Tag Archives: ergonomic chair

The Ergonomic Office

If you know anything about office furniture, you’ll know that we’re now in the world of ergonomics the aim is to adapt to an Ergonomic Office. In a nutshell, this means making the office environment fit you. It means looking at your personal working space, your job responsibilities and also your body frame measurements and weight, to get the ‘best for you’ as regards to working conditions.

Ergonomics
Ergonomic Office Chairs

‘Getting it right’ will cover space, light, noise and overall sitting comfort:-

Space. A good ergonomic layout will mean that your work system is organised in such a way that you don’t have to carry heavy weights over long distances, you don’t have to overly stretch and you’re not working in cramped conditions etc..

Light. Good daylight is important and, where this isn’t possible, good simulated daylight is the next best thing. Knowing what type of lighting to buy for your office space is essential. Also bear in mind that a lot of light comes from your computer screen and this is going directly towards your eyes, which isn’t a good thing, as good light should always come from over your shoulder. I would always advise getting a filter screen for your computer, to reduce that ‘sunlight’ effect which really is too bright.

Noise. We now often hear of noise pollution and, in a busy office, pollution is often the case. For example, how often have you had to speak with call centre staff and can’t hear what your contact is saying as clearly as you can hear her colleagues? In that modern-day office, false walls in the form of screens are often used, to give that feeling of private space and to somewhat reduce the effect of the overall noise.

Overall Sitting Comfort. When it comes to seating, always look at ergonomic office chairs, as these are designed to offer many adjustments, making the chair of your choice match your overall needs. The Ergohuman range has several models, like the Ergohuman, the Ergohuman Plus, the Mirus, Enjoy and the Nefil. Spend some time finding out what these chairs offer. The features include seat tilt and glide, seat height, adjustable armrests, a lumbar support region and many other useful features and there are also additional extras, such as a headrest, a leg rest and a note table. Knowing what your job responsibilities ask of you will help you decide which of these additional extras are necessary.

Overall. An ergonomically-friendly environment makes work a pleasure and the day less stressful. It’s like any job, a bad workman always blames his tools, so getting the environment right for you means success all round.

It’s simply ergonomics.

Ergohuman Plus with Leg Rest
Ergohuman Plus with Leg Rest

Ergonomic Office Chairs

Choosing an ergonomic office chair can be difficult due to the complexities associated with the functions and features available. Sitting in the correct posture while you are working is paramount and will help in the short-term and more importantly in the long-term. Once you have accepted that posture is important for a healthy back, the right chair should go further than simple ergonomic by training your body to sit correctly. Some ergonomic chairs provide ergonomic features but if you keep sitting with the wrong posture you will have the same problems prior to using an ergonomic chair.

There are 2 examples of bad practices that instantly come to mind: having a pad between you and your keyboard will force you to lean forward and you will lose the back support of the chair. Some people will even sit with one leg folded on the seat pan. Nowadays ergonomic engineering and technology is pushing new boundaries and some of the most recommended ergonomic chairs will promote a good posture simply by not letting you sit incorrectly. How do they do that? Basically, you will feel very comfortable and supported if you are sitting correctly. However if you are sitting in the position which gives you no back support, for instance on the edge of the seat, within seconds you will feel like correcting your posture because of the lack of comfort.

Once you get used to the chair, you will soon feel the benefits. After a few weeks you may also feel that the chair helps to strengthen your body. This would come from the back-rest of the chair pushing gently against your back giving you support. As a natural response your body will push back against the back-rest of the chair using your back muscles – in essence working out the muscles in your back and strengthening them.

If you suffer from back pain a good ergonomic chair combined with regular gentle/slow stretching exercises to loosen your back will go a long way. If you had back pain treatment from a physiotherapist you would have been given treatment for the problem and probably a sheet of recommended exercises to strengthen your back. For some people, when the weather gets cold and damp, aches and pains start to appear like clockwork – as if they were by direct debit. If such is the case, you should make sure you do the stretching exercises especially during that time of the year.

Then it’s back to being conscious of your posture again, key to this is the ergonomic chair. So which is the best chair for you? What else do you need to complete you ergonomic office configuration to create the perfect ergonomic working environment whether at work or at home?

Once you have the right ergonomic office chair, and the right ergonomic desk, the items you use on your desk need to come to you rather than you reaching out repeatedly all day long. Try and pause for a moment and plan how to rearrange your desk so that what you use the most is easily reachable. Do you have to reach out in an odd position to grab a pen? Do you have to twist yourself downwards to target the bin? Is your phone close enough and on the right side of the desk? Is your monitor at the right height or do you find yourself looking down and tensing your neck muscles over time? All these are considerations that will need to be addressed to create the perfect ergonomic set-up. There are also a range of ergonomic accessories which will perform these necessary adjustments to get everything just right!

