Case Study
Workplace design for an office worker in a travel agency

Company:

The employer operates a travel agency and bus company for holiday trips with its 47 employees.

Employee's disability and functional limitation:

The woman has paralysis of the left arm and hand following a stroke. The grasping space, reaching, holding and handling are limited due to the disability. The GdB (degree of disability) is 70.

Job:

The woman works part-time as an office worker for her employer.

Workplace and work task (actual condition):

The office employee works in an office at a standard computer workstation. Within the scope of her job she has to perform the following tasks:
  • opening and sorting incoming mail,
  • punching and filing documents,
  • advising customers on the spot and on the phone,
  • reserving as well as booking trips on the PC,
  • correspondence with customers as well as travel providers on the PC and
  • processing customer payments on the PC.
Due to her disability, the employee can only use her right arm and hand to perform work tasks. She therefore needs more time or help from colleagues.

Workplace and work task (target state):

To compensate for the disability-related physical limitations and deficits, the office employee uses:
  • a headset to connect to her telephone and work in parallel (researching, reserving and booking) on the PC,
  • a small-area keyboard as a one-handed keyboard with a latching function e.g. for the shift key for capitalization for the PC,
  • a cordless ergonomic mouse,
  • a writing board with magnetic clamping bar and weight ruler (one-handed ruler) for writing handwritten texts (notes, etc.)
  • an electric hole puncher and stapler for filing documents,
  • an electric letter opener and
  • a tabletop folding and inserting machine for folding and inserting outgoing mail or letters.

Assistive products used:

manual drawing and writing aids
Writing boards, standing desks and reading cushions
Keyboards
Computer pointing devices
Assistive products for organizing, sorting and archiving paper documents
Assistive products for mail processing

Funding and participation:

The design suitable for disabled people was 100% funded by the Integration and Inclusion Office. Advice was provided by the engineering service for suitable for disabled people work design of the integration or inclusion office - the so-called technical advisory service.

ICF Items

Reference Number:

R/PB5121


Last Update: 10 Apr 2025