Ergonomics in the workplace
What does ergonomics mean?
Ergonomics is derived from the Greek terms ergon (meaning “work”) and nomos (meaning “law” or “rule”) and can be understood as the study of the relationship between humans and their work.
What does ergonomics mean in the workplace? And why is it important?
An ergonomic workplace is therefore about designing the workplace in such a way that it is optimally adapted to the worker and that the worker can achieve his or her maximum performance. This should always be done while maintaining mental and physical health. Ergonomics is therefore of essential importance for preventive occupational safety and health.
What is the workplace?
In principle, the workplace is the place where employees perform their duties in accordance with their employment contract. This can be on the employer's premises, but it can also be a home office workplace. When we talk about the workplace, we can mean the computer workstation in the office, the assembly line in the factory or the kitchen in the restaurant.
Why is ergonomics in the workplace so important?
Legal regulations on ergonomics in the workplace?
The most important laws, regulations and guidelines are:
- Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV)
- Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG)
- Screen Work Ordinance (BildscharbV)
- DIN EN ISO 9241
- DIN EN ISO 10075
What does an ergonomic VDU workstation look like?
Ergonomics at the computer workstation must meet several requirements. An ergonomic workstation offers:
- Ergonomic, individually adjustable office equipment to ensure an optimal working position
- Sufficient space to move around
- Appropriate arrangement of tools and equipment
- Suitable equipment to counteract environmental factors that affect people and their performance
Ergonomic Office Equipment
Why do we need ergonomic office furniture? Quite simply, they offer the possibility of being individually adapted to the respective body dimensions in order to enable optimum posture. The following points are therefore important:
- Height-adjustable office chair
- Height-adjustable table
- Easily accessible organization systems
Office Chairs
Anyone who wants to work with focus for several hours will appreciate a comfortable office chair. An ergonomic office chair promotes upright sitting, thereby strengthening the back muscles, improving breathing, and preventing back pain, which can otherwise lead to persistent pain and sick leave among employees.
Adjusting our Caro desk chair
To ensure ergonomic sitting, the following criteria should be taken into account when choosing the right desk chair:
- Height: An ergonomic office chair must be adjustable and lockable in height. The ideal seat height always depends on the size of the person. However, the office chair should be adjusted so that the legs are bent slightly more than 90 degrees while sitting, when both feet are firmly on the floor.
- Seat depth: A large seating surface is not only comfortable but also important to ensure blood circulation in the legs. Make sure that the seat is deep enough to reach the back of your knees when sitting and that not too much pressure is exerted on the underside of your thighs.
- Backrest: Ideally, the backrest should not connect to the seat surface, but should even have a free space between the backrest and the seat surface. This additionally encourages upright sitting.
- Locking the Backrest: Even if locking the backrest is comfortable and allows you to lean back, it is not a necessary feature from an ergonomic perspective. Locking it encourages you to lean back and relieve the back muscles. This in turn leads to incorrect loading of the spine and can lead to back pain in the long term.
- Armrest: The armrests should be adjustable and lockable in height and width so that they can be used as an extended armrest to the desk when working. In addition to height and width, modern office chairs allow adjustments in a third dimension. With 3D armrests, the lateral angle of the armrests can also be adjusted. In this way, the surface of the forearms is also extended and supported behind the desk top. Soft PU armrests are also a nice add-on.
- Lumbar support: During long periods of sitting, the back muscles can tire and consequently collapse. A lumbar support supports the lordosis (the natural curvature of the spine) and thus promotes a relaxed sitting posture.
Office Desks
The office desk is the centerpiece of the workplace. As with choosing the right office chair, there are a number of things to consider when selecting an office desk:
- Work surface: In addition to the necessary work equipment such as laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse, frequently used work materials must also be accommodated. In order to have sufficient space to rest your arms, we recommend minimum desk dimensions of 80 cm in depth and 160 cm in width.
- Table height: A simple rule is that the arms should be at an angle of between 90 and 110 degrees at the desk to allow for a comfortable sitting position. Therefore, the work surface should be 18 – 30 cm above the seat surface. At the same time, the desk should be chosen so that there is enough space for the legs. This ensures that there are no postural defects and tense body posture.
"Sitting is the new smoking" – Since prolonged sitting can have a negative impact on health in the long term, you should regularly alternate between sitting and standing positions. Electric or mechanically height-adjustable desks are ideal for this purpose. They can be raised and lowered to a height between 68 and 120 cm, depending on your body size.
Height-adjustable desks are ideal both for normal employee turnover, which is common, and for flexible desk-sharing workstations used by different employees. Each workstation, including the screen and office chair, is therefore suitable for every body size. This eliminates the previously tedious task of replacing office furniture or the need to buy new office furniture.
Filing systems and cabinets
Sufficient space to move around
Arrangement of work equipment
The monitor is an essential part of a VDU workstation. To avoid tension, it should be positioned straight and at a distance of 50 - 70 cm in front of the user. The upper edge of the screen should be approximately at eye level and the lower edge of the screen should be visible at an angle of 35°.
Keyboard, mouse and other input devices should be positioned at a distance of 10 - 15 cm from the front edge of the desk to ensure a comfortable posture. Frequently used work equipment should be positioned as centrally as possible in the field of vision and reach.
Counteracting environmental factors
Environmental factors are external influences that affect people and influence their performance. At a VDU workstation, these include, for example
- Lighting
- Noise
- Indoor climate
To counteract these environmental factors, a general ergonomic room design is required, supplemented by specific measures at the computer workstation.
Ergonomic lighting
Lighting conditions are also among the legally regulated requirements for an ergonomically designed workplace. Ergonomic lighting has numerous positive effects, which are often underestimated, however.
Ergonomically optimized lighting leads to:
- Improved concentration and focused work
- Increased well-being
- Promotion of health
- Increase in productivity
Especially in winter or in workplaces with little natural light, daylight lamps can be used as a substitute. As the name suggests, this is light whose light color is very similar to natural daylight. High-quality models have a broad light spectrum. This means that light of different colors can be emitted depending on the time of day. We recommend colder light for the morning and warmer light for the evening. This is because while consistently cold light is exhausting, consistently warm light makes it difficult to concentrate.
Noise protection at the workplace
For this reason, appropriate precautions should be taken and technical measures implemented at every workplace to ensure effective noise reduction. Sound-absorbing partitions and desk dividers are an effective way of reducing noise by absorbing sound waves. If reducing background noise is not sufficient, headphones with active noise cancellation can provide additional protection.
Indoor climate
Even though the topic of health protection and ergonomics in the workplace is becoming more and more conscious among companies, we are finding that many companies still do not pay enough attention to the topic. However, it is in the interest of every company to promote the topic in its own office and production rooms, as an ergonomic workplace ultimately leads to higher productivity and is therefore advantageous - for employees and employers.
Lendis is the expert for professional workspaces. We help companies to provide their employees with the best possible working environment. With our ergonomic office equipment, you can equip your colleagues with everything they need for a modern workplace and maximum performance.