How to Use Retail Store Ergonomic Design to Improve Safety

While it might not seem like ergonomics has a place in the retail setting, you’d be surprised. Investing in your workers’ ergonomic comfort can give you a fresh, new approach to safety in the retail workplace. 

When your employees are operating in a safe, comfortable environment with the proper ergonomic accessories and practices in play, you can increase ROI and avoid expensive insurance claims.

Retail Store Ergonomics: Why Do They Matter?

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) cost employers about $15,000-$85,000 per injury. Indirect costs like lost productivity and retraining can double or triple that amount.

There are a variety of workplace injuries that result in missed days, work restrictions, or role transfers:

(Surprised to see that overexertion and repetitive motion represent a bigger threat than falls?)

This isn't just an industrial or construction issue. Wholesale and retail trade is a documented high-injury industry. 

Retail and grocery stores present a variety of potential injury risks, from lifting and moving items from delivery trucks, to shelving and scanning them. Falls, slips, and trips are common among retail workers as they go about their day-to-day tasks. 

But, by giving your employees the proper ergonomic equipment and training, and emphasizing good posture, you can mitigate the risk of workplace injury. 

While ergonomics for traditional office spaces is primarily about comfort, retail ergonomics is about safety too. Retail environments combine both physical labor risks (lifting, repetitive scanning, awkward postures on the floor) and desk-adjacent risks at checkout stations and back-office computers. 

The good news is that overexertion is the kind of hazard that ergonomic equipment and techniques directly address. Training your employees on ergonomics best practices ensures they are happier and healthier, allowing them to perform their tasks longer and more efficiently. Numerous studies have shown that a thorough ergonomics policy reduces worker’s compensation claims and improves company ROI.

How to Incorporate Ergonomics in Retail Design

Lack of information is one of the biggest barriers store managers face with retail ergonomics. As a result, they aren't in a position to train employees properly. Inadequate experience, equipment, and training prevents some retailers from embracing ergonomics entirely. 

As such, if you choose to invest in retail ergonomics, you should first determine what your workers need at the workplace to maximize safety and productivity. There are two valuable areas of ergonomic focus you can incorporate into your retail settings: products and practice.

Accessories for Retail Ergonomics

Promoting good retail ergonomics practices won't be easy without the products to back them up. To see the desired results, you may need to buy new chairs, keyboard arms, and other accessories – the kinds of office staples managers are often loathe to replace. 

Some of the products you should focus on replacing to improve flexibility, effectiveness, and ergonomics include:

• Computer carts on wheels (COWs)
• Keyboard trays
• Monitor arms
• Merchandise lifting mechanisms
• Ergonomic chairs
  
  

Monitor Arms

While retail employees might not be using a computer as much as someone who works in an office, cashiers, and managers still get plenty of screen time.

The best ergonomic monitor arms allow users to adjust their height and orientation to a position that puts their back, neck, and eyes in better alignment. Go for monitor arms your employees – of all shapes and sizes –  can easily adjust to their liking.

Merchandise-Lifting Mechanisms

When arranging and retrieving items from shelves, your employees are repeatedly bending and straining their backs. With a lifting mechanism, their job will become less taxing, preventing musculoskeletal injuries that gradually develop from poor ergonomics.

For example, a book lift mechanism employed in libraries and museums brings books and other materials closer to hand-level, reducing the amount of bending employees have to do. Why not borrow the library’s idea for your own store?

Ergonomic Chairs

Only certain retail or grocery stores provide their cashiers with chairs (Hello, ALDI), but those that do need to consider if they’re the right chairs.

If a chair isn’t designed with a cashier's ergonomics in mind, scanning items and ringing out customers might become more strenuous while sitting than while standing. A good ergonomic chair should have proper height adjustment for people of all sizes as well as proper lumbar support.

Computer Carts on Wheels

Many businesses use mobile computers, whether it’s for taking inventory or collecting patient information in a medical setting. A mobile computer cart can increase efficiency for your retail store by allowing associates to move easily about the building when handling inventory.

Plus, computer carts on wheels can be useful for cashiers who need to adjust the position of their system to find a comfort zone.

Keyboard Arms & Trays for Computers

Shift to adjustable keyboard arms and trays that let your employees position the keyboard and mouse to a specific height. OSHA's Computer Workstation e-tool recommends the following:

• Keyboard directly in front of body
• Shoulders relaxed
• Elbows close to body
• Straight wrists, in line with forearms

These recommendations aim at putting the wrist in a neutral posture, reducing the amount of pressure and strain on the body.

Even if your employees aren’t using a keyboard all day, every day, poor wrist posture or typing techniques can have long-term effects.

Retail Store Ergonomic Practices

Ergonomics isn’t just about the right accessories or equipment; there’s also a “best practices” component. 

Some good practices you can promote include:

• Good posture: Encourage the correct posture when using keyboards and computers or when working at a desk or a cashier station. Sitting up straight with feet flat on the floor is a good place to start.
• Taking breaks: No matter how busy your business is, encouraging your employees to take breaks now and then will go a long way in boosting their productivity. We recommend that a desk worker gets up and moves around every 30 minutes.
• Proper footwear: Some businesses require steel-toed shoes, especially for stockroom workers. These shoes can be uncomfortable if worn for long periods of time. Encourage your employees to use shoe insoles or help them pay for better footwear.
• Proper lifting techniques and/or equipment: Many retail jobs require employees to lift boxes up to 50 lbs. and without the proper lifting techniques, they stand to seriously injure themselves. Training employees to lift heavy objects with their legs not their backs – or better yet, providing them with dollies or pallet jacks – can reduce injury. 
  
  

Ergonomics Improve Any Workspace

Correct retail ergonomics are key to promoting the good health of your employees. Your workers are your business's most valuable resource, and consistently ensuring they keep up ergonomics best practices should be a priority. When you put a premium on retail and grocery store employee safety, it not only boosts your employees’ lives, but also the health of your business.

To learn more about what kind of ergonomic solutions are the best fit for your business, download our free guide below:

(This post was originally published in April 2022 and was recently updated)