Enjoy Mesh Office Chair

The New 2010 model Enjoy mesh office chair with headrest is designed and made with the total comfort of human-kind in mind. The Enjoy ergonomic chair fuses art and science with flex zones that ensure constant support of back and lumbar, multi-dimensional adjustable arm rest for unparalleled support and a height-adjustable pivoting headrest for full crane support. The Enjoy ergonomic mesh office chair was designed specifically for those who are in an office chair for 8 hours a day, and require “intensive use seating” to keep comfortable for long periods of time. Aesthetics, form and function allow this ergonomic chair to utilize a synchronous tilt mechanism with 3 position lock, sliding seat and pneumatic height adjustment all in one very unique single lever control lever.

Enjoy Chair Specification :

* Enjoy mesh chair with five star polished aluminum base.
* New sleeker, improved mechanism
* Full Synchronous movement.
* One single lever control which means all chair adjustments can be carried out using one lever
* Breathable comfortable mesh seat and backrest.
* Seat height control.
* Seat depth adjustment (seat slide)
* Backrest tilt tension control.
* Backrest tilt angle adjustment.
* Backrest height adjustment.
* New design armrests with soft polyurethane pads.
* Armrest height & angle adjustment.
* Headrest height & angle adjustment.

Enjoy ergonomic office chair available in Black Mesh. The New Enjoy mesh office chair also available with headrest.

Enjoy Mesh Office Chair
Enjoy Mesh Office Chair

Office Evolution and Work Life balance

Working practice has changed some much in the last 10 years from being mostly paper based to digital and computerized storage of documents. Finding data and cross-referencing information has never been easier. One example would be the police service using their new databases to solve crimes dating back 30 years or more. The example of computer power would be NASA or climate change scientists who have managed to harness the power of millions of computers through the internet to map the earth, weather predictions and more.
So what do you have in your office now?

The most obvious would be a computer, computer monitor, office desk, office chair and a pedestal. So how could you change the environment of the office to make it so people can enjoy their surroundings? The first is colours, having an office, which is bright, and vibrant creates an exciting dynamic happy office where as a dull office would be gloomy and sad. Some people also suffer from a condition known as SAD caused from deficiencies of natural sunlight light.
The workplace has been changing over the decades from office rooms, to partitions and cubicles, moving on to open space offices, and now going towards hot-desking areas used by executives with their own lap-tops. Even the home office users are on the verge of converging their home office with home living with new high-tech devices and trends such as integrated home cinema and home automation. Computer usage such as Internet and email is now diluted between mobile phones, iphones, blackberry, ipads, miniature laptops and giant desktops and is now making ground through our TV screens as some of the main Internet websites can now be browsed on your super thin / flat / sharp latest hd tv screen.
At the same time tv is also bleeding into the Internet ever directing us to a web-page after a program or prompting us to watch the next episode on the tv channel website. Everything is merging, tv , computer, mobile devices, telephones. Everything is converging, work life and home life. Everything is one: entertainment & communication. The telephone is now on the Internet with Skype and voice over IP, the music is now accessible on TV and on the Internet in the form of downloads. Games can be played equally on computers and play stations wired to your TV.
So in this ever-changing environment what will be the home office furniture of the future. As most of the information is stored digitally then one will have to be creative to adapt their home office even more than an office as they will normally spend more time there as they work from home. So if you can’t get away from it you need to improve it to be as versatile as our lifestyles.
The office chair will need to be adaptable to fill a number or roles and transform from a traditional office chair to a multi task, multi functional chair for the home office. Image will also play an important part as it will be the home office that you are proud of and not just what you were given by the management. An office chair will have to be convertible in a lounge chair or a game chair, a desk will need to be modular (adjustable and extendible) as well as mobile (desk with wheels) and ergonomic.
Any idea what tomorrow’s home office will look like?
So what will your ergonomic chair look like?

Changing Times for People Working from Home

Things have completely changed from 10 years ago, many people are now working from home full time and part time. Many home offices are squeezed into a small bedrooms, or a corner of the living room or kitchen.

The office furniture that was used then was often bony old kitchen chairs, and tables, which is simply not adequate these days to accommodate computers printers filing etc etc.
Now that more people are working from home they tend to work longer hours as they save time on the commute down the stairs. A comfortable work environment is now essential such as an ergonomic chair such as the Ergohuman Chair or the Enjoy Chair.
These chairs are excellent value and very comfortable giving you a
better posture. Go one step further with an Office Chair with intergrated leg rest…

Office Chair with Leg Rest

The desk is also so important and these days a Computer Workstation is useful to facilitate all of your home office essentials such as computers, printers, scanners, media storage and filing. The Computer Hideaway does all that the workstation does but closes up into a cupboard when you are done for the day.

