Avoid Back Problems with Ergonomic Office Chairs

Although the general perception that office employees have easy lives as they spend a significant amount of time sitting on chairs at their workstations with eyes locked on a computer screen. Although this scenario may sound relaxing, the truth is that office employees who sit on regular office chair actually undergo a lot physical and mental stress that often lead to disruptions and poor performance.

The mental stress is often worsened due to the physical strain on the bodies of employees due to the office furniture that they utilise which in most case scenarios are regular office chairs instead of ergonomic office chairs. Although good quality regular office chairs are perfect for short term use for up to one or two hours, it is not advisable for employees to use high quality regular office chairs for more than two hours as these chairs after a certain amount of time exerts pressure that builds up in the lower back are after long hours.

Over time, this situation eventually causes employees to develop back problems in the long run and it is due to this that employees are recommended to use ergonomic office chairs that not only provides proper support for the lower back region (lumbar area), but also promotes good posture. In this article we will examine the primary characteristics of a certified ergonomic chair for an office.

The Primary Components and Characteristics of High-Quality Ergonomic Chairs 

A well-designed ergonomic office chair typically has a number of adjustable components such as adjustable height for the seat using pneumatics. As trivial as it may sound seat heights play a crucial role in providing comfort. Seat heights adjustability should range between 16 and 21 inches measured from the floor.

This range makes it possible for the chair to accommodate people of any height with the objective to allow the user to sit and have feet flat on the floor (arms should be levelled with the height of the desk). The depth of the seat and the width should also be preferably adjustable in order to fit different adult sizes comfortably and the recommended range for width is 17 to 20 inches.

As for depth which in essence is the distance from the tip of the seat to the back of the seat, the recommended adjustable range is between 2 and 4 inches. These adjustable components which includes a ‘seat tilt’ component ensure that the employee would be able to sit comfortably with the lower back pressed against the backrest regardless of the person size or shape.

Apart from the adjustability of seats, ergonomic office chairs also come with adjustable armrests (most regular office chairs are fitted with static armrests) and adjustable armrests are critical towards resting arms on these rests comfortably without straining the shoulder muscles. The swivel factor is a standard feature for both regular and ergonomic chairs these days.

Neck support, lumbar support and hip stabilisers are other characteristics that could be found in certain designs (please note that ergonomic chairs come in a wide variety of designs to the point some designs may be deemed as ‘weird’ despite the fact that they serve their purpose).

In summary, it is important to understand the primary objective of the ergonomic chair which is to advocate good posture and provide support for the lower back which prevents back problems due to being seated for long hours. Higher productivity and every other benefit that follows are the secondary positives of ergonomic chairs.