Ergonomics of cleaning the stairs!

Today I was vacuuming the house as it had been two weeks since any of the flatmates had luxed the main living area and my room needed a lux too. I like to be able to walk around my room in bare feet without feeling anything foreign under my feet!

It’s an unspoken rule in our flat that if you think it needs tidying then it is up to the individual to clean it, especially after the roster failed. I personally feel like it is something nice I can do for the other flatmates to enjoy as well as myself even if it sometimes goes unnoticed, it is the one person that might notice it that makes it worth it. In terms of ergonomics this reflects how we share a job and treat it as everyone must do something to keep equality but leave open for error.

Dul and Weerdmeester (2008) write that ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (law).  Ergonomics aims to design appliances, technical systems and tasks in such as way as to improve human safely, health, comfort and performance. The first thing I notice about the vacuum is how much I have to bend to even plug in, turn on and then use this machine. I don’t want to end up like a funny old lady with a bent up back and neck so I thought of the machine and myself in terms of ergonomics and tried to improve my health. I put my back straighter and made the vacuum end longer, however it was not long till I was manoeuvring around a small space again and was back in the bent over position. The work that I had to do to complete this task didn’t fall into the category of “good” ergonomics so far.

The next part of the house to tackle was the stairs, by far a difficult task and at an ergonomic level the interaction between the person and the task it is important to emphasise the efficiency. The task is fiddly and time consuming and a small adaption on the machine means this task can be completed more efficiently as it will clean faster. I change the nozzle on the end of the lux so that the whole task becomes easier for me. Venda & Venda (1995) state that the goal is to reach higher efficiency or lower complexity of the interaction thus of the work.

Ergonomics really changed the way I thought about luxing the stairs.

Food for thought:

Mere activity characterised by necessity and futility. A man is not free whose life is totally absorbed in labour. His energies are spent in response to necessity, under the aegis of forces outside himself, forces he cannot control. He is not master of himself as he is himself mastered. (T. F.Green,1968)

REFERENCES:

·         Dul, J., & Weerdmeester, B. A. (2008). Ergonomics for beginners: a quick reference guide. (3^rd Ed). USA: CRC Press.

·         Green, T. F. (1968). Work, leisure and the American schools. New York: Random House.

·         Venda , V. F., & Venda, Y. V. (1995). Dynamics in ergonomics, psychology and decisions: an introduction to ergo dynamics. USA: Ablex Publishing.