Ergonomic workspace for healthy working

A healthy lifestyle starts at the workplace. Sadly, many employees and employers misjudge just how important an er­go­nom­ic­ally-designed workspace can be. Standard desk and chair sizes and a lack of per­son­al­ised ad­just­ments can lead to problems, often cul­min­at­ing in long-term health issues. Postural de­form­it­ies can affect work per­form­ance but also severely affect a person’s private life. Thus, it makes sense for both companies and their staff to create ergonomic work­sta­tions.

But what does an ergonomic workspace actually look like, and how can all parties design an office where staff stay healthy long-term? We’ve collected the most important in­form­a­tion on ergonomic work­spaces, including a checklist that you can download for free.

We spend a majority of our waking time at work. For many people this means sitting in front of a computer every day. But sitting down for many hours can damage our bodies and risks causing de­bil­it­at­ing con­di­tions and illnesses in the long run. These include postural damage because of badly designed work­sta­tions, but also car­di­ovas­cu­lar and digestive con­di­tions which are ex­acer­bated by a lack of physical activity and bad nutrition. An ergonomic work­sta­tion is designed to fa­cil­it­ate long-term healthy working and avoid posture issues and other illnesses.

The right desks and office chairs form an integral part of an ergonomic work­sta­tion. But light con­di­tions, technical devices, and the working space itself can have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on the health of personnel. In addition, defined breaks, a healthy diet, and enough physical activity should be main­tained. The ergonomic working en­vir­on­ment prevents health problems, and promotes pro­ductiv­ity and sat­is­fac­tion in the work place.

Perching, a lack of physical activity, and an un­com­fort­able work space can cause health issues after a while. The following list of con­di­tions can be caused when working in an office en­vir­on­ment:

• Postural damage and mus­cu­lo­skelet­al disorders
• De­pres­sion and burnout
• Res­pir­at­ory diseases
• Digestive issues
• Headaches
• Car­di­ovas­cu­lar diseases

By designing a per­son­al­ised ergonomic work­sta­tion for each employee, companies can minimise the risk of the con­di­tions listed above.

Your desk should be arranged to be at level with your chair’s armrests. Organise your work equipment in a parallel or symmetric manner to avoid un­ne­ces­sary strain to one side of your body. The top edge of your computer monitor should be at level with your eyes so that you can maintain an upright seating position. The correct distance to a monitor is just as important in order to relax the eyes. At a minimum, a 24-inch monitor should be placed at a distance of 100 cm.

When using a keyboard, avoid bending your hands. Armrests can be a useful addition to prevent any injury to hands. An er­go­nom­ic­ally designed keyboard is another solution to improve the posture of your arms and minimise neck or wrist pain. When using a mouse, hand posture is just as important: ideally, mouse and desk edge should be per­pen­dic­u­lar.

Besides the correct posture, regular exercise and breaks are an important part of a well-designed ergonomic work­sta­tion. For each hour, it is advised to take a five-minute break to relax your eyes from the screen. Use your breaks to move and relax your body.

Lighting and acoustics can also have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on your health and are an important aspect that should not be forgotten when planning your ergonomic workspace. Too little light can tire the eyes. Day light is prefer­able to electric lights, which is why it is generally re­com­men­ded to arrange a workspace in parallel to the window.

Make sure that your workspace is quiet. A high noise level could hinder con­cen­tra­tion and increase your level of stress. Noisy devices such as printers and copiers should be placed into separate rooms. When arranging multiple desks in a large working area, an adequate distance between desks should be main­tained to warrant plenty of elbowroom for each employee and avoid dis­rup­tion because of co-workers chatting to one another. The right choice of furniture can help to minimise noise: carpets or soft vinyl floors isolate noise more ef­fect­ively than harder floors; steel and glass can even reflect acoustic noise more so than wooden furniture.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.