Ergonomics in the Retail Environment
At Retail Associates we understand the importance of creating a healthy working environment for our customers. To ensure we achieve this goal, Ergonomic principles are adhered to in the design and manufacture of our checkout work stations.
Ergonomics is a scientific study of human characteristics, abilities and the application of this knowledge to the design of a persons work station. Simply expressed we can say that Ergonomics is fitting the task to the person rather than fitting the person to the task.
At Retail Associates we understand that a better worker and job match will provide less physical and mental stress for the worker and more effective performance in both quantity and quality.
The Benefits of Ergonomics
By taking account of the Ergonomics during the design of a checkout work station and appreciating the implementation of EPOS systems, the following benefits can be achieved:
- Reduced Human fatigue and error
- Increased productivity
- Decreased direct costs of recruitment and training
- Decreased risk of accidents
- Improved staff well-being
- Improved staff attitudes
- Improved company image
- Satisfied customers
better worker - job match will provide less physical and mental stress
Ergonomic Requirements
Equipment, controls and items to be handled should be placed with the reach zones as illustrated ( See figs. 1 & 2)
The location of the main items of equipment in the operational areas determines task position. Inappropriate task positions can lead to ineffective or error prone work and postural health problems.
The body should be able to maintain a fairly upright posture and angle of the arms and the elbow should be 90° or a little more (without shoulders being lifted). The height from the floor to the work zone should be about 720mm ( or a range of 660- 750mm is acceptable) for the seated operator.
Workspace Dimensions
The most important manual tasks and displays should be placed in front of, or just to one side of the body centre line. Swivel seats and chair with castors permit some flexibility by allowing the position of any display or equipment used only occasionally to be placed to either side of the operator.
CHECKLIST FOR THE DESIGN OF A SUPERMARKET WORKSTATION
- A fully adjustable chair with swivel seat and castors should be provided
- A footrest should be provided, with pedal for conveyor belt if applicable. For dimensions see relevant fact sheet.
- If the checkout has a counter / conveyor belt (preferred design) this should be at a suitable height for the standing customer.
- There should be adequate space under the work surface for knees and thighs, the depth should enable the legs to be stretched out.
- All purchases, bags, boxes etc. should be within grasping distance of the cashier without bending.
- The keypad should be within 500mm of the cashier
- Modular equipment is preferred in order to bring the various elements into the optimum ergonomic positions.
- The scanner should be positioned in the primary working zone. (See Fig
1).
- A good posture should be maintained at the checkout without the upper half of the body bending.
- Static work, that is; holding the goods aloft, should be minimised by handling the goods close to the body. (See Fig 2).
- Adequately sized packaging areas will enable the cashier to handle the goods quickly
LATEST NEWS & EVENTS
All the latest activity and information from Retail Associates.
15/01/2009 - Website Launch
The start of the New Year has seen the launch of the Retail Associates website. The new site uses web industry standards as a basis for its design, allowing for basic accessibility compliancy and cross-browser compatibility. We will use the site to highlight key areas and promote useful information and news throughout the year. Ultimately, we hope to use the site as a platform to build from, eventually containing more useful information/resources, insightful literature and user interactivity.
We hope you enjoy browsing the site and we welcome any feedback on your user experience, so please feel free to contact us and share your thoughts.