Walk into Cindy Burt's office in Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) and you might think you've wandered into a storeroom crammed with six office chairs, four desks and assorted computers, keyboards, lamps and footrests.

But for Burt, the room is just her everyday work environment, a place where employees come to decide how to assemble their offices or labs. As manager of UCLA's Ergonomics Program, she evaluates and recommends office equipment, among her other duties, to help employees adapt their work spaces to their individual needs.

Burt didn't start out in the field of ergonomics; she transitioned into it. Armed with two master's degrees - one in rehabilitation counseling from East Carolina University and another in occupational therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - the New York-born Burt moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and landed a job as an occupational therapist at Northridge Hospital. She eventually became manager of the program before leaving in 1987 to head the occupational therapy program at UCLA Medical Center.

"I expanded my duties to handle the sports-therapy, hand-therapy and work-injury programs," said Burt. "And that's where I started doing ergonomics."

Initially, Burt counseled nurses, grounds crews, mail service employees and other departments where back and other injuries were occurring. "Then we started seeing more and more injuries directly relating to computer workstations," she said. "We recognized we weren't making an impact till we went to work sites and made changes in how people were doing their work."

Burt usually starts a case by checking out the existing furniture and equipment - monitors, keyboards, mice, telephones and document holders. It's important "to make sure you position all the things you use frequently in a way that you can keep a relaxed - or 'neutral' - posture," said Burt. "That means using as few muscles as possible so that you don't have to turn your head ... or reach too far."

Burt also invites employees to her ergonomics lab, where they can test lamps, chairs, floor mats and glare guards. She then makes recommendations tailored to each individual's work-related needs.

"It's one of the most fun jobs on campus," Burt said. "I get to meet everybody, from the maintenance department to the chancellor and vice chancellors. Everyone has ergonomic concerns with how they do their work."

But there's one thing that doesn't thrill Burt. "It scares me when I hear people advertising ergonomic equipment," she admitted. "It's only ergonomic if it fits the person that's using it."