Ergonomics a Science? A conversation with ergonomics expert and researcher David Rempel, MD
David Rempel
As millions of Americans with sore necks and shoulders, damaged wrists and bad backs can attest, work can sometimes be a pain, literally.
But can we call those who study the causes of pain in the workplace scientists?
If you’re UCSF’s ergonomics expert, David Rempel, MD, MPH, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Rempel, a professor of medicine who directs the ergonomics program at San Francisco General Hospital as well as the Ergonomics Laboratory in Richmond, California, is the first to acknowledge that the field itself is riddled with more opinions than facts. Nor is there a body of science-based public policy to which ergo masters can point with pride: California is the lone state with any ergonomics regulations of any kind. Even the term “ergonomic”, when used on products, is an empty marketing claim. There are no legally sanctioned definitions or standards that apply.
It’s a jumble out there, and a particularly risky one for those employed in jobs like meat packing and agricultural field work. But the clear-eyed Rempel, who can talk with equal fluency about cyclical tendon loading, trackballs and good chairs, has some answers.
So which is worse for your limbs, repetition or force?
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