Worksite International Blog

As a Professional Ergonomist and Chair Assessment Specialist (CASp), I often talk about the science of sitting, chair assessment, selection and fit in my blogs, in my presentations, and when I evaluate employees in the office. You may of heard me say, "if the chair isn't right, then the ergonomics of the workstation will never be correct." 

If you work in an office, you know what sitting all day can do to your back. It aches, you’re stiff, and your legs are tired mostly because you didn’t get up often enough or take any long walks. This can all be attributed to poor ergonomics, poor body awareness and a poorly designed office chair. When you know your job requires sitting for long lengths of time, you need to choose the perfect ergonomic office chair. If you can’t control what chair you get, no worries. Here are some tips on what to look for in a proper ergonomic chair.

Industry organizations have developed widely accepted ergonomic guidelines for the set up of office workstations and the design of ergonomic chairs. What’s missing — and very much needed, I argue — is an objective methodology for making the decision to keep, repair or replace task chairs once they’re in the workplace.

Despite recent trends toward promoting more standing in the workplace, average sitting times now exceed 7.7-10 hours per day or longer in the workplace, not including commute time. Most employers do not yet have widespread capacity for sit-to-stand workstations. As a result, far more emphasis needs to be placed on selecting chairs and the ongoing use of an ergonomic chair.

The purchase and implementation of your ergonomic chairs shouldn’t be a guess! Yet, I’ve seen over and over how many employers seem to do just that… guess. Random selection based on pictures in a catalog or based on an arbitrary budget and no objective criteria seem to be the drivers behind choosing standard chairs at most workplaces.

Workers’ compensation ergonomic worksite analysis (EWA) involves a professional onsite analysis of the injured worker and a comprehensive medical-legal report of findings and recommendations. The report is intended to be evidenced- based, objective and defensible in a court of law as it is part of the medical management of the claim. As such, the document represents the professional ergonomist’s expertise in what the work injury causation is and how to mitigate the exposures causing the injury. The ergonomic analysis is a “recipe” for worksite changes to minimize or eliminate to the extent feasible the risk factors so the injured worker can stay at work or return to work safely

But what happens if the claim goes sideways and your employee decides to sue you? Will the ergonomic analysis help or hurt you in court?

Selecting ergonomic chairs for a diverse workforce is not easy to do. I find most employers, including purchasing managers or in-house ergonomics support tasked with selecting and purchasing ergonomic chairs often choose poorly. Primarily because they don't utilize good criteria to select from or know where to find the criteria. Many select chairs based on the lowest price which is a recipe for failure! With sitting time increasing for most of us to 7 or more hours a day in the office, investing in comfortable, supportive ergonomic chairs as a capital asset is a must!