IL BLOCCO OPERATORIO. Guida ragionata alla progettazione. Capitolo 15: Progettazione ergonomica

This Guide is addressed to the Commissioner of the Surgical Block (SB) [“Blocco operatorio (BO)”], to the Medical Director of the Hospital Unit, to the Architect and to the Project Manager of the process of planning, designing and delivering an SB. It raises necessary questions to be asked in the various phases of planning, design and construction of an SB, examining possible solutions, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and reporting some examples of implementation. Chapter 15, Ergonomic design, deals with the issue of the relationships between operators and patients with furniture and equipment, in order to ensure maximum functionality, taking into account all types of risks that may arise in the performance of healthcare activities. The chapter examines the different criticalities of postures, staff movement, congestion of spaces and physical interference in relation to different surgical activities. It subsequently offers considerations on the ergonomic criteria to be adopted (arrangement of the monitors, height of the operating table) and on the equipment and aids in the operating room (platforms, multifunctional seats, exoskeletons). The author suggests carrying out an analysis of the working conditions of the surgical staff, in order to properly design and set up the room from an ergonomic point of view; in this way, it is possible to adopt and support the operational-behavioral needs that the surgical teams naturally assume in their operation. The integration of knowledge and experiences of the various stakeholders in the design process allows a shared vision of the problem from multiple perspectives, facilitated today by participatory methodologies of hybrid simulations integrated with visual representations.