9 Reasons Why Ergonomic Office Chairs Are The Right Choice

If you’re the average person with an office-based job, your desk chair will be one of the essential pieces of furniture (after your sit-stand desk). Again on average, you will spend 90,000 hours at work over your lifetime, spending more time sitting than you do sleeping. Yet, you probably consider your chair to be less important than your mattress! Having the right chair is important because it will affect your comfort, posture, concentration and wellbeing, even if you’re not consciously aware of it.

A good ergonomic office chair should – provide necessary support to the back, legs, buttocks, and arms, while reducing exposures to awkward postures, contact stress, and forceful exertions – as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Designed to help you sit comfortably while working, whether at home or in the office, ergonomic chairs are more adjustable than standard office chairs and allow you to customise the fit to your body or seating preferences. They will reduce your risk for musculoskeletal injuries, joint and back pain, which will help improve your posture, productivity, motivation and focus.

An office chair needs to have certain features, including appropriate height, seat width, lumbar support, and both back and armrests, to be considered genuinely ergonomic. These features and mechanisms mean the chair can be adjusted to suit your particular needs.

Compared to a ‘regular’ office chair, ergonomic chairs support your body in a natural position, so here are 9 reasons why an ergonomic chair is the best option, if you don’t already have one!

1/ Increased Productivity

As you work, you can become fatigued and slumped, resulting in the muscles, joints and tendons in your body becoming misaligned. Proper posture reduces strain and fatigue on your muscles. Ergonomic chairs align your shoulders, spine and hips, reducing the stress on your body.

Having the proper lumbar support promotes comfortable, pain free sitting positions so that you can concentrate more effectively rather than being distracted by pain and discomfort.

2/ Shape & posture support

Ergonomic chairs have an innovative ‘s’ shape design that follows the spine’s natural curvature and supports correct, natural body positions.

Unlike other office chairs, they adjust to you, supporting your spine and muscles when you move rather than you having to fidget to find a comfortable position.

3/ Improved blood circulation

Ergonomic chairs enable your legs to rest at a 90° angle. This angle allows blood to flow freely, maintaining circulation to your ankles and feet.

A poorly designed office chair can pinch the back of your legs resulting in poor circulation over long periods. This can cause numbness, swelling, and more severe health issues if not addressed.

4/ Back and neck pain

The most common complaints by people working from home and in the office are lower back and neck pain. This is generally because their traditional chairs do not have the appropriate lumbar support to correct poor posture and reduce tension and stress through the neck.

An ergonomic chair properly supports these pain points for a more comfortable and productive working position.

5/ Hip pain relief

Improper alignment of the hips and pelvis are a common cause of lower back pain. Bony structures on pelvic bones (Asis and Psis) should be level relative to each other when sitting in the correct position. Your lower back should have a slight inward arch. Standard office chairs often lack the design and flexibility for proper adjustment.

Many ergonomic chairs include inflatable sections and padding in specific areas to adapt potential pain spots on the hips.

6/ Adjustability

To be ergonomic, the chair must be highly adjustable, with customisable heights, seat pad, recline options, and armrests.

Companies investing in ergonomic seating will be safe in the knowledge that with all the adjustments available, one size in this instance, does fit all!

7/ Increase Employee Satisfaction

We don’t need studies to tell us that at some point, most people have been unhappy with their work environment and its equipment.

Investing in ergonomic furniture that is designed to support, encourage and enhance wellbeing, staff feel valued, appreciated and more comfortable, which in turn results in a happier, more productive workforce.

8/ Fewer absentee days

A chair that supports a natural body position can help reduce back pain issues and repetitive strain injuries, reducing the number of sick days being taken.

Although ergonomic chairs are typically more expensive than standard office chairs, they are worth the investment not only for a company’s bottom line but also for employees’ comfort, productivity, and wellbeing.

9/ Designed for long term use

Even though active working is one of the best ways to work, it’s not always possible. Ergonomic desk chairs are designed, for long term, high use from 8 hours continual usage, to 24-hour intensive use like the HAG SoFi has a British Standard rating.

They have to withstand rigorous testing during development because users need to adjust them more frequently than traditional office chairs. Warranty length is a good indicator of quality and something to consider when looking to buy.

At Flomotion we offer a wide range of ergonomic chairs suitable for use with traditional desks as well as sit-stand desks.

If you would like any further information, give our knowledgeable, friendly team a call 01603 951595. We help and advise on ergonomic office furniture and wellbeing at work.