Along with keeping back pain at bay, ergonomic furniture also boosts satisfaction and productivity, which in turn boosts your company’s profits. The easiest way to implement ergonomics in a specific workstation is to outline the demands for the different jobs performed and address the ergonomic and safety risks in a cogent and systematic fashion.
Providing ergonomic workstations in an office should be seen as a value as it certainly helps workers perform their daily tasks with more ease. From ergonomic chairs and desks, to ergonomic keyboards – every single piece can significantly improve the quality and efficiency of the work that your employees do. One of the most important aspects of ergonomics is adjustability. With that said, an adjustable chair and desk that ensure the worker is comfortably seated at their workstation throughout their entire workday is key.
If you do that, your employees will feel that the company is invested in their safety and comfort, and that can lead to reduced turnover rates, decreased absenteeism, increased employee involvement and improved morale. Healthy and productive employees are your company’s most valuable asset, and you should protect your assets.
When you implement ergonomic workstations office workers will experience a significant decrease in sedentary-related issues such as MSD. MSD or musculoskeletal disorders aren’t caused by a single factor – force, posture, vibration, stress, cold and work organisation – they all play a role in their development. That being said, assessing the full range of MSD risks and addressing them is very important.
As briefly aforementioned, adjustability is one of the most important aspects of ergonomics. You can reduce the risks of MSD by providing ergonomic, adjustable furniture, which your employees can adjust to their needs and ensure their arms, legs, shoulders and back are properly positioned to avoid as much stress and pressure as possible.
Implementing ergonomics into your workstations office doesn’t just contribute to your worker’s safety and comfort, but also their productivity. Moreover, you get financial benefits by reducing workplace injuries. It’s estimated that companies that invest in ergonomic workstations get about 3 times the investment in savings by reducing the amount spent in compensating employees for work-related injuries and potential legal actions.
Lastly, you can implement appropriate work-rest ratios to reduce fatigue, rotate jobs and organize more frequent breaks to boost productivity. All of these things take place on an organisational level and are very practical, because in the end, ergonomic furniture can only make you so comfortable and productive, and we humans are moving species and aren’t meant to be seated for long time periods!