Therapist

Time: 12.30pm to 1.30pm 

Venue: MESRC Lounge at Level 5, MOE HQ (Buona Vista) 

Organised by: SWB Unit

Registration: To participate in the above talk, please complete online registration or register at MESRC reception counter (level 5)

Speaker Profile: 

Patrick graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science in Occupational Therapy and a Master of Science & Technology in Ergonomics. His clinical practice includes providing treatment for people with neurological and musculo-skeletal disorders. He also performs ergonomic evaluation for work-sites and conduct related talks and workshops for companies and the public.

He joined the Singapore General Hospital in 1995 and has been involved in the development and running of the occupational health/ergonomics consultancy services in SGH since 1997. He has provided ergonomics consultancy services to statutory boards, manufacturing and service industries, and have also conducted various public talk on office ergonomics.

In addition, he has been actively involved in developing the Ergonomic Guidelines for various industries in Singapore and was in the workgroup with SPRING Singapore to develop the Singapore Standards Code of Practice for Office Ergonomics. He is currently also a member of the Technical Committee for Safety Management (SPRING) and a member of the Occupational Health Best Practices Committee (Ministry of Manpower).