As office workers, we notoriously spend prolonged periods of time in a seated position, around 90% in fact (give or take the odd tea break, but more on the importance of those later). Business meetings, typing, researching, planning, reporting, analysing, the list goes on. So while the idea of sitting down for around 8 hours per day may sound relaxing, the reality can be anything but if the ergonomics are all wrong.

What is an Ergonomic Office?

Ergonomics is a study into the efficiency of people in their workplace, therefore an ergonomic office is one that ensures the worker is comfortable at all times in order to work efficiently, especially over long periods of time, such as a typical working day.

To achieve an Ergonomic Office

1. Chair

Choose an office chair that is fully adjustable in order to support your spine.  Adjust the height of your chair so that your feet are flat on the floor, or footrest if preferred. Adjust the backrest to keep your posture in check, you don’t want to allow your spine to curve, you should be sat upright at all times. Then if your chair has armrests, adjust these so your arms gently rest on them with your shoulders in a relaxed position

2.       Desk   

There should be enough clearance underneath your desk in order for your legs to sit comfortably. If the underneath of your desk is used as a dumping ground, then it’s time to invest in some appropriate storage.

3.       Footrest

As mentioned above, you may wish to use a footrest if your chair is still too high after adjustment. If there are no footrests available in the short term you may wish to improvise by using an empty box, a stack of printer paper or anything else that is robust.