An office may seem like a workplace with few hazards – after all, how dangerous can sitting at a desk really be? But many employees do suffer from injuries such as lower back pain, neck and shoulder pain, decreased blood circulation throughout the body, repetitive strain injury and blurred vision, fatigue and headaches from staring at a monitor all day.
And these injuries are not temporary. If gone untreated, they can turn into long term and chronic problems with conditions like high/low blood pressure, nerve pressure and joint pain. Whilst these seem like difficult problems to find the solution to, the answer is quite simple – it’s all about what office furniture you choose.
The correct ways to sit at a desk
Before choosing the best office furniture for your employees, you must first understand the correct way to sit at a desk:
- Top of the monitor screen should be at eye level
- Elbows should be at a 90 ° angle and supported by arm rests
- Lower back should be supported
- Keyboard easy to reach
- Seat at the correct height and feet firmly on the floor (footrests can be used if needed)
- Thighs parallel to the floor
With all of these points in mind, let’s look at how to pick out the best office furniture. The most crucial factor of office furniture is that it should be comfortable as employees who are comfortable are more likely to be productive and produce the best work.
Employees who are uncomfortable at work are more likely to be unproductive, make errors, and take time off work. An effective way to measure the comfort of your office is to conduct an employee survey to find out what it is they want.
After all, it is your employees who are going to be sitting at a desk for 40+ hours a day. Furthermore, conducting a service like this shows you are a boss who cares and is willing to go that extra mile for your employees, and employees who feel valued are more likely to work harder to maximize business profits.
When choosing office furniture, you should take into account the specific needs of your office; is it well lit throughout, or are there places where the lightning could be included? Do some parts feel cramped? Is there a place for employees to work collaboratively as well as individually where focus can be maximized? Again, this is where an employee survey would be extremely helpful as they are the ones who are going to know exactly what the office needs.
Comfortable break room design
It’s not just the workspace that need to be taken into consideration here either, but the break room too. A good break room should allow for employees to relax and recharge when they need to and should also decrease stress levels.
Being able to relax comfortably away from their desk gives employees a second wind and can improve their performance in the last half of the workday, meaning that work will be completed efficiently. Moreover, an inviting break room is important so that employees can take a break from staring at a computer screen. Taking regular breaks will reduce employee chances of getting fatigued, headaches, and straining their eyes.
When it comes to office furniture, however, ergonomics is the best. Ergonomic furniture is designed with comfort in mind. Ergonomic chairs offer lower lumbar support where normal office chairs do not, and there are a range of different accessories that can be bought to transform the office furniture that you already have.
For example, if an employee wants to use a standing desk, then you can buy a desk convertor that transforms a sitting desk into a standing one. A desk convertor also allows for employees to be flexible and choose the way they want to work day to day. Back supports and footrests can also be bought to transform a normal office chair into an ergonomic one.
While ergonomic furniture is more costly, it is worth it in the long term and there are many office chairs wholesale offers out there that offer you discounts for bulk purchases specifically designed for businesses. For example, Autonomous has many wholesale offers including a wholesale office desk offer.
So, to conclude, the key to picking the best office furniture for your employees is to put their needs first. If you are expecting employees to produce the absolute best work that they are capable of, then you must be prepared to provide them with the most comfortable office furniture that will allow them to do that.
