An ergonomic workstation needs to keep in mind many aspects, the most important of which is probably your ergonomic office chair.

Everything about your workstation should be adjustable, however, your chair is in constant contact with your body and deserves to be your top priority. If you get this one wrong, you might not feel the benefits of an ergonomic workstation at all. 

So what do you need to think about when completing an ergonomic workstation with the right ergonomic office chair?

In order for your workstation to be fully ergonomic and ready for the chair the following need to be in place. Screen top frame edge is approximately at eye level. You will adjust your ergonomic chair to get this to perfect eye level later.

1. The screen needs to be an ‘arms-length’ away.

2) Fingers are relaxed and wrists straight when your hands are touching the keyboard.

3) Head should not be bent or stressed in any way. Looking forward comfortable and relaxed. Notice if your chin is parallel to the ground when sitting in your ergonomic chair. This indicates that the head is in a relaxed position.

Once these are sorted, place your ergonomic office chair and adjust as follow.

1) now align your eyes perfectly to the top of the screen.

2) Position the chair to allow your elbows to bend at 90 degrees once seated and that your chair provides arm-rest support for this position.

3) Make sure your back is approximately at 90 degrees (or the closest relaxed position)  Make sure your chair has plenty of lumbar support. Stress in this area will cause backaches very easily.

4) Make sure your neck is relaxed and straight.

5) Make sure your feet reach the floor and can be positioned flat to the ground. Touching the floor with your toes is not enough.

6) Now make sure your chin is parallel to the ground without feeling strain in your upper body.  Once your chair ticks all these boxes you’re ready to go.  It’s important that your ergonomic chair is good quality and can easily be adjusted.

You also need to learn to listen to your body. By listening to the way your body feels and adjusting on a day-to-day basis you can make sure that your ergonomic office chair is always giving you the best possible results.

This means that you’re avoiding long-term problems such as RSI or postural stress. If you want to step up your self-care an extra notch make sure you get a massage every time your muscles are tense.

So if you’ve been busy dancing or exercising at the gym and your muscles feel sore make sure you do plenty of stretching and get a massage, this will avoid the need to make changes to your workstation due to ‘temporary’ muscle strain which could throw the set-up required for long-term health. So listen to your body and make sure you always choose what’s best for your long-term health.

Call Chris on [+356] 2138 2601 to receive information about the full range of ergonomic operative and executive chairs available at our showroom inNaxxar, Malta, or email chrisgatt@bsl-lifestyles.com.