Anybody that has ever spent a day working at an office will understand the importance of a good office chair. A bad chair can result in back pain, discomfort, and even injury. A good chair does the opposite, alleviating pain and discomfort by supporting the spine and the neck.
If back pain is affecting your productivity, ergonomic chairs are a possible solution. By reducing discomfort, the support provided by ergonomic chairs enhances productivity and overall job-satisfaction, which increases performance.
So what makes an ergonomic chair different from a regular one?
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Ergonomic chairs
Ergonomics is the relationship between employees and their workplace environment. Beyond chairs, ergonomics aims to increase the focus, productivity and satisfaction of employees through “physical and cognitive” conditions.
An ergonomic chair is designed to maximize the comfort and efficiency of the occupant by supporting the shape of the human body, preventing stress on the back and neck. This in turn increases focus and enhances state-of-mind.
An ergonomic chair must be the ideal height and width for the occupant, as well as providing lumbar support, armrests and a headrest. Typically, ergonomic chairs are highly adjustable to fit a wide range of body types. Ergonomic chairs will generally be made out of strong but lightweight material to maximize airflow during long work sessions while retaining rigidness.
An ergonomic chair can benefit anybody. From the workplace to the home office, the enhanced support and comfort of ergonomic chairs not only improves your health, it improves your productivity.
So what are the real benefits of ergonomic chairs?
Benefits of ergonomic chairs
The use of ergonomic chairs can benefit:
1. Posture
Most offices use traditional, flimsy office chairs. These chairs offer nearly no support. This results in a team that suffers from discomfort, and risks injury.
It’s not just productivity: Prolonged periods of sitting can result in long-term back pain and other health problems, including risks of cancer and kidney disease (Simon, 2018).
By providing relief from back pain and joint stress, ergonomic chairs have been lauded as a remedy to the detriments of sedentary workplaces.
2. Comfort
By definition, an ergonomic chair is designed to maximize comfort while maintaining efficiency.
A good ergonomic chair pairs high-quality, durable material with adjustability. A regular chair will cause an employee to spend time shifting around to alleviate discomfort rather than working.
Ergonomic chairs, though, include lumbar support and contoured backrests to maximize spine support, eliminating the problems of traditional office chairs.
Workers might even be more inclined to work overtime if they feel comfortable at work, boosting productivity.
3. Productivity
The enhanced comfort of an ergonomic chair has a positive psychological effect on productivity. It’s been widely observed that using an ergonomic chair to keep an upright posture aids both in achieving goals and increasing happiness.
According to a study conducted by the University of Leicester, participants that sat for prolonged periods in life had shorter lifespans than those that stood more often. Thus, the use of ergonomic chairs not only increases employee satisfaction and productivity, it enhances the length and quality of their lives.
4. Adjustability
People come in all shapes and sizes – which is why the best ergonomic chair is one that fits all. A highly-adjustable chair ensures occupants can fine-tune the chair’s supports for their individual dimensions.
A good ergonomic chair allows the adjustment of height, armrests, headrest, lumbar support, angle of tilt, and backrest resistance.
Proper sitting posture is when your feet are flat on the ground with your armrests adjusted to a height that relieves spinal pressure.
Additionally, some ergonomic chairs include an adjustable seat depth, which provides hip and thigh alignment.
6. Durability
Poor design and inferior materials often lead to traditional office chairs quickly wearing out quickly without providing any benefits to the occupant. The continuous replacement of traditional chairs can be costly and time-consuming.
If this is a reality in your workplace, investing in ergonomic chairs can save you money while increasing employee satisfaction and productive output.
Specifically designed for extended periods of sitting, ergonomic chairs are molded to support the body using durable and long-lasting materials.
Moreover, almost every ergonomic chair on the market comes with a warranty, which can add years to the lifespan of your equipment.
8. Liability
In addition to the enhanced productivity and improved quality-of-life afforded by ergonomic chairs, the reduction of back injuries can save your company money.
Traditional chairs can stress an employee’s back until an injury inevitably occurs. As the employee recovers, your productivity will dip, and you may even have to provide compensation to the injured worker. In fact, OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) has officially endorsed the use of ergonomic chairs in US workplaces.
These situations are highly avoidable; by investing in ergonomic chairs you are taking the fiduciary steps necessary to protect your team from work-related injuries.
Conclusion
The fact is that people are spending more of their time than ever before at desks. As industrial and financial processes are increasingly digitized, desk-based jobs grow as well. With this continuous influx of sitting employees comes the growing recognition of ergonomic technologies as a way to mitigate the negative effects of the sedentary workstation. Of course ergonomic chairs are not the only solution, there are also other ergonomic solutions like the standing desk.
Enhance comfort, boost productivity and give your team the gift they need to thrive. An investment in ergonomic chairs is an investment in your own workforce.
