The better you feel the better you are going to work, the more money you will make. It’s easy to identify how an ergonomic work place leads to greater economic scenarios. The harder but more important road is the one that leads to a better ergonomic work place. While your spending time twisting, turning, and being in pain after work, your productivity is just free falling back down the work mountain you are trying to scale. Preparing for work by placing some anchors into the mountain face will prevent falls by ten fold.
There are all kinds musculoskeletal disorders and conditions that are attributed to common work place environments, like
- Carpal Tunnel
- Tendinitis
- Rotator Cuff Injuries
- Epicondylitis
- Trigger Finger
- Lower back pain and lower back injuries
Musculoskeletal disorders make up one of the injuries reported most that are related to missed work time. 33% of all missed work are related to these musculoskeletal conditions.
Most if not all of these conditions are absolutely preventable with proper adjustments made to the workplace. These adjustments involve changes made to your desk, your chair, the computer monitor, and the environment in general in some instances. Here are some tips to easily adjust your work setting without any major purchases and save you some grief in the future.
The Desk: You can avoid investing in one of the desk that raises and lowers to optimize work time if you take proper breaks. Sitting for long periods of time, including an hour without getting up and engaging other lower back muscles can cause the ones working overtime to go into spasm and the other muscles not being used to get weaker. This pattern over time will lead to more lob sided muscle imbalances. Make time every hour to get up and just move a few steps, whether its walking to the water cooler or the bathroom, just swaying back and forth with engage other back muscles that will take stress off of the ones that are engaged the whole time you are sitting.
The Chair: The height of the chair is very much important to having the proper desk. Having your knees approximately 6 inches below the desk top is a good rule of thumb for everyone. Your feet should be comfortably flat on the ground in front of you once your lower back is in contact with the back of the seat. Good lumbar support is key to a good chair but no the only component to remember.
The Computer: The middle of the screen should be eye level whenever you are comfortably in place with the chair and desk. The brightness should be adequate enough that you are not having to strain your eyes. The keyboard should be placed below the elevation of your elbows. Your wrist should not be flexed forward at all, at any time while you are typing. This flexed forward position closes down on the carpal tunnel causing irritation and swelling of the median nerve. Using this wrist position to type for long periods of time WILL lead to carpal tunnel surgery. You want your wrist tilted back at your face at about 30 degrees whenever you are in the typing position. This opens up the carpal tunnel and allows the median nerve to travel freely through without opposition.
The Environment: The environment, as simple as it sounds, should be pleasing and a feel good place to be around. There are too many studies showing that what you are seeing or hearing when you look up from your desk directly affects your stress level which in turn can lead to an increased stress rate. This will inevitably lead to poorer ergonomic control and more pain in the end. Find things that are soothing, like a small plant or photo and add it to your work environment. While saying “a negative attitude makes for a negative work environment” sounds like something you’d say to a child, it is shown a more positive outlook yields more positive results not only financially, but also physically. There are positive environments out there that you can work in, go find them if you haven’t already.
In the end, all 4 of these components of ergonomics affect each other and all need to be addressed to maximize your work efficiency and how good you feel. Figure out what you can do immediately to remedy these things and make plans to remedy the rest. Your peak potential has yet to be reached. Schedule with us today to further consult about changes you can make to your work place.
