Anyone with experience in an office-type environment is familiar with the aches and pains that come from spending hours at a computer. Whether your back aches from a poorly designed chair, your neck is stiff from crouching over a laptop, or your wrist is playing up from constant clicking and typing, office-related strains are all too familiar. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Ergonomics is the process of fitting a workplace to the needs of its users. It’s aimed at preventing discomfort and thus maximising productivity and efficiency. It’s a science which looks at biomechanics – the movement, strength and muscles of the human body – and how it interacts with environmental physics, such as light, noise, temperature. Looking at all these factors combined allows ergonomists to design workstations which maximise the working potential of employees. In this article we take you through the fundamentals and practical considerations of ergonomics in the office.
Height (Desk)
Desk height plays an important role here. If your desk is too high, you risk overworking your shoulder and arm muscles. Overly contracted shoulder muscles can lead to upper back problems by cramping the muscles and wreaking havoc on your posture. Having a desk that’s too high up can also cause strain on your neck by forcing you to extend your neck to see the monitor. This constant extension can result in pain and tension at the back of your head or top of your spine.
On the other hand, if your desk is too low, you’ll overwork other muscle groups. Shallow desks cause users to slump or hunch over their workstation, which puts strain on the shoulder, upper back, neck and arm muscles.
This Height is Just Right
How do you find the appropriate desk height for you? The basic premise is that your desk should be at a comfortable height which allows you, and encourages you, to have a good posture. Your elbows should be at a ninety-degree angle with your body when using your keyboard and mouse, your feet should be flat on the floor, and your knees should be in line with or slightly lower than your hips. For most people, to achieve an optimal posture, the desk should be 1-2 inches above their thighs.
For people in the range of 5’8 to 5’10 tall, the recommended desk height is 28 to 30 inches. To work out the optimal height for your desk in relation to your height, you can use an online desk height calculator. Ironically, the industry standard for desk height is 29 inches, which would be appropriate for a person 6 foot tall. Only an estimated 15-20% of people in the world are 6ft or taller. Fortunately for the rest of us, many desks now offer an adjustable height feature.
Posture (Seating)
Having a perfectly ergonomic desk is all very well, but without a suitable chair to match, you’re wasting your time. A poor office chair is one of the primary causes of back pain in the UK, which is the second most common cause for a sick day. A good seat is therefore essential for any ergonomic office space, boosting productivity and comfort in one.
Ergonomic Office Seating
There’s a broad range of ergonomic desk seating available that also range hugely in price. At the lower end of the scale, the fundamental feature is the option to adjust the seat height.
The ideal height for a desk chair should enable you to have both feet flat on the floor. The NHS recommends that your knees are slightly lower than your hips when you’re in a sitting position. When you’re shopping around for desk chairs, a good test is to stand in front of the chair. The top of the seat should be, or easily adjusted to be, in line with your kneecaps.
Arm Support
Having armrests will reduce the stress and strain on your arm and shoulder muscles by bridging the gap between your arms and the desk when using your computer. Ideally, armrests should point slightly inwards, as most computer users will have their hands fairly close together when typing or using a computer.
Higher-end chairs may have a pivot function, which allows the user to change the angle at which they point in or out. This feature is particularly important if you frequently use a mobile phone or smaller portable device, meaning your hands are even closer together.
Seat Depth
Chairs in the upper price-bracket offer seat depth adjustment sometimes called “seat sliding”. Users can adjust the distance between the base of the seat and the backrest. You should have a 1-2 inch gap between the inside of your knees and the edge of the chair.
People with longer legs can adjust the seat depth to have a bigger gap between the seat and the backrest to enable this 1-2-inch gap between their knees and the seat-edge, to make sure their legs are supported. A smaller space between the inside of your knees and the chair prevents excess pressure being applied to the knees, which can happen if the seat depth is too shallow. Conversely, if your seat is too deep, you may experience numbness in your legs where circulation is reduced.
Eyesight (Monitor/s)
The top of your screen should be on or slightly below eye-level. A monitor placed too high increases the strain on your neck and shoulders as you have to tilt your head back. Looking upwards can also increase the likelihood of light-induced headaches, as you’ll be looking more directly at the overhead lighting.
A monitor that’s too low, however, can cause you to hunch over and tilt your head forward, which can also lead to neck pain. The best position is straight ahead, about an arm’s length away from your body.
Having established that an appropriately positioned monitor can prevent neck strain and tension in the upper back and shoulders, the essential requirement for an ergonomic monitor is to have a height-adjustment feature. You can then play with the height of the monitor to find a comfortable position. While the NHS recommends having the top of the screen at or just below eye level, users wearing bifocals may find it more comfortable to have the screen lower so they can see the screen easily using their bottom lenses.
After establishing a comfortable height for your monitor, the next important thing is being able to adjust the angle of the monitor. It’s best to have the monitor tilting up slightly (so the bottom of the screen comes towards you). This tilt allows you to best see the full screen with a relaxed neck position.
Monitor Setup Options
Aside from the physical features of the monitor, you should ensure that you can change the display settings. The brightness, for example, should be balanced with the surroundings behind it. Having your office space lit evenly is important for preventing headaches.
Another option that some monitors may offer is a setting sometimes referred to as ‘night-mode’ or ‘dark mode’. This feature removes the blue light and is often used on mobile phones after a specific time in the evening, as blue light triggers an association with daytime and suppress melatonin, a hormone necessary for sleeping. Many people find this setting more comfortable during the daytime as well, reporting less strain and dryness in their eyes.
Arms and Motion (Keyboard/Mouse)
Depending on your job, you may find yourself relying heavily on other equipment. Those who spend a lot of the day typing, for example, may experience wrist pain. As such, for certain jobs, ergonomic peripherals can be just as significant in increasing comfort as the main components like a good desk and comfortable chair.
Ergonomic Keyboard
If your job involves a large amount of typing, an ergonomic keyboard can be a godsend. Ergonomic keyboards usually have a slight mount in the middle where your hands meet to type, meaning both your hands type on a bit of a slope, sloping upwards in the middle.
The keyboard also tends to be split between the keys covered by your left and right hands with a small gap in the centre, allowing each side to slope downwards. Some manufacturers split their keyboards down the middle, offering two entirely separate interfaces. A more curved and separated setup promotes a far more natural position for your hands, wrists and forearms, preventing repetitive strain injury.
Ergonomic Mouse
Some computer users will find they rely much more heavily on the mouse, and rarely touch the keyboard. For these people, an ergonomic mouse can make a huge difference.
Most ergonomic mice flip the traditional model on its side, sometimes referred to as vertical mice. Instead of the mouse hiding beneath your hand as in the conventional design, ergonomic mice fit a much more natural hand position.
Maximum Comfort, Maximum Performance
In our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, making ergonomic swaps are becoming more and more critical for improving our overall health. The British Heart Foundation estimates that the average sitting time for a working adult in the UK is 9.5 hours a day, but for office workers, this can be much higher.
With such a considerable amount of time spent sitting every day, it’s therefore imperative for our overall health to have a comfortable setup to minimise aches, pains and office-related injuries. Even the smallest swaps can have an enormous impact in reducing daily muscle strain, such as an ergonomic keyboard or mouse.
Not only are these products far better for your overall health, and that of your employees, but studies have proved that they have huge effects on efficiency and work potential. Maximum comfort generates maximum productivity. The comfort of your employees should therefore be your top priority – less injury, more work and a happier, healthier team.
