Suchergebnisse

A field study was conducted to assess the preferences of VDT operators with regard to their body posture and the settings of an adjustable VDT workstation. Subjects came from four different companies, and the study took place during subjects' customary working activities. Means and ranges of the preferred settings are given. The operators preferred body postures that are distinctly different from those recommended in textbooks and other publications. Some of the workstation settings they preferred also strongly deviate from such recommendations.

A keyboard concept based on biomechanical considerations was studied with 51 trained typists. The keyboard is split into two half-keyboards. An adjustable model allowed study of the preferred settings of opening angles, lateral inclinations, and distances of the split keyboard. The preferred split keyboards decrease the lateral deviation of the hands, and the use of a large forearm-wrist support is associated with a backwards leaning of the subjects and with an increased pressure of forearm-wrists onto the support. After the typing tasks, about two-thirds of the subjects asserted that they preferred the split keyboard models. Less pain and an increased feeling of relaxation were reported by the subjects when operating the split keyboards.