Do you feel like this by noon? See if you are living in an ergo friendly workspace

Ergonomics is a hot topic in offices these days. Most of us look around and wonder if our workspace is cutting the mustard. Is my chair secretly destroying my back? Is my monitor slowly searing my eyeballs? Is my keyboard unwittingly pushing me ever closer to carpal tunnel syndrome? When we really stop and look, every innocent paperclip suddenly becomes a potentially life-threatening hazard.

Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic. Still, the equipment you use and the organization of your workspace can deeply impact how you perform daily tasks. And that can have a significant impact on your physical health.

If you’re wondering what kind of dangers lurk in your office, take this quiz to see if your environment is an ergo-friend or ergo-enemy.

Instructions
For each category, evaluate your current office situation. Choose “true” or “false” for each point and note your answers on a piece of paper.

Chair Evaluation
1. My chair has lumbar (lower back) support. 2. My chair has adjustable height.
3. My chair has adjustable back positioning and tension.
4. My chair has adjustable armrests.
5. My chair has adjustable seat depth.
6. When seated in my chair, my feet rest comfortably on the floor with knees bent at a 90 degree angle (a foot rest is used to achieve this if needed).

Lighting Evaluation
1. My computer screen is free of any reflection.
2. My computer screen can be seen easily (no glare).
3. My desk is positioned at a right angle to the window or main source of light.
4. The level and position of overhead lighting is satisfactory.
5. My lighting can be adjusted (if light is from a window, blinds are present).

Equipment Layout
1. My work area is free from obstacles.
2. Commonly used items are kept within easy reach.
3. The layout of my workspace prevents undue twisting and lifting.
4. Cords are kept straight and away from walkways.

Desk Evaluation
1. My desk is 26 inches to 29 inches high.
2. My desk surface is a suitable size for the work being done (i.e. a minimum of 35 inches x 29.5 inches for paperwork tasks or 45 inches x 35 inches for mixed clerical and computing tasks).
3. The area underneath my desk is clean and uncluttered.
4. The work surface of my desk is a matte finish to minimize glares and reflections.

Computer Evaluation
1. The top of the computer screen is at eye level when I’m seating in my chair and looking straight ahead.
2. My keyboard is either resting on an adjustable tray or, if on the desk, is approximately 1.5 inches from the edge of the desk and in line with the monitor.
3. The monitor is at least arms distance when seated and directly in front of the keyboard.
4. The characters on the computer are set to display at an appropriate size.
5. A document holder is used if documents are referred to when typing.

If your computer doesn’t meet any of these requirements, make the necessary adjustments. You can fix all of these issues by adjusting your body position or simply investing in some low-cost accessories.

Take a look at your overall results. Count the number of times you selected “true”.

If you chose “true” 19 to 24 times
Congratulations. You can rest easy tonight – your workspace isn’t trying to hurt you! Of course, it’s still up to you to be cautious and continue to make adjustments as needed. As your body changes and ages, you’ll want to constantly re-evaluate how things are working. But you have the right equipment so you’re two steps ahead of the game!

If you chose “true” 14 to 18 times
Your workspace is definitely lacking in the ergonomic department. You may be noticing a few aches and pains. Adjust what you can and make a resolution to upgrade the old, tired equipment that is – yes -secretly plotting your demise.

If you chose “true” less than 14 times
Let me be clear: It’s them or you. Either the office equipment goes or your health will certainly suffer. Save yourself! Toss the junky gear before it all gathers together and forms a mega-army that’s impossible to stop…!

What? Did I get carried away again?

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Republished by our friends at Office Arrow

We’ve always felt like Steelcase Leap Chair is #1 but it’s always nice to hear it’s made it to the top of others lists too!

Apartment Therapy states Kevin Costello, president of U.S. Ergonomics, ranked the Steelcase Leap chair among the top chairs for comfort and health.

For more Leap reviews, see the In the News section on the Leap product page.

How to Sit: Five Tips for the Office

I may work at Steelcase, but sitting is not my number one occupation. I wouldn’t doubt if it wasn’t yours either. With most of us spending at least half of the day sitting, more than ever, it’s important that we do it right.

Those tiny, repetitive movements that we all do at our desk jobs tend to add up after a while- not to mention, giving us sore shoulders and a headache.

Here are five tips to keep you sitting right, and less exhausted at the end of the day:

1. Use your sitting bone, that’s what it’s for! – your feet should be on the floor, with your knees and hips bent at about 90 degrees. This will distribute the weight off of your thighs and on to a more solid part of your body.
2. Leave some room to move – make sure to have about four fingers-worth of space behind the back of your knees and the front of the seat. Otherwise, you might end up sitting too far toward the front of the chair, and end up slouching when you get tired.
3. Moral support – adjust the armrests so that they support your elbows and arms at 90 degrees. Otherwise, if the rest is too high or low, you’ll be using your shoulders to make up the added difference.
4. No Stretch Armstrong here – When your armrest is perfect and you’re sitting straight at your desk, your fingers should be able to touch the keyboard without stretching.
5. Take a hike! – Make sure to get out of your chair at least once an hour and walk around, or kill two birds with one stone and walk & work with a treadmill desk like the Walkstation. Your body will be able to stretch, get your blood flow moving, and reenergize you.

cobi: comfortable collaboration
Designed by the Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Luke Pearson of PearsonLloyd

In case you haven’t noticed, we spend more time in meetings today than ever before. Meetings in any office set-up (at home, meeting rooms, teleconferencing) requires changing postures and various degrees of support us.

We’ve all been there…squirming, fatigue, and loss of focus (sound familiar?) are unavoidable. Enter cobi.

Every part of cobi was designed to flex and adjust to your body. cobi’s top flexing edge lets you comfortably rest your arm on top of the chair. You know, like you’ve tried to do on every chair you’ve ever sat in, but this time it feels good.

cobi’s seat encourages you to move and shift, allowing you to sit centered or off to the sides. It’s even comfy to sit with your back against the arm…seriously.

cobi is great as a conference chair because it offers one manual adjustment (seat height). Research says we don’t adjust more than seat height on conference room chairs anyways. We sit down and move into the first item of discussion on the meeting agenda.

And, if you’re in meetings as often as I am (more than I’m at my desk), cobi is perfect! I’m not at my desk long enough throughout the day to require more adjustments…and if I had more adjustments, I don’t think I’d have the time to use them!

i2i: an intuitive seating arrangement
Designed by the Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Thomas Overthun of IDEO

Sometimes, you don’t need a conference room for meetings. You may only need a few chairs in which you and a small team can connect. And those big, stuff lounge chairs don’t cut it (unless you’re looking for a place to nap). You need a chair you can move, shift, and breathe in (not to mention looks nice too).

So…picture yourself in your non-conference room meeting. You have a lot to take in: people to your left and right, people straight ahead, and often a screen or laptop as a centerpiece. And don’t forget to say something intellectual. With all of that going on, how do you maintain focus and orientation without losing comfort? Answer = i2i.

i2i’s dual swivel mechanism keeps you focused where you need to be: keeping eye contact. The back and seat swivel independently, allowing you to change your posture without changing your orientation…and vice versa. You kinda got to see it to get it.

Your body requires you to move and shift. Tilt back, forward, left, or right. Slant your body in any direction. Slouch if your mother isn’t looking. i2i keeps you comfortable regardless of position. One less thing you need to think about.

In a world where connecting and collaborating is vital to success, the role of the workplace is to connect: people with people, people with information, people with tools they need to do their job and with the culture of their organization. The landscape of today’s workplace is changing. Footprints are shrinking while expectations are growing. People are looking for a variety of settings to choose how and where they want to collaborate. Today’s workspace needs to work harder by working smarter.

Because of this Steelcase created a whole new category of seating products designed specifically for the needs of collaboration. The cobi and i2i chairs were designed specifically to foster collaboration and were based on three key research observations that resulted in three key insights:

• Chairs should promote movement and be comfortable for long periods of time
• Adjustments should be automatic and intuitive
• Chairs should support multiple postures