Ergonomics Commandments: Know Thy Furniture and Stretch Thyself
By Erin Douglass
Recently a burglar broke into a medical clinic in Madrid, Spain. In the middle of the heist, he sat down in what news reports described as "an ergonomic chair." The burglar fell asleep in its comfy curves and woke hours later to the sight of the police preparing to arrest him.
Such is the magic of an ergonomics chair, some would say.
While all ergonomics furniture doesn't—and frankly shouldn't—get such positive attention, the bungled burglary suggests that ergonomically correct furniture is a welcome, userfriendly alternative to the rock hard, unforgiving chairs and desks of the past. But even the comfiest of ergonomics furniture can't solve alone the many aches, pains and workplace ills plaguing the deskbound.
Needed: More Desk Real Estate
Office environments are rife with common—and easy to fix—ergonomics faux pas. At the top of the list is outdated furniture, according to ergonomics consultant Joanette Alpert of Woodward, Alpert & Associates in Southern California. "Size and design of the workspace are not keeping up with technology," she says. "There's no space to put the mouse or a 20-inch monitor on 30 year old desks." Consequently, her firm spends a lot of time trying to retrofit work areas without overwhelming companies with a daunting fix and replace list.
Ergonomics Associate Rachel Michael from ErgoWeb in Utah also points to cramped, unwieldy desk arrangements as a major offender. "Most people have to stretch or reach for their mice. You'd be surprised, but not everybody has them near their keyboards." In one of the worst cases, a stretcher extraordinaire kept his mouse on the top of the monitor.
...And Chairs With Instructions
Chairs are another big ergonomic pitfall. "People now understand that a good chair is a good thing," says Alpert. Yet, as Rachel Michael points out, few workers have the ability to recognize their own chair's vast array of tilting options. "Most people can tell you three of the sixteen different adjustments in their chair. That's it," she says. Some chair manufacturers have responded to the problem by inserting instructions into the arms of ergochairs.
And the there's the problem of trendiness. Steve Marshall of Ergonomics Sciences Corporation in Silicon Valley mentions a popular chair on the market that sells for about $750. "We call it patio furniture with lumbar. Companies are buying it like crazy because it looks sexy and because it is better than what they had before," says Marshall. But better isn't always the solution.
The Shape of the Future
Marshall predicts more widespread ergonomics training and the increased use of sit/stand workstations and voice activated software down the road. "In five years or less, we're going to see workers using their voices 90% of the time and their hands 10%," he says. "This is because some people are just not going to get any better. They need the opportunity to heal."
Stretches and Moves for the Meantime
Since computer keyboards and mice are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, ergonomics consultants agree that taking breaks and stretching frequently is the best way to prevent physical problems. "When you turn a computer on, you get sucked in," says San Francisco massage therapist Deborah Tash, who frequently works with individuals suffering from repeated stress injuries, or RSIs. She recommends that keyboarding clients set alarms or pop-up reminders on their computers to alert themselves to take breaks regularly.
She also encourages the deskbound to practice any of the following stretches and movements throughout the day.
- Move your body. Drop a pencil on the floor and bend down to pick it up—or throw it across the room and get up to retrieve it.
Homeoffice types can take this suggestion a step further and get a fitness ball—an overgrown, sturdy beach ball. "Sit on the ball while working on the computer. You'll find that you have to keep moving to maintain balance," says Tash. And movement is the goal. - Turn your neck. Look up at the ceiling or over at a picture on the wall.
- Raise your shoulders. Many deskbound souls complain of shoulder tension. "People get hunkered down at work and their shoulders end up in their ears," says Tash. Practice a deliberate raising and lowering of the shoulders to reduce tension.
- Roll your head. Look over one shoulder, then slowly roll your head down to your chest and up to the opposite shoulder. No need to roll your head back: that can put unnecessary strain on your neck and cut off your air supply.
- Stretch your hands. Put your arm straight out in front of your body, palm down. Bending at the wrist, point your hand toward the floor. Slowly pull the hand closer toward the body with your free hand. Then turn your arm over and pull your hand backwards, slowly, so that it's pointing to the floor once again.
- Flex your fingers. Take your fingers in the opposite hand and gently pull them forward toward your palm and then back.
- Breathe. When you take a breath in, your body remains neutral. Exhaling, your body adjusts and relaxes. Be sure to breathe deeply, especially when stress strikes.