An Ergonomics Study of Alternative Keyboard Designs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Marklin RW ; Monroe J ; Simoneau GG
• Description:
  Commercially available alternative QWERTY keyboards, split and vertically inclined, were studied to determine whether they are beneficial to keyboard users with respect to the risk factor for upper extremity work related musculoskeletal disorders, wrist and forearm posture. More than 90 clerical typists participated in the study and each subject was required to practice typing on the alternative keyboard for at least 10 hours prior to testing in the laboratory. When set up correctly, the three split keyboards reduced mean ulnar deviation of the wrist from approximately 10 degrees to within 2.5 degrees of a neutral position. This reduced one risk factor. A vertically inclined QWERTY keyboard in which the keyboard halves were tilted 30 degrees reduced average forearm pronation by about 20 degrees, bringing the forearm closer to an anatomically neutral position. Wrist position differed between the right and left upper extremities with the left wrist typically showing greater ulnar deviation and extension than the right wrist. No appreciable functional differences were noted in the kinematics of the wrist and forearm between alphabetic and alphanumeric typing tasks for either conventional or alternative keyboards. There were no appreciable differences in performance between the conventional and alternative keyboard conditions after the subjects had practiced for 10 or more hours on the alternative keyboards. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cumulative Trauma Disorders Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cumulative-trauma-disorders Equipment-design Human-factors-engineering Humans Keyboard-operators Musculoskeletal-system-disorders NIOSH-Grant Office-workers Repetitive-work
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 5 ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-186
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00238194
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB97-206395
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1997 Mar; :1-186
• Contact Point Address:
  Marquette University, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
• Email:
  ergo@vms.csd.mu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities
• Performing Organization:
  Marquette University, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19940930
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  19961031
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e61cbd85acb55ad4179a37bc03c3edfb98ac1c00166881045224deb0fb1e510ce97745474f60ddcff1cde20933946de4b4434aa950753bcd42fa1015c88022dc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217922/cdc_217922_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.70 MB ]