Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By George S Darmanin
Hi all,
I would like to put this most probably common story for discussion.
We have an employee who is considered as a regular DSE user whom lately started complaining of backache. The worker is claiming that the pain started since we refurbished our offices including all chairs. The thing is that the older chair was no special chair except a normal ergonomic one. The new one is fully ergonomic with more features than the older one. She is only asking to get the old chair back, but the management is insisting that it won't change the uniformity of the furniture except for proven medical reasons. This in the light that the company doctor practically dismissed her claims of back pain.
My concern is that a person may not necessarily already have developed a back problem when he / she is feeling the pain. So the doctor may be right in not diagnosing any problems. The Risk assessment finds the workstation setup OK. However the workers is claiming pain which with another almost similar chair there is not.
How will you react to a case like this?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By John Packer
Had her previous chair moulded to her form?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By George S Darmanin
No John, not unless the foam changed form by time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Brian Hagyard
George.
Have seen what sound's like a similar issue in the past. Unfortunately we tend to talk about "VDU complaint" chairs which tend to suggest one size fits all. Unfortunately while this may be the case for most fit healthy people its not always the case for everyone, particularly if they have a back injury/condition. One problem I have seen is where the seat pan is two short/long for the person to be able to sit in the chair properly and get the support they need from their legs and the lumbar support of the chair. Before dismissing these type of complaints as someone just wanting something different, it can be worth getting an ergonomist to carry out a proper assessment of the individual and the chair to see if they are compatible.
Brian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By FAH
I can only support what Brian said!
Frank Hallett
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By clairel
There is no such thing as a fully ergonomic chair because we are all different and find different things comfortable. I would even question whether an ergonomist could comment on what is comfortable. What should be comfortable and what is actually comfortable are two different things.
For example I find the Ford Focus the most uncomfortable car I have driven yet most people I know find it really comfortable. I can't tell you why I find it uncomfortable that is just the way it is.
I would also be very scepticle of any doctor stating someone doesn't have backpain. There's is no way they can possibly state that someone isn't in pain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Brian Hagyard
Clairel
I also think that part of the problem is that what you initially find comfortable may actually be doing you damage. I had a Citroen Xara a few years ago, the seats of which felt fantastic for a couple of years, and then one morning i could not get out of the car and stand up straight!
When I visited the physio the first thing she asked me was did I have a French car, seams the seats were renowned for it. Traded the Xara in for a Hyundai coupe and 18 moths ago a Ka (o the joys of the recession) and my back as been much better.
One of the instances I mentioned in my previous post, the person in question found the seat most uncomfortable for a while but it forced her to sit in the "correct" posture and after a few weeks her back condition was vastly improved
So for me Comfortable and Ergonomically correct do not equate.
Brian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Peter F.
Has the person been shown how to adjust the chair, I have had this complaint a few times and in almost all occasions it has been that the chair was set and they didn't know how to adjust, it took some of them more than a week to feel comfortable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.