The hidden cost of unhealthy workplace: why ergonomics matters

At a recent WORKTECH Academy Expert Session in partnership with Humanscale, Jonathan Puleio, Global Vice President at Humanscale Consulting, and Matthew O’Sullivan, Managing Consultant at Humanscale, explored the unseen toll of poor workplace design – and how preventive ergonomics can help organisations build healthier, more productive offices.

‘Ergonomics is the science of fitting the task to the worker – to maximise productivity while reducing fatigue, discomfort and injury,’ explained Puleio. The principle has profound business implications. When the physical relationship between worker and environment is out of line, risk multiplies: injury rates rise, discomfort becomes normalised, and productivity slowly drains away.

The online session on 8 October 2025 underlined that ergonomics is not simply a question of comfort or aesthetics but a measurable driver of performance. ‘Workers experiencing musculoskeletal discomfort are less productive,’ Puleio noted. ‘Workers that are less productive are more costly.’

Preventive ergonomics

The speakers challenged a common industry habit – treating ergonomics as a post-occupancy correction, rather than a starting point. Matthew O’Sullivan argued that the most effective workplaces take proactive approach – identifying risks before they lead to injury.

‘Preventative design isn’t just about comfort – it’s about building resilience into the workplace’ Matthew O’Sullivan, Humanscale Consulting

The idea reframes ergonomics as a form of insurance. By designing for prevention, organisations can avoid the far greater financial and human costs of correction later.

Preventive design, O’Sullivan explained, relies on three intertwined layers:

• Understanding the user: mapping posture, reach and workflow to ensure tasks fit bodies rather than forcing bodies to fit tasks.
• Designing adaptable systems: desks, seating, lighting and interfaces that respond to individual needs.
• Creating a feedback loop: using observation and data to refine the environment continuously.

The result is an office that actively supports wellbeing and efficiency, one in which employees move and focus more naturally throughout the day.

A strategic investment

The short-term savings of ignoring ergonomics are quickly outweighed by hidden costs – absenteeism, slower task completion, staff turnover and higher healthcare claims. Embedding ergonomic thinking early in design not only mitigates those risks but also contributes to the care and productivity of employees.

Improving the fit between the built environment and the worker, experts argued, enhances efficiency and morale simultaneously – making workplaces adaptive, data-driven and centred on human experience within it.

‘Ergonomics isn’t a cost centre but a performance driver’ Jonathan Puleio, Humanscale Consulting

Human-centred futures

As technology advances, workplace must be centred around proactive, human led design, including responsive furniture systems that automatically adjust to posture, or AI-enabled monitoring that predicts and prevents discomfort – moving to the era of adaptive ergonomics – where spaces learn from people as much as people learn from their tools. For organisations grappling with hybrid work and wellbeing fatigue, the journey to sustainable performance begins with physical alignment.

This Humanscale Expert Session reframed ergonomics as the invisible infrastructure of healthy performance. In the same way that energy efficiency once transformed building design, ergonomic efficiency is poised to redefine how workplaces measure success.

Watch a video of the Humanscale Expert Session here: