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Ergonomic aspects
The kitchen is, without a doubt, the most important work area in the household, and kitchen users spend a lot of time here.
Knowing this, kitchen planning should be carefully thought out and aspects such as ergonomics and optimized work flows (distance, time) should always be taken into account.
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Bending & kneeling in the kitchen
Ergonomic factors in the kitchen regarding stress on the body play an important role.
Daily activity in the kitchen is more comparable to a workout in the gym rather than a pleasant stroll in the park. That's because it involves long distances intertwined with lots of stopping, bending, stretching and acceleration.
And the main cook of a typical four-person household does this, on average, two hours per day!
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The OWAS method
In order to demonstrate the ergonomic stress on the body during kitchen activities, the OWAS method has been employed as a tool.
The colored ergonomics model symbolizes different ergonomic stress classes using color coding.- Red: very severe stress on the body
- Orange: severe stress
- Yellow: light stress
- Blue: no stress on the body
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Bottom line
The red and orange ergonomics model demonstrates the stresses involved in retrieving items from a base cabinet with doors and shelves in a kneeling and bent position.
The yellow ergonomics model, which is accessing a full extension, shows significantly better posture. The maximum stress level is still only yellow even when removing items from the bottom drawer. This activity has none of the awkwardness and strain associated with accessing items from static shelves.
By planning drawers and roll-outs instead of shelves, you can do away with damaging bending and kneeling. You can easily remove storage items using a natural lifting movement.
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DYNAMIC SPACE
