The TCO “Office Checker” a Tool for Ergonomic Work Place Evaluation

In the mid 80's, The Swedish confederation for white collar workers, the TCO, successfully launched it's first ergonomic testing tool - The Screen Checker. The Screen Checker made it possible for end user groups to formulate requirements regarding ergonomics for VDU's. The Screen Checker was developed further and the releases of TCO92, TCO95 and TCO99 have put new standards regarding aspects of office equipment, aspects based on ergonomics and ecology. The TCO “de facto” standards are now used in several countries world wide and the number of office equipment, that are included in the standard, has been increased for each new release. TCO started during 1999 to develop a tool that primarily is targeting the ergonomics in office furniture. A group of researchers has been established as reference group and end users are taking an active part in the project. The development process is based on the user centred design approach as defined in ISO 13407. When the tool is ready, the user will manage the entire pr...