About Us
The Office Ergonomics Research Committee (OERC) was formed in 1991 by a group of US companies concerned by reports of an increasing number of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among office workers.
The goal of the OERC is to better understand the human and machine system that is comprised of the people who use office, information and communication technologies in a broad variety of settings. A fuller understanding of this interaction facilitates better product designs and more comfortable and productive human users.
The current objectives of the OERC are:
- to understand the association between office work and discomfort, fatigue and MSDs, and
- to communicate its findings on their possible causes, methods of intervention and management by providing access to information for members, employers, manufacturers, workers and other interested parties on the association between office work and musculoskeletal disorders.
About the Members
By design, OERC members represent a diverse group of organizations with a common interest in complex human-machine systems, commonly referred to as office ergonomics. The members combine their knowledge and resources to both encourage and support the study of the many factors involved in this system.
Current Members
OERC Research
Through its unique approach to funding, the OERC leverages its ability to fund scientific studies, literature searches, and research symposia to identify and fill gaps in the ergonomics knowledge base. These activities address a variety of topics, which include but are not limited to input device design, effectiveness of MSD intervention programs, visual ergonomics, challenges in portable computing, effectiveness in training, computer workstation design, psychosocial and cognitive factors in MSD etiology, physiology and improvements to research methodologies. In order to support education and information sharing regarding findings from research that it has sponsored, the OERC encourages its funded researchers to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals. The activities supported by the OERC have added significantly to the body of knowledge on the association between office and other similar work and musculoskeletal problems.
OERC Conferences
Marconi Conference
The OERC periodically convenes and sponsors a conference of leading researchers in the field of ergonomics on a topic of interest to OERC. Attendance is limited to OERC members. These conferences are held in a retreat-type setting, which results in a very rich interaction between researchers and member participants.
Other Conferences
From time to time OERC has sponsored special-topic conferences separate from the Marconi, but similar to it in structure and organization. On occasion OERC provides financial or in-kind support to other organizations’ conferences.
OERC Operations
The OERC is a 501c(6) non-profit, tax-exempt corporation. Each member organization has one vote and up to two members on our Board of Directors. The Board makes all funding and policy decisions at our business meetings. Additionally, the Board elects the OERC’s Officers. An Executive Committee composed of the OERC’s Officers is empowered to make certain decisions between meetings when necessary.
The OERC holds three meetings per year at either member sites, universities with related research activities, or in conjunction with major ergonomic conferences. Guest speakers at these meetings report on research and other subjects of interest. Research funding proposals are reviewed and other operational decisions are made at these meetings.
We have adopted an internal structure of empowered project teams to provide focus on specific areas of OERC investigation. A team is composed of OERC members who have a particular interest or expertise in a specific area. The team’s objective is to investigate the area and make recommendations to the full committee regarding what projects the OERC should sponsor. Project teams have looked at the effects of: vision and lighting; negative slope keyboard platforms; portable computing, ergonomic training; pointing devices; and end-user solutions. New teams are formed as the need arises. The OERC members participate on selected project teams and attend our meetings to help insure the relevance of our work to their interests.
Contact Us: mailto:director@oerc.org