Ergohuman Office Chair
Enjoy Ergonomic Office Chair

“You’re only as good as the equipment you use.”

When it comes to Office Furniture and Home Office Furniture , equipment, accessories, and Supplies, your brain knows and responds when you’re serious enough about what you’re doing to demand that your furniture and tools be just as serious about what they’re doing!

If I’ve heard my wife say the above statement once, I’ve heard her say it a billion times. In fact, I’ve made similar statements in my “course” of the day – like in the kitchen. I love to cook and know that if you aren’t using quality pans, appliances, and utensils, your work is harder and your results aren’t as pleasing.

We both agree that the truth of the statement is even more vital to work than to play.

In the history of our home business, I’ve worked on the living room couch, at the dining room table, on the deck, at the patio table, even in the bath tub. However, when I’m stationed at a top quality desk like the Home Office Computer Desk from Office Furniture Extra (pictured below) and sitting in a chair my body finds most agreeable , like the BMA Axia Plus Ergonomic Office Chair with Headrest (pictured below), the creativity flows SO MUCH more freely. It’s as though my brain cells say, “She’s serious about this, let’s give her all we’ve got…”

Ergonomic Office Chairs
Ergonomic Office Chairs

Since I need….no, let’s make that Since I REALLY need my brain cells to make a call to action more often, I’ve started doing all of my writing and brainstorming at my workcenter.

One of my favorite parts of my workday is when I come across fresh suppliers, online stores, and manufacturers. It’s like finding a new store in the mall you’d never seen before – everythings new and promising. I especially love when my new find is relevant to one of our blogs – then I get to tell others about it. Office Furniture Extra Business Solutions is one you’ll want to check out. Not only do they have beautiful office furniture and accessories, the delivery is included in the price on most products so you don’t get stung at the checkout.

…. Shop some more!

The Best Ergonomic Office Chairs

Good Posture

Knowing about good posture is very important but, whilst looking for this information, I came across a mention of how bad posture affects more than just your back.

If you sit poorly, it doesn’t take your muscles long to think that this position is the way it’s going to be and your muscles work alongside this bad posture, causing an imbalance in muscle support. Also, if you slouch, you are restricting digestion, circulation and breathing and your bones aren’t too happy about it either.

Once the aches and pain start in places like your neck, shoulders and back, maintaining a sitting position for any length of time becomes difficult and you may have to restrict sitting to twenty minutes or so, then move around to give your muscles and your skeletal frame a change of position, before returning to your earlier task.

If you have a job that allows regular movement e.g. a shop assistant, moving and changing position is part and parcel of the requirements of the post. If you are in a sedentary job (the list is endless!), that earlier acquired bad posture and its accompanying aches and pains is going to cause havoc e.g. discomfort, irritability, distraction and concentration problems.

The truth is that we probably don’t know what good posture entails i.e. does it mean more than sitting with a straight back?

Good posture includes having your feet firmly on the floor: dangling feet and crossed legs are definitely ‘no go’ areas. Your tailbone should be right up to the back of the chair and so should your back, unless you are slanting slightly forward, in which case the line between your head, chest and pelvis should be straight (not curved).

So, these points indicate a good sitting posture but that’s not the end of the story. The chair is only good for you if it’s ‘user-friendly’ in relation to the height of your table or desk, as your forearms need to reach the task in a horizontal position.

This is where ergonomic office chairs are worth their weight in gold. They adjust not only to support your back but also to meet your height. The arm rests can be adjusted to ensure horizontal support for your hands and, together, you are sitting comfortably and working well.

There is quite a range of adjustable chairs, as each of us is different and an ergonomic chair means that the chair fits you and not the reverse! When choosing a suitable office chair, it will pay you to call on the advice of someone knowledgeable in ergonomics, to make an assessment of both your skeletal frame and the duties of your job. This will make sure that you choose the office chair that meets your needs.

Elementary, don’t you think?

Choosing an office chair is difficult, so lets start with a good all rounder. Enjoy Office Chairs are very popular as they are comfortable and excellent value for money. The best selling Enjoy Chair is from the same range of Mesh Office Chairs as the Ergohuman Office chair.
The Ergohuman is a tried and tested office chair with extra lumbar support helps to support the back thereby influencing better posture. Take a look at the Ergonomic Office Chairs for more information on the different choices

Ergohuman Plus Office Chairs
Ergohuman Plus Office Chairs