Ergonomic office workstations – what are they?

Ergonomic, it’s a rather odd word that we often hear thrown in during discussion of the design of living spaces and furniture, particularly office workstations and study areas, but how many of us actually know what it means?

Ergonomics is a strand of science that focuses on how human beings physically interact with their immediate environment, particularly their domestic spaces and work places. Ergonomic studies also explore new possibilities in the design of furniture and technology that provide structural solutions to improve the comfort and wellbeing of users. Ergonomic science is particularly valuable to office based companies because the main goals of ergonomics are health and productivity.

Not surprisingly, ergonomic principles have begun to increasingly influence the design of modern workstations from footrests and shelving space to the more obvious redesign of items such as office chairs and computer desks. In fact, you may notice that some of the following ergonomic design principles are familiar because they are already features of your own workstation.

In line with the principles of ergonomic design, the main goal of ergonomically designed workstations is to allow for the adjustment of the height and angle of elements such as chair, keyboard and computer monitor. This fine-tuning of office workstations in accordance with the movement of the human body enables the user to type, view their computer screen and reach other places around their desk with great ease, thus preventing unnecessary strain and eventual injury.

Ergonomic office workstations are arranged in such a way that the objects the user accesses most frequently are placed in close range. Where the desk is not of an adjustable model, a keyboard tray can be provided to add vertical height, enabling relaxed movement of the wrists and upper arms.

The ergonomic design of office workstations may also exhibit incredible attention to detail. For example, the surface of an ergonomically designed computer desk will be matte rather than shiny to prevent excess glare from reflection of monitor screens and thus reduce strain on the eyes of the user.

Next time you’re sitting in your office workstation, take a look around and observe what could be improved to preserve your health and maximise your output. If you’re finding that you have to hunch to reach your keyboard, twist to view your monitor, and strain to reach any of your files, it may be time to consider suggesting that your company change to office workstations that have been designed more ergonomically.

Looking at good design office workstations, office partitions, please contact Cooper Group, one of leading supplier of office workstations in Melbourne, Australia