Participatory Workplace Development for Disabled Workers Reintegration

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to report the process conducted by an interdisciplinary team to develop an accessible and satisfactory PC workstation to be used by physically impaired people for their professional reintegration. A biomechanical, ethnographic and participatory approach has been applied to occupational ergonomics in order to integrate qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. On the basis of these results an iterative process of prototype development and user testing has been conducted which led to the refinement of an adjustable workstation as adaptable as possible to different users pathologies and office activities. The experimented multicompetence approach has been able to integrate different research methods into a research strategy providing a more comprehensive understanding of the analyzed phenomena and increasing the quality of final results.

Keywords: User Centred Design, Physically Impaired Worker, PC Workplace, Ethnographic Observations, Biomechanics, Participatory Ergonomics

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100503