Design guidelines for accommodating amputees in the workplace

Rehabilitation experts have been addressing the problem of accommodating di sabled workers in the workplace for many years. When these disabled workers return to work, accomplishing the tasks they performed prior to their disa bility can present a serious challenge. Meeting this challenge successfully requires that employers provide accommodations at the workplace so that th e disabled workers can continue to contribute efficiently to the operation of the enterprise. Disabilities that are caused by amputations are quite cr itical. The severity of the injury in terms of loss of a limb and the costs associated with accommodations make this type of disability extremely sign ificant. This paper deals with accommodating "permanent partial" and "perma nent total disabilities " due to amputations. The paper is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the causes of amputations, types, an d difficulties that an amputee faces in the work environment. In this part, an understanding of the amputee physiology has been developed. The second part of the paper addresses the various measures that employers may, take i n accommodating the amputees at the workplace. Design guidelines are provid ed to make the workplace suitable for the amputees.