Ergonomic Positioning Explained: Part Four, Office Chair Checklist

With the hours that employees spend seated in theirorder to allow reclining motion.
office chair in this, the computer age, it is important toYour feet should always be on the floor. If you have
remember to practice good ergonomics and keep theadjusted your seat to accomodate your elbow to
correct positioning throughout the day. Ergonomics aredesk heights but now your feet are not Flat on the
the key to a healthy body, back and neck whenfloor, you will need to get a small footrest in order to
working long hours in your task chair. When you sit inkeep your feet flat. Your upper arms and lower arms
your office chair, you should adjust it to the propershould be at 90 degree to 120 degree and you can
position first, remembering a simple checklist of setupaccomplish this by moving your chair closer or farther
motions.away from your workstation, again helping with the
You need to first be educated in the proper ergonomicwrist positioning.
posture in order to get an idea of what position yourAfter you have adjusted your chair and desk, you
spine should take. Ergonomic posture information cannext need to work on your computer monitor. The top
be found in detailed explanantions in the first 3 articlesof your monitor should be at or below the normal
of this ergonomic series. This will help you to keep thevision line. Many people make the mistake of placing
proper postion throughout the day and varying tasks.their monitor up higher or on a platform to save space.
Start by checking your elbow placement. They shouldHowever, this is very damaging, not only to your eyes
rest comfortably at or above the working surface.but especially to muscles in your neck. Saving your
You can get the proper height by varying yourneck from constantly being put in the wrong postition
keyboard tray height or using seat height adjustmentwill save you from many back problems later on.
to get the proper placement for your elbows. This is aAlso know that when you are performing different
very important feature in proper ergonomics for thosetasks, your chair might require adjustment with each
working at a computer, typing or using the mouse forjob to adequately stay in the ergonomic positioning
long periods of time. Your wrist needs to stay in aneeded. When you are typing at your computer your
relaxed position and the elbow height to desk heightbody is in a completely different form than when
should help this motion become easier.stapling, using the mouse or taking notes. Your chair
Next you need to check the backrest involvingmay need to adjust to these tasks at different
checking your torso and upperlegs. The desiredworkstations and some tweaking of the chair is
ergonomic position is not an upright position as manyrequired.
may think. The correct ergonomic position of your seatProper ergonomics can save your body, back, neck,
back is at a slight angle. A true ergonomic task officeand arms from damage caused by even the simplest
chair would feature a tilt mechanism with lockingof everyday office tasks. Once you have practiced
positions allowing the user to keep the chair in theproper ergonomics for some time and placed your
perfect posture at all times. If yours does not featurechair in the correct position, your back is sure to notice
this mechanism, you simply need to remember to sitand thank you.
back and keep your chairs tilt tension control perfect in