What’s occupational biomechanics?

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Occupational biomechanics studies the movements related to work tasks to improve efficiency and reduce workplace injuries. Researchers use the scientific method to collect data and draw conclusions about motion, which can lead to improvements in the working lives of professionals.

Occupational biomechanics is the study of movement related to the act of performing work tasks. Every job has different physical demands, so the realm of occupational biomechanics is broad in nature. For example, studying the movements that a secretary does on a daily basis would be different from that of a flute teacher. These studies are helpful in developing new knowledge that can help rid the workplace of nagging aches and pains.

Many times people take their ability to do a job for granted until it is compromised in some way. A writer, for example, works hard for grocery money without a care in the world. If the writer one day begins to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, he may no longer assume that he is able to work on a daily basis. Biomechanics is related here as understanding occupational movements can help workers be more efficient, healthier and happier in their daily processes.

For example, perhaps the writer was not using as many muscles as possible while typing, or they may have practiced poor posture while working. Both can act to make a worker less efficient and content. Occupational biomechanics can help solve this problem.

Most scientific disciplines follow the scientific method as a means of acquiring new information. Occupational biomechanics is no exception. Professionals conducting research in occupational biomechanics start with a question. Then they develop a method to test this question. The method will likely include experimental specifications involving volunteers or perhaps compensated participants.

Upon completion of the experimental run, scientists collect and analyze a data set in different ways, often with highly intelligent computer software. Scientists use the dataset to draw conclusions about motion. This is how an apparently unrelated aspect of the work can be related to both biomechanics and the scientific method.

So, to help the writer, a researcher wants to help minimize the prevalence of carpal tunnel in the demographic. He or she can study films of these professionals conducting their work. This film may render a specific technique or movement that can be hypothesized to have something to do with the development of this painful condition. The researcher then conducts an experiment to test this hypothesis and eventually new light could be shed on the causes of this disorder, thus improving the working life of writers. This process, of course, is not specific to the writer as occupational biomechanics strives to improve the lives of all professionals in the workforce.




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