Work from home: Human Factors and Ergonomic Considerations

A review at productivity and human-computer interaction with focus on work related stress
during a global pandemic
Abstract - Its 2021. For almost a year and half the world is reeling under the effect of a
devastating pandemic. SARS Covid 19 has forced businesses, schools and universities to shut
down and enabled a radical shift towards the way in which people work, work from home, remote
work and online classes have become the norm. This paper seeks to study and review the human
factors and ergonomics considerations with respect to work from home. Problems have been
identified ranging from prevalence of high world related stress, to un-ergonomically designed and
poor structural work desks at home. Secondary data has been analysed to find key issues which
are highly prevalent and ergonomic principles have been applied to find optimum solutions for
the same. The data and literature available show that the current home workstations need to be
revamped, and drastic changes made in the way that work from home takes place to minimise
WMSDs and high stress and improve productivity.

Introduction
The psychological and physiological principles that are applied to the designing and engineering
of processes and systems are referred to as human factors and ergonomics. The main aim of
human factors is to enhance the safety and comfort with a specific focus on the interaction
between the human and the thing of interest and at the same time increase productivity along
with reducing human error. The Covid-19 pandemic caused an abrupt shift in the nature of work
systems all across the globe. The restrictions on movement and gathering of people and
quarantines have caused a drastic increase in the number of people who have started working
remotely from their homes and other non-traditional workspaces. This has been welcomed with a
lot of advantages to curb the spread of Covid-19 and at the same time benefiting workers who
require more flexibility in maintaining a balance between family responsibilities and their
professional work. But this rapid change in the work conditions has been impacting many who
are not yet prepared to adopt this new and unfamiliar mode of work.
In many cases this new normal move to teleworking has been accomplished without sufficient
consideration of human factors and ergonomic requirements. Workers are being asked to work
from home but with negligible support for setting up a workstation, protecting their physical and
psychological health and well being which is likely to have future effects of work related injuries
and many other health problems. In this paper we provide some human factors and ergonomic
issues in the tele-workstations and recommend strategies to address them.

Literature Review
The aim of the paper is to narrow out problems/ specific issues related to ergonomics which are
at the forefront due to the nature of work from home and to consolidate various ideas/concepts
and concretely present solutions for the same. In the course of writing this article, previous
literature that considered possible ergonomic risks and proposed optimization models and
algorithms on work from home/teleworking have been reviewed. Efforts have been made to
review various articles in the scope of the discussion and may articles including literature surveys
on ergonomic considerations of working from home (Society, Japan & Ebara, Seven Practical
Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) Tips for Teleworking/Home-learning using
Tablet/Smartphone Devices.LinkedIn Report on Work-From-Home Burnout and Zoom Fatigue is
a Lot More Complex Than You Think and the report on Work from Home: Human Factors and
Ergonomic Considerations for teleworking by ILO) have been studied. Information and data has
been consolidated from the above sources and a few other blog articles from the internet and
presented in detail. Careful thought has been applied to look at various other factors apart from
ergonomics like stress, and work-life balance apart from ergonomics in analyzing the issues and
problems associated with work from home.
Problems:
S.No Problems
1.
Increased stress or
anxiety.
2. Increased burnout
3 Depression
4 Zoom fatigue
5 Loss of workplace as
a community.
6. Computer Vision
Syndrome (CVS) or
digital eye strain.
7 Strain injury
8 Low Back pain/Neck
Pain/Shoulder Pain
9 Un-ergonomically
Root Cause/Consequences
Blurring of work-life balance
leading to employee being
stressed all the time
Lack of separation between
work and personal life,
workers finding it hard to
‘shut off’.
Most times exacerbated by
lack of social support and
loneliness.
Expectation from video
conferencing software of
bringing us energy through
connecting to people, but
failing to meet our basic need
for connection met.
Workplaces become a diverse
and inclusive community,
where every employee
identifies as being a part of a
group. Which enhances a
sense of well-being.
Prolonged screen time(blue
light from laptops),
inappropriate lighting at
home,
Chair too low or too high for
the desk
No proper workstation at
home and long working
hours
Lack of Monetary support
Solutions
Proper well defined
work/study timings even in
the online mode
Building proper boundaries
between work and personal
life by following a defined
routine.
Exercising 20-30-minutes a
day has been proved to
significantly lower depression
and boost endorphins and
serotonin to the brain.
Stop multitasking. Do not
schedule back-to-back calls.
Agree to an end time for
calls.
The employee needs to
mediate and finds other
ways to enhance the
sense of belonging.
ViewSonic offers flicker-free
monitors that can be
beneficial for reducing eye
strain and also comes with
blue light filters. Using
appropriate lighting and
taking breaks from the screen
can also help.
Investing in an ergonomically
designed chair and desk that
can be adjusted for a person
to adopt different positions
during the course of the day.
Ergonomically well designed
workstation.
Providing monetary
 designed from the company/Institution help/Furniture Allowance to
Workstations set up ergonomic work from
home workstation.

