What we recommend to make your workspace truly ergonomic
To meet our goal of movement within neutral postures that are varied throughout the day, we recommend these accessories:
• Have a great chair for while you’re seated. A sedentary work environment may indeed be hazardous to your health, but standing all day is more than most of us can handle. Sitting, even part of the day, still requires a chair that gives your body the support it needs.
• Consider a standing support, or “perching” chair, together with a footrest.
• Use an anti-fatigue mat. It will reduce the pressure on your spine from standing. Some can help stimulate ankle movement, which helps pump your blood back to the heart. Others can help engage your core muscles, making you stronger.
• Use a monitor arm. For most people, the ideal height of the monitor relative to the worksurface varies by about 4” from sitting to standing. Focal distance may change as well as you move form sitting to standing. A monitor arm that allows monitor adjustment easily both in depth and height is key.
• Try a footrest. Of course shorter people should use footrests so their feet don’t dangle while seated. Too much pressure on the underside of your legs is bad for your circulation. But footrests are also good for taller people with back issues when seated, allowing them to get leverage to sit back in the chair and get the support of the chair back. And think of a military sentry standing stiffly. Do they look comfortable? Of course not. A footrest can help you shift your weight between legs, reducing back strain.
• Consider using an adjustable keyboard tray with your height adjustable desk. They can still help in several ways, including adding focal distance to the monitor, minimizing reaching and ensuring a neutral wrist angle for typing. We just need to pay attention to the under-surface table support bars.
• Consider an ergonomic keyboard and mouse. “Reaching is the enemy” and these can help reduce arm extension as well as wrist pronation.
• Use a task light that puts light on your reference materials. As we age, we need a lot more light for our eyes, even if we don’t notice it.
• Use a document holder. Try putting a paper down on your desk to read, and pay attention to your neck. Now lift it up so that you are looking across at it, still noticing how your neck feels. If you are a human, you’ll feel the difference.
• Use a chair mat. These help reduce back strain while moving around on your chair. They have the added benefit of saving the carpeting from being ruined.
• Keep moving and burn extra calories with an under-desk elliptical or a treadmill for use while standing.
We sell more than products here at Applied Ergonomics. We believe creating healthier workspaces ultimately creates happier people. While computers make our lives much easier they also create hazardous work environments for us as we are constantly “chained” to our desks all day. We seek to solve that problem with computer accessories that make our workspaces more conducive to our overall health.
We thank you for using Applied Ergonomics as your source for ergonomic solutions. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask us and it’s likely that we can help you. You may contact us through any of the options below.
Contact Applied Ergonomics
Give us a call at (847) 679-5148 or fill out our online form. You may also email our president directly at jm******@***************cs.com. We look forward to increasing your efficiency, matching your individual personality and needs, and assist in making everything in your office operate in unison.
