reduce potential safety

To increase your comfort and reduce potential safety
risks, use this checklist to help you evaluate your work
posture and habits.
Seated Position
❒ Have you found a range of seated postures that are
most comfortable for you?
❒ Are you changing postures within your “comfort zone”
throughout the day, especially in the afternoon?
❒ Are your feet firmly planted?
❒ Are the undersides of your thighs near your knees free
of pressure?
❒ Are the backs of your lower legs free of pressure?
❒ Is there sufficient space under your work surface for
your knees and legs?
❒ Is your lower back supported?
Shoulders, Arms, Wrists, and Hands
❒ Are your shoulders relaxed?
❒ Are your hands, wrists, and forearms in their neutral
comfort zone?
❒ If you use arm supports, are they adjusted so that your
shoulders are relaxed and your wrists are in a
comfortable, neutral position?
❒ Are your elbows in a zone that is near the height of
your keyboard's home row?
❒ Do you avoid resting your hands and wrists while
typing or pointing?
❒ Do you avoid resting your hands and wrists on sharp
edges?
❒ Do you avoid cradling the phone between your ear and
shoulder?
❒ Are items you use frequently, such as your phone and
reference materials, easy to reach?

Eyes
❒ Do you rest your eyes frequently by focusing on a
distant point ?
❒ Do you get your eyes examined regularly by a vision
care specialist?
❒ Do you blink enough?
❒ If you wear bifocals, trifocals, or progressive addition
lenses, do you avoid tilting your head back to see the
monitor?
❒ Have you considered having glasses prescribed that
are specially suited for working with a computer
monitor to avoid awkward postures?
Typing Style
❒ Are you training yourself to lighten up when you find
you are pounding on the keys?
❒ If you are not a touch typist, have you been taking
typing lessons?
❒ Are you training your fingers to relax when you find
them tense, including those not touching the keys and
pointing device, as well as those actively typing and
pointing?
❒ Do you use your whole arm to reach for keys not
located near the home row?
Keyboard and Pointing Device
❒ Is your keyboard positioned directly in front of you?
❒ Are your keyboard height and slope adjusted so that
your wrists are in a comfortable, neutral position and
your shoulders relaxed?
❒ If you are typing with the keyboard on your lap, are
your shoulders relaxed and your wrists in a
comfortable, neutral position?
❒ If you are using a mouse or detached trackball, is it
placed to the immediate right, left, or directly in front of
your keyboard?
❒ If you are using a pointing device, are you holding it
loosely, with a relaxed hand?
❒ Do you let go of your pointing device when you are not
using it?
❒ Are you using a light touch when you click the buttons
on your pointing device (mouse, trackball, touchpad, or
pointing stick)?
❒ Are you cleaning your mouse or trackball frequently?
Monitor
❒ Is your monitor positioned in front of you and at a
comfortable viewing distance, about arm’s length? Or
if you look at a paper document more than your
monitor, is your document holder in front of you with
your monitor to one side?
❒ Have you eliminated glare and bright reflections on
your monitor, without compromising your posture?
❒ Is your monitor’s entire viewing area located just below
your eye height?
❒ Is your monitor tilted so your face and the monitor are
parallel?
❒ Have you adjusted the brightness and contrast
controls to improve the quality of text and graphics?
❒ Is your document holder positioned near the monitor,
at the same distance, height, and angle as the
monitor?