Worksite International Blog

Are You Living an Ergonomic Lifestyle?

Most people never thought in 2020 their kitchen table or tiny desk in the bedroom would be their home office for the next several years! They began to miss the comforts of the office, their good ergonomic chair, the sit-to-stand desk, and good internet speed! They yearn for an ergonomic lifestyle!

An ergonomic lifestyle is one where you are happy, safe, and comfortable wherever and whenever you work because you have the right equipment that fits and supports you. Your work is human centered or U-centric!

The use of a footrest is often an optional add-on for a seated or standing workstation. Many employers are in a quandary as to whether to provide this curious device. And many employees don’t recognize when they could use one or even how to use one when placed under the workstation. 

When your employee tells you they have back pain from sitting, do you immediately think you need to replace his/her chair? And if you do replace it, do you worry about whether their cubicle neighbor to the right and left will want one too? Then before you know it…many employees are reporting the same; bringing in therapy balls or asking for ergonomic evaluations to justify replacing their ergonomic office chairs.

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." 

Over the last year, we've all adapted to working from home. This fact has got me thinking, how many of our new habits, are good habits? This includes our work postures.

Recently, I had the opportunity to record my first podcast with James Crow of Posture Stars. Not only was it a lot of fun, but I was able to answer some important questions about posture. As a physical therapist and ergonomist, posture has come to mean different things to me when I observe and assess employees in the workplace. Did you know there are many kinds of postures?

Listen in to my thoughts on posture, it's significance in our daily work life and a bit of thoughtful advice for listeners. 

James asked me the following questions: 

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.

Perhaps one of the most controversial ergonomic actions in the workplace is whether to use armrests or not. I see many employees with chairs that previously had armrests but now do not. When I ask where the armrests are, the employee typically states, "The last ergo evaluator told me to remove them." To which I ask if that was helpful? Typically, employees report continued problems despite this action.

The question is why remove them? Is it necessary or helpful to use armrests with computer use? Is it bad to use chair armrests? There are many myths and half truths around the use of armrests. In this blog, I separate fact from fiction and help identify whether armrests are truly helpful or harmful.

Chairs matter a lot. A bad chair matters more. But a good ergonomic chair matters the most!

Why do I say this? Because as a professional ergonomist, I’ve come to realize chairs are foundational to seated work. If the chair isn’t right, then the ergonomics will never be right, and your employees will never truly be comfortable!

So often I see companies with no specific plan for buying chairs for their employees. Typically, they are old, worn, outdated, poorly assigned, non-specific to task or employee stature, don’t work and employees have no idea how to adjust what they have been provided. Chairs are undervalued and underappreciated in the workplace! They are a forgotten asset!

Which brings me to ask you, “Are you chair aware?” Chair awareness is complex. The best way to explain it is to see if you can answer these ten questions.