Clever office furnishings for everyone – more productivity and ergonomics
For a company there is no better news than a positive annual report. Companies already do a lot to be successful. Qualified staff will be employed and the work processes will be optimized. For more and more employers, such optimization with the aim of higher productivity includes improving the workplace situation. Ergonomic office furniture increases motivation and also promotes health. What does smart office furniture look like, what does it have to be able to do?
This is how you get your work moving
It is mainly experiences from everyday working life, e.g. B. the increasing number of sick leave, declining motivation or a bad working atmosphere that make employers prick up their ears. The results of studies also lead to an increasing number of companies seeking help and advice from an expert in ergonomic office furnishings.
Studies such as that of the TU Chemnitz on the subject of sitting at work (it was published in the specialist journal “Applied Ergonomics” in 2019) have shown that sitting for too long is harmful to the entire musculoskeletal system. In view of the fact that office workers sit an average of 11 hours a day, it is more than advisable to design the work environment for more movement and mobility.
Office workers sit an average of 11 hours a day
These can be height-adjustable desks that you can work at while standing, but also footrests with a massage function, simple stretching exercises or a walk through your own office during a phone call (made possible by headsets). A so-called “active office” can be created relatively easily with cleverly chosen office furnishings. This enables spontaneous and complex changes in position.
This works, for example, with a height-adjustable desk with two separate work surfaces, possibly at right angles to one another. There are connected monitors and keyboards on both surfaces. This means that you can alternate between sitting and standing at the same workplace.
Standing is also not healthy in the long run, especially on a hard concrete floor. But if you place a floor mat, e.g. B. with a 3D structure and elastic surface coating, you protect the musculoskeletal system when standing against the hard floor.
The clever office furniture is ergonomic! You can also work standing up!
If there is no space for the active desks described, active office chairs can be used. Such chairs enable the user to move multidimensionally, so you can change your position forwards, backwards or sideways and perform compensatory movements. They stabilize the spine. Height-adjustable standing seats are also available for employees who like to work standing up. They relieve the intervertebral discs and strengthen the muscles of the back and trunk.
A study that was carried out by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA), which is part of the German Statutory Accident Insurance, in cooperation with the Sport University Cologne, showed that exercise promotes the willingness to do more (results of the study in IFA Report 3 / 2018). The need to design office workplaces in such a way that ergonomic findings are incorporated and more movement is possible is also shown by another result of the study. Almost 40 percent of all employees now have a job that ties them to a sedentary workplace.
An ergonomic office chair allows you to move multidimensionally.
Ergonomics in the home office – a task for the employer too
The corona pandemic has led companies to increasingly send their employees to the gay office. In order to be able to work really efficiently at