ABSTRACT
Ergonomics has traditionally provided services to business and industry with the goals of maximizing efficiency and minimizing injuries resulting from prolonged ergonomic exposures. Much of the focus on work-related injuries in ergonomics has been driven by the high costs of worker’s compensation insurance, the administrative costs of retraining, and replacing new workers, and the impact on productivity. Although musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are primarily associated with exposures in the workplace, involvement in nonoccupational tasks such as caring for children, housekeeping, performing home repairs, hobbies, and sports are not devoid of ergonomic exposures that may exacerbate or initiate the development of MSDs (Sanders 2004a). In fact, business and industry may inadvertently be subsuming the costs for nonoccupational injuries since a work-related injury refers to any illness that is exacerbated by job tasks, including an injury that may have occurred at home.