10 Slow WiFi speed and Disruption in work WiFi speed and capability
internet issues should be ensured that it
matches the requirement of
the work. Having a backup as
and when required.

11 Uneven desk height, Setting up the chair at Make sure your elbows are
leading to spinal unnatural height in regards to bent at 90 degrees while
issues in future body composition or resting on the desk.
slouching.

12 Stress on thighs and When the feet are hanging Place your feet on a foot rest
lumbar spine through the chair without any or any kind of boxes, so that
support. the thighs are parallel to the
floor and make sure hips are
slightly higher than the
knees.

13 Not moving frequently Extended sitting can cause It is suggested to get up

chronic life altering injuries
like obesity and type-2
diabetes.
every 30 minutes and take a
walk around the house, this
will significantly reduce the
risk of suffering from any
musculoskeletal injury and
also the risk of early
mortality.

PROBLEMS
In the above table, we talk about some problems which are faced by people all
across the globe in the new normal of work from home. These problems have been
categorised as mental, physical and ergonomic. One of the major mental problems
faced is increased stress and anxiety. According to a report released by LinkedIn
which is based on the online survey responses of 16,199 professionals over the past
six months, 2 in 5 professionals are experiencing increased stress or anxiety due to
the pandemic, 40% of Indian professionals have been experiencing financial
instability and 60% of Indian professionals had felt lonely at some point while
working remotely.
More than one in three also believe that working remotely is slowing down their
career progression (41%), making them feel more lonely (37%), and harming their
work-life balance (36%). Blurring of work life balance and increased fatigue, coupled
with lack of social support and loneliness, has led to the loss of the workplace as a
community. A survey published by Telus International on 1000 American employees
finds that 4 out of 5 workers find it hard to “shut off” in the evenings. Half of the
respondents cite that their sleep patterns have been interrupted due to COVID-19,
and 45% say they feel less healthy mentally while working from home.
 Coming to the next category of WMSD’s, main problems faced are lower back pain,
neck pain, shoulder pain and the risk of strain injuries due to the lack of proper
ergonomically designed workstations and prolonged working hours. Another study
has found that 41.2% of at-home workers report low back pain and 23.5%
experience neck pain. About half of the respondents said that their neck pain (50%)
had gotten worse from the time they started working from home.
Digital eye strain known as computer vision syndrome has also been one of the
physical problems due to increased screen time and inappropriate lighting at home.

Ergonomical issues such as slow WiFi and internet issues have been common. Un-
ergonomically designed workstations wherein the heights of desks and chairs do not
match leads to bad posture and slouching positions resulting in musculoskeletal
disorders. It has also been noted that extensive sitting hours and not moving around
is increasingly causing diseases like obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Solution:

The solutions in the table have been suggested keeping in mind ergonomic
principles, and the current pandemic work conditions. Solutions have also been
colour coded to showcase mental, physical and ergonomic issues separately and
solutions being suggested for the same. Solutions have been planned from three
points of view, one from an ergonomic design point of view, two keeping human
factors and work conditions in mind and three, to relieve employees from their work
related stress, anxiety and fatigue. Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders or
WMSDs have also been analyzed and solutions suggested for the same.

Issues ranging from increased stress, to WMSDs, and ergonomic issues such as not
having a designated workplace to work at home, like they do in an office has led
workers to be extremely affected as a result. One of the main solutions that
employers/organizations need to look into is providing special financial assistance
so that workers can set up a designated workstation at home, and ensuring that they
utilize the same. Happy workplaces lead to better work and productivity.

Given the current situations, it can be safe to assume that the nature of work is going
to be online with many jobs permanently designated to teleworking mode. In such a
scenario these considerations and evaluations are important and essential to be
incorporated into workplace design even at home.

Conclusion:

The world is reeling under a crisis which is unprecedented, and these new working
conditions are new for all the stakeholders concerned. The unexpected pandemic
and companies needing to keep the workforce active have put more people around
the globe working remotely. Since people perhaps weren’t expecting it, many are
now working from home without a proper workstation, making use of anything or
everything, sitting on the couch or commandeering the kitchen table during work
hours, has brought many newer problems to the forefront.The success of work from
home greatly depends on a sound relationship between employers and employees
and one that is built on mutual trust, respect and understanding. While there certainly
are problems and a lot of stress associated with online mode of working and newer
words coined like Zoom fatigue to explain the same, a lot can be done by
organizations, companies and institutions to ensure safe, healthy and a happy work
from home atmosphere.Various studies have been conducted and suggestions
given.Various ergonomic considerations and changes such as providing monetary
help and support to design a comfortable workstation at home to ensuring that
workers get ample exercise, solutions have been suggested across wide domains to
ensure that during this stressful time, employees have one less thing to worry about,
their work from home.