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Health and Safety: How To Be Seated Correctly

With the current emphasis on health and safety, a most important factor is being seated comfortably and correctly at your office desk. The correct sitting position can help you improve your physical well-being and improve your performance while at work. An uneasy body can be severely incapacitated long before you even realise theremay be a problem. Sitting in a comfortable but well supported position keeps the blood flowing and your mind functioning at it’s best.

Ergonomics is the science of designing the job in hand, the equipment, and workplace to suit the worker and is of specific interest when considering office workstations and seating.

Whether you work from home or work from an office, you spend a lot of time at your desk. The incorrect position can wreak havoc on the entire body. Tension can build up in your back and the circulation to the legs may be reduced.

Points worth seriously considering are:

Eyestrain is a common problem for people who spend a lot of time at a computer screen. The height of the monitor and distance from your seat will make a huge difference to your comfort and well-being. An adjustable monitor stand lets you raise and lower your monitor so it is at perfect eye level It also allows for movement forwards and backwards to easily adjust for your position.  

Neck pain is one of the most common complaints of office workers but it’s cause is rarely understood. Neck pain is not often caused by the neck postion itself, but arm and wrist positions. Strain on the upper back and shoulders makes muscles in the neck bunch to compensate and develop spasms and knots. Make sure that  your arms are held at a proper 45 degree angle and your wrists appropriately positioned. An ergonomic keyboard in addition to a table with an adjustable rather than stationary keyboard holder will make it less hard to place yourself in the correct end position. Ergonomic keyboards help reduce arm and shoulder strain and ease the pressure to the neck muscles.

An Ergonomic Chair:

Does your chair have proper support to the lumbar region? A good chair is well worth the cost you pay for it. Make sure it has adjustable support for your lower back, fits the body and supports your shoulders as well. Your chair should be kept in good working order. Tiny niggles can mean you must physically compensate for movements and hold the chair steady, putting further stress on your body.  

Armrests are an important feature of your chair. In many office chair ranges, armrests may be added to armless chairs, and standard arms may be replaced with armrests as an option. Most office chair armrests are height adjustable, enabling you to place your arms in a comfortable working position for your daily tasks.

If your armrests are too high, this will raise the shoulders, causing tension in the shoulders and upper back muscles. Too low and they may cause a leaning posture which could impact your breathing, thus reducing the amount of oxygen being carried by the blood to the muscles 

Armrests which are too far apart may cause the shoulders to overwork, causing upper back strain. Also, should they be too narrow, extra muscular effort will be required to keep your arms on them.

Armrests which are too close together can interfere with relaxed key strokes and restrict the ability to place your hands on your lap when you are not working. This should be done regularly by the way, with palms facing down, to relax your body generally.

Wrist pain or Carpel Tunnel is the most common work related injury and it is avoidable.  A comfortable keyboard station, an ergonomic mouse pad, that allows easy liquid movement and which is designed to move the wrist instead of holding it in a stationary position, are all easy to accomplish things that will relieve the pressure to that sensitive tendon in your wrists.

A little attention paid to the tiny things that keep your body supported and comfortable, will ensure you have a long, productive, pain free life.