Affiliations: School of Safety Science, The University of New South
Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Kamal Kothiyal, CPE, Senior
Ergonomist, Workplace Ergonomics, 4/36 Willis Street Kingsford, NSW 2032,
Australia. Tel.: +612 9399 9497; E-mail: kothiyal28@ yahoo.com.au
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study to investigate the effect
of computer monitor height on the neck muscle activity, user comfort and user
acceptability for office based tasks in the seated posture. Ten subjects with
intermediate level of computer-skill participated in the study. Three computer
monitor height settings- high, medium and low representing respectively angles
of sight of 15°, 30° and
45° below the horizontal at eye level were considered.
Electromyography recordings from the right and left upper trapezius muscles
were obtained for each monitor placement. The ratings of user comfort and
acceptability were also obtained for each of the monitor settings. Statistical
analysis of muscular activity data showed that there was no statistically
significant difference between the mean RMS values for the three monitor
settings. Results of the study indicate that the overall comfort was
significantly more for high monitor setting than for the medium and low
settings. It was also found that the comfort ratings for the neck and the low
back regions were significantly higher for the high monitor setting compared to
the low setting. Data analysis of user acceptability ratings for different
monitor positions showed that the high monitor setting was significantly more
acceptable than the medium and the low settings.
Keywords: Electromyography, office work, seated posture, user comfort, computer monitor position
