Computer ergonomics in the office plays an important role in productivity.
Humans are not machines, that is a given. And as for living things, we do pose some form of physical and mental limitation. An aspect of IT is ergonomics and how important a role it plays a part in an office or workspace from furniture, seating, eye position, body position location and cooling. Every little tweak counts heavily towards productivity and comfort for your staff. Great ergonomics equals excellent productivity. So let us break down how ergonomics and IT work with and for each other.
Positioning
Computer ergonomics in the office
Each staff is unique and works most effectively when they are most comfortable. Computers and monitors have always been designed around a person and not the other way around, from standing desks where you can mount monitors and have a keyboard installed on the desk to seated desk with monitors tweaked to the height and keyboard tweaked to the reach.
Positioning is about comfort but not about making things comfortable, which results in a very sleepy workforce. Some find they work better standing up and for staff like that it is always best to have on hand a workstation designed by your IT team that caters to the needs of such staff. The same would also apply to a staff that is comfortable using a desktop and those that use laptops.
Laptops
Computer ergonomics in the office
It is a little challenging to claim laptops as ergonomic. Your neck bent down, your fingers are close to the monitor. It is easy to get used to work with and get used to. But for long term use, it is still better to have a big monitor at your workspace and to use your laptop's keyboard as an input device.
In some cases, staff use their laptops as a desktop computer and connect to it a wireless keyboard and mouse, While looking at a monitor connected to the HDMI port of the laptop for easy viewing. We think offices must have spaces designed for laptop users. These are staff that work from outside and inside the office. And like for most people, more workers tend to gets done in the office.
Malleable
Computer ergonomics in the office
Going soon are the days where each worker has their personalized workstation. More and more offices are adopting shared spaces, which means no one has a desk. But all the desks can be used by anyone.
The cool thing is, from an IT perspective, there are many unique solutions out there. Desks that transform from sitting to standing. Monitors with many various input ports and desks with Ethernet connectivity attached to them. These flexible workstations are becoming more available. For example, in this picture, we have a benching system designed to save space. Not only is it adaptable, but they are also space-optimized, sustainable and integrated with technology, which makes it much easier for your IT team to provision and installs a workspace for a new team member.
Posture
Computer ergonomics in the office
Bad posture can result in many things. And bad ergonomics encourage lousy posture. A laptop on a coffee table may be excellent for a short meeting with a client, but to use that as a work table is bad for business. Staff would not be able to concentrate, neck pains, carpal tunnel, backache, tiredness and exhaustion are common symptoms of bad ergonomics.
As shown in this picture, it may look right with a laptop, a cup of tea and a notebook by the side. But really, the head is to be positioned in an awkward manner if you wish to read the words you are typing out. For laptops to work in this case, the laptop has to be much higher and elevated. Yes, you heard us. For laptops to work as a desktop computer, you have to put them on an elevated platform. And when doing so, you also have to ensure that the keyboard is of a reasonable distance from you, which would mean that the ideal type of desk or table for a laptop would be a very high table.
Arms
Computer ergonomics in the office
Monitors on arms are brilliant. Our eyesight is not perfect. And we do not want to lean in and out to get a good view of what we wrote in an email. So mounting your monitor on an arm that is extendable, movable and on a swivel is excellent. They can be pulled closer to your chair or pushed even further back when you are watching a presentation video. The sky is the limit here. Eye strain is, after all, the leading cause of bad eyesight. So as long as your eyes are not strained and comfortable, you are right. Don't worry about the brightness setting too much; the focus is much more critical.
Go wireless
Computer ergonomics in the office
Something that we considered for office IT ergonomics are wireless input devices, Like your wireless mouse (here is a great blog we wrote about top 5 wireless mouse!) and wireless keyboard. Hmm, maybe we should write a blog about the top 5 wireless keyboards. Maybe that would be an excellent subject for next time.
In any case, wireless is convenient. From an environmental perspective, those batteries are not. So buy rechargeable batteries as we do, they are socially responsible. Keyboard and mouse are straightforward to place. Wherever it feels most comfortable for you is usually the best place to put it. Your arms need to be relaxed and your hands on the pad of the keyboard (if any). There are mouse pads with cushion support which is excellent for comfort and ergonomics too.
It now seems like your ergonomics in the office should fall under the charge of your IT department after reading this blog. We don't see why you should think any other way. Contact your IT head and make him realize his new responsibility. They have been leading such a good life so far, make them work.
Thank you for reading 'IT Support 101: Computer ergonomics in the office' and we hope you have a beautiful day ahead.
