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Screen Name:	Donya
Joined:	Jun 3, 2004 02:43 PM
Last Post:	Jul 26, 2005 08:17 AM
Last Visit:	Jul 26, 2005 08:16 AM
Location:	Taylor'd Ergonomics Inc.
Occupation:	Ergonomist
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Donya has contributed to 2 posts out of 6960 total posts (0.03%) in 3,276 days (0.00 posts per day).

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General Ergonomics Topics » Could this be?... Aug 20, 2004 05:25 AM (Total replies: 4)

Robert,
You may already have your answer, but I just wanted to add my two cents worth...
I did an office ergonomics assessment for a woman not too long ago who had very similar symptoms - fairly severe pain in her left side. While observing her work I noted that she frequently twisted to the left side to reference paper documents (she often wrote or placed a check mark on these as she progressed to the next document - and she was right handed!). She was also sitting fairly high in relation to her desk surface, so was bending and twisting to the left as she did this.
In addition to adjusting working heights, etc., we got her an in-line document holder (sits between the keyboard and the monitor) for her reference documents and placed her note pad to the right of the keyboard tray so that she was no longer reaching across the body to write, or twisting to view documents. We switched her mouse to the left side to give more space on the right of the keyboard.
To make a long story short... the pain in her side diminished rapidly and she has had no problems since.

General Ergonomics Topics » Finger/thumb pressure Aug 10, 2004 12:01 PM (Total replies: 2)

You could try the Humanscale tables (1981). Table 4a provides max finger forces (thumb to little finger). Note that these are MAX for males. You would want to discount to account for repetition. In addition, supporting documentation states "women are generally 30-35% weaker than men". The tables also provide data for grip forces (tip, palmar, and lateral).
Another source for grip strength is Mathiowetz, (1985). Various authors have examined pinch grip strength as a function of wrist position (Imhran, 1991; Fernandez, 1991; Hallbeck and McMullin, 1993). Imhran and Rahman, (1995) also looked at pinch strength changes with varying grip spans.