Ergonomic Keyboard Tray: How to Make Best Use of it

July 11th, 2006

Ergonomic keyboard tray is a very vital part of the ergonomic workstation. If you need to work on the computers for longer period, then not having ergonomic keyboard tray may create several health hazards such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, pain in upper and lower back and neck pain.

Natural Reach Zone
Before we understand more about the ergonomic keyboard ray, let us first learn what natural reach zone Is. The natural reach zone is defined as the region where you can reach easily and without any kind of discomfort. Your upper arms must remain at the side in their natural position and you should be able to reach with the easy movement of forearm. Designers of the ergonomic keyboard tray pay special attention to this point so that when you use keyboard or the mouse you only need to move your arms in the natural reach zone. This is a safe posture for working longer hours on the computer.

If you choose right kind of ergonomic keyboard tray, you can avoid awkward postures of the body along with the contact stress and repetition. Your keyboard should be placed exactly in front of you. You should be able to work with relaxed shoulders and naturally placed elbows. Similarly, placement of wrists should also be comfortable that is in line with the fore arm and straight. When choosing the ergonomic keyboard tray, you must concentrate on following points.
• Height of the ergonomic keyboard tray
• Distance of the ergonomic keyboard tray
• Designs and Uses
• Use of the left hand key
In addition to this, when you buy an ergonomic keyboard tray, you must also keep in mind the placement of mouse and wrist/palm rests along with the keyboard.

Height Adjustments
First, we start with the importance of height adjustment in the ergonomic keyboard tray. If the height of the keyboard is too low then it will result in bent up wrists when you type something. If it is too high, you need to strain your shoulders and raise them to lift the arms up. Both these situations lead to several musculoskeletal disorders. To solve this problem you need to adjust either the height of the chair or the height of the desk. However, if you use an ergonomic keyboard tray, then it is possible to adjust both the height and angle of keyboard. Before buying ergonomic keyboard tray, ascertain that there is enough space to accommodate mouse or other input devices along with the keyboard. It should also have space for foot and leg clearance.

Distance Adjustments
Second point is the distance of ergonomic keyboard tray. You need to set the distance of keyboard in such a way that it is neither too close nor too far. Because in both the cases you may end up either leaning, forward using torso or extreme elbow angles. MSDs of the wrists, elbows and shoulders are the results of these awkward postures. How to solve this problem? Distance of the keyboard should be so adjusted that the forearms and floor remain parallel to each other and elbows rest at close to the body.

Designs of the Keyboards
As far as the designs of keyboards are concerned, there are many drawbacks of using traditional keyboard. It may require bending of your wrist to reach all the keys. Smaller keyboards like one used in laptop may further gravitate the stress. Contact stresses to the tendons that move within the wrists are the result of such awkward wrist postures. You can solve this problem by adjusting the keyboards in such a way that you get neutral posture of wrists. You may also opt for alternative keyboards that help achieving neutral postures. Manufacturers of ergonomic keyboard tray provide them on case-to-case basis and you need to learn how to use them.

Entry Filed under: Ergonomic keyboard tray