76% of Office Goers across Indian Corporates Complain About Musculoskeletal Disorders

Dr. Reena Valecha, Principal Ergonomic Consultant, Godrej Interio talks about her assessment about the importance attached to ergonomics by Indian organizations, the focus areas for Godrej Interio with regard to improving the ergonomics scenario within Indian organizations, the thought process that has gone into designing Godrej products and how they ensure optimum ergonomics care for office workers, the Green initiatives undertaken by Godrej Interio during manufacture of its products and her views on how OSH India can help further the cause of spreading awareness about ergonomics in Indian organizations.

Interviewed by Adeesh Sharma

1. What is your assessment about the importance attached to ergonomics by Indian organizations?

Increasing number of office goers are complaining of health issues as per several studies conducted by us as well as by other academic institutions. As per our study, 76% of office goers across Indian corporates complained about Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Today, the attention for Health, Safety and Productivity in Indian Organizations is increasing, however the awareness levels for Ergonomics is low. And its alarming that majority of the office goers are not aware of the ill effects of incorrect postures and static lifestyle leading to MSDs. A Structured Ergonomic approach is an important step organization need to undertake to prevent long-term disability and enhance the overall workplace wellness Quotient.

2. What are the focus areas for Godrej Interio with regard to improving the ergonomics scenario within Indian organizations?

As experts in office ergonomics, we strongly believe that education and awareness is the key to ensuring a healthy workforce in an organization, reducing medical costs and retaining optimal levels of productivity at all times, across all age groups. To this end, we have been an active proponent of the 3 step A-C-P approach developed by our Workplace and Ergonomics Research Cell at Godrej Interio.

1. Assessment: Evaluating wellness quotient of the workspaces through an audit which assesses the ergonomic quotient of the workspace, the indoor thermal environment, etc.

2. Correction: Removal of hidden hazards through various interventions including improved integration of Furniture elements, wellness and posture correction training programs, etc.

3. Prevention: Constant Communication on preventive steps via Wellness Tips

3. Tell us about the thought process that has gone into designing Godrej products and how they ensure optimum ergonomics care for office workers.

At Godrej Interio, we have a user-centric design policy. Experts from the Workspace and Ergo research cell study users and their work environments, from organizations across industries. This coupled with an in-depth understanding of the workspace trends, anthropometric data goes into designing any and every product or service offering of Godrej Interio. The concept of Ergonomics is applied at product design & development stage through considerations to dimensions, comfort, ease of use, functional adherence, visual & tactile feel, safety & hygiene through the entire product life cycle. This is then followed up with product performance test certifications and manufacturing process certifications to ensure all aspects of Ergonomics are covered in each product offering. All of this is only because we believe that the benefit of using ergonomic products has a direct impact on wellbeing of the user, improves safety of each activity performed and also contributes to enhancing the productivity of the organization.

4. Please tell us about the Green initiatives undertaken by Godrej Interio during manufacture of its products.

Our Good & Green vision is based on the philosophy of shared value where we link business success with social progress and find ways to create economic value such that it also creates value for society and reduce environmental burden. We have set ourselves three broad goals for the year 2020: Ensuring Employability, Greener India and Product Innovation.

We have adopted a Life Cycle Approach for green Initiatives which covers all the phases of product life cycle starting for Raw Materials to End of Life. The Godrej Interio Design for Environment Policy addresses the environment consideration of the products at the Design phase itself. We try to minimize our environmental impact through the selection of right material specifications using Life Cycle Assessment tool. We use E1 grade particle boards which has approx. 60% lesser Volatile Organic Compound emissions than commercial E2 boards to ensure better indoor air quality for product user.

We have implemented various initiatives at its manufacturing plants for energy conservation such as - installation of energy efficient lighting and machines, installation of variable frequency drives, installation of waste heat recovery systems etc. We utilize 13.5 % of our total energy from renewable energy sources. We have installed 690 KW of solar panels in our manufacturing plants at Shirwal and Haridwar. At Bhagwanpur plant, the use of fossil fuel is eliminated in powder coating process with use of Producer Gas technology.

We have eliminated the use of phosphating chemicals in powder coating process at Shirwal, Vikhroli and Chennai with introduction of Green technology of zirconium coating. It has resulted in energy saving, water saving and reduction in generation of hazardous sludge generation.

All plants are equipped with wastewater treatment units to ensure zero effluent discharge from the facility. We have installed water efficient fixtures, water efficient processes for minimum usage of water in its domestic and process use. At Vikhroli, the wastewater from Effluent Treatment Plant is recycled through Reverse Osmosis process in powder coating process which has replaced the use of 100% of municipal water in the process.

Our green initiatives are recognized at various external forums.

5. How do you believe the large occupational safety and health shows such as OSH India can help further the cause of spreading awareness about ergonomics in Indian organizations?

Large platforms & Health shows definitely play a major role in creating awareness. These forums can have decision makers together at one platform, invite specialists from relevant industries as knowledge experts and right service providers on subject matter. It should be looked as knowledge hub where organizations look forward to getting innovative suggestions towards making their offices healthy.