What is Kitchen Ergonomics ?

Kitchen Ergonomics

Kitchen Ergonomics

What is Ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the process of designing or arranging workplaces, products, and systems so that they fit the people who use them.

Why Kitchen Ergonomics?

The kitchen is the highest traffic area in the whole house and working in the kitchen can be very tiring. Arranging kitchen space can reduce obstacles and unnatural and useless movements. Arranging various kitchen areas by respecting distances and organizing logical routes, defining suitable heights of countertop etc. are the starting points to make work in the kitchen easy, relaxing and fun. This is called Kitchen Ergonomics.

Kitchen Triangle - The Ergonomic Route.

A simple rule is to connect the Refrigerator, the washing area (sink, dishwasher) and the cooking area (hob), by means of small triangles. In an ideal kitchen arrangement, the three areas should be divided by worktops. This will reduce the unnecessary travel in the kitchen and reduce the chance of tiredness while working.

Height & Depth  - The Ergonomic Worktop.

Working at too low or too high worktop create a wrong posture and it can create serious health issue in the longer run. Average Indian Height (Male /Female) varies between 5’.4” to 5’.8” and hence 820 mm to 860 mm is the ideal height for a kitchen countertop. Same way the top cabinet depth must not more than 320 mm to 340 mm. This will help to access maximum counter space and also avoid the chance of banging the head while working.

In Between Distances  - The Ergonomic Movement.

Normally kitchen is the smallest room of the home and has less movement space. A correct planning of the movement space can actually make the kitchen safe and more functional.   

A free space of one 1000 mm must be left in front of the oven, dishwasher or pull out unit to allow for opening and closing. For another person to walk behind the first one during this operation, the empty space must be increased by an additional 600 mm if there is a wall on the opposite side.

To allow a person to open doors and drawers behind a person seated, it is necessary to leave a minimum distance of 1350 mm between the edge of the table and the unit behind it.  

Door & Drawers  - The Ergonomic opening.

Traditionally designed kitchen has base units  & corner units with doors. The base unit with shelves forces you to kneel down every time you need to access the unit for put down or take away some or other objects. This may cause serious injuries to joints in the longer run and can be very painful for older age user. Drawers and Zig-Zag corner mechanics are the perfect ergonomic solution for such problem.

Front opening hinged wall units are very popular but not ergonomically correct as every time you open the door, it comes to your face directly. The 90-degree opening also restrict you in using freely the whole area. Open units, wall sliding mechanism, and top opening mechanism are the best solution to solve this problem.

Conclusion

Ergonomics aims to improve workspaces to minimise the risk of injury or harm. So as technologies change, so too does the need to ensure that the tools we access for work, rest and play are designed for our body’s requirements. Being most used area, kitchen ergonomics is becoming more and more popular.