Ergonomic office chairs
While many consider their office chair a place to put their backside while getting a days work done, that one piece of office furniture can make the difference in how well the job is done. The average office worker is in their chair about eight hours a day at their workstation, only getting up two or three times to take a break or have a meal.
The rest of the day, their body is depending on that office chair to support it and keep it in fit condition. Day after day many people head into their Sydney offices and get to work, never making sure they set up their chair to its optimum settings.
Still other Australians will head out to buy an office chair, not knowing what they are really looking for, and purchase a chair with a lot of knobs and levers, but then get that chair to their workplace and never adjust it to fit their body.
Here is the thing that is needed to be known to properly set up an office chair. First and foremost, there is need of a height adjustment on the chair. There is need to set the height of the ergonomic office chair to have the arms even with the desk.
This alignment will reduce fatigue on the arms, and that also reduces the strain on the neck and shoulders, which do the job of holding those arms up. The feet should be flat, either on the ground or, if adjusting the office chair to be even with the desk has the feet dangling, on a footrest.
This will reduce stress in key areas such as under the thigh or the back of knees. Now move to taking care of the back. One of the big complaints of office workers’ on improperly adjusted chairs is back pain. When seated at the desk, it should be felt that the chair all along the lower back. If it is not possible, there is need of a lumbar support adjustment.
This can be in the form of a lumbar support adjustment option on the chair, or one of many commercially available ergonomic lumbar support pads that can be strap onto the chair. Another adjustment that can help the back is seat depth.
This is an adjustment that is particularly handy for those who are not of average height. By being able to adjust the seat depth on the office chair it can make sure that the legs hang off the edge of the chair comfortably, while keeping the back completely supported.
For those who are at a keyboard or writing all day, the armrest support feature is just as important as all others. There is need to adjust the armrests to position the forearms just off the desk. That will keep the strain off both the shoulders and the wrists.
When a new chair is bought the office, one should spend a bit of time with it getting to know all the adjustment options. It may take a while of working with the options to get just the right feel and fit.
Ensure the seller can advise what the settings do and how to adjust them. Old chairs can be adjusted this to any comfort level. Many chairs offer full free lever mechanisms allowing to free float on the fulcrum of the ergonomic office chair.
All these adjustments can be made when a new chair is brought into the workstation area, but also make sure nothing has changed with the chair at the beginning of each workday.
19-Apr-2007