Sitting in one position for hours on end adds harmful stress to the spine. In order to help minimize the risk of developing or complicating potential back problems, the science of ergonomics has been incorporated into office chairs for decades. Ergonomic chairs are designed to support the lower back and improve posture. They are also designed to specifically accommodate any stature, workstation, and specific task to be performed. The benefits of ergonomic chairs are numerous and important in upholding health, morale, and productivity in any office environment. Here are Four Top Reasons why you should buy an ergonomically designed chair for your office.
- Health: Most people who work at an office typically spend at least up to 6 hours or more sitting at their desk. Many studies have highlighted the inherent negative effects of prolonged immobility at the work-desk. This type of prolonged sitting causes not only temporary back, neck, and shoulder pain, but could also lead to long lasting and debilitating health issues as well. A 2014 report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that U.S. businesses lost a total of over 12 billion dollars in 2009 from injuries to employee’s musculoskeletal systems. That is a big eye opener to business owners on how important and cost effective purchasing ergonomically designed office furniture can be.Ergonomic chairs are specifically designed to provide complete support to the main structures of your body that are prone to getting injuries from the ongoing stress of prolonged sitting at work. Without the help of ergonomics in the workplace, the long-term futures of loyal and efficient hard working employees could be put into doubt from the ongoing threat of health problems, due to an easily fixable issue such as prolonged bad posture at the workplace. Stubbornly using old fashioned, hard, un-back supporting office chairs just isn’t good business sense. Good business success relies on good employees. Using the scientific benefits of ergonomics in the workplace is a reliable and efficient way to keep good long-term committed employees healthy.
- Comfort: Ergonomic chairs comfortably support proper posture. Traditional chairs are more designed for functionality than for proper posture and lumbar support. But ergonomic chairs are specifically designed to do just that. Most people find themselves dealing with back and neck pain from being constantly hunched over at their desks. Luckily ergonomically designed chairs take this into account. They are specifically made to compensate for slouching, promoting better posture. Thus, better comfort is achieved with less aches and pains during the employee’s shift.
Some of the reasons ergonomic chairs provide so much support and comfort, is that they incorporate head rests, contoured back support, which also promotes good posture, and they are height adjustable. This allows the feet to properly and firmly be placed on the floor, and positions the knees at the optimum recommended 90 degree angle. Many other adjustments are built into the features of ergonomic chairs. These are only some of the reasons why ergonomic chairs are a user-friendly, safe and smart way to provide adequate comfort and back support at work.
- Productivity: As we have pointed out several times, ergonomic office chairs improve the overall working environment and the physical conditions in which a body is positioned, in order to enhance the best type of health, posture, and convenience so that the mind can concentrate on the important aspects of a successful workday, rather than constantly focusing on how uncomfortable and in pain they are at any given moment. A comfortable, pain free employee is going to naturally going to be much more productive, focused, and clear headed than a worker who is distracted and uncomfortable. Plain and Simple!Being in control of one’s workplace surroundings is detrimental to their proper production capabilities. That also includes controlling what type of equipment you use. You wouldn’t make copies for an important client or project using an old, outdated and inefficient counterproductive copy machine. Your office furniture should be considered just as important to positive production rates as your office printers are. Make sure that you have the latest and most efficient and up to date equipment, and successful production goals become much easier to reach. Just simple common business sense, right?
- Options: There are so many extra options that are available with ergonomic chairs, which standard old office chairs just can’t compete with. They include making height adjustments, which are important for proper blood flow when sitting for prolonged amounts of time. Armrests are adjustable on ergonomic chairs for maximum comfort, and it once again also provides extra health benefits by helping to fend off the risk of Carpel Tunnel Disorder, when at the keyboard of a computer for hours on end. They also come with casters for that fast and efficient, seated chaired zip across the room to grab something.Ergonomic chairs have special seat tilt features that also help with lower lumbar support, changing the chairs forward and backward angles, which distributes the body weight equally for maximum health and comfort. The chairs come in seemingly infinite varieties of style and color, making it easier to match set office decorum’s, and personal or corporate office tastes. This makes them a great deal for the money, providing a powerful but under noticed tool for enhancing office productivity when stuck at a desk all day.
How to use your ergonomic chair properly:
- Elbows should be bent at 90 degrees after adjusting the arm rests.
- A three to four inch distance is the optimum distance to keep between the front edges of the seat, and the back of the knees.
- Use the proper size chair. Seats that are too large for a certain person’s frame can force them to have to lean forward, thus putting dangerous and undue strain on their backs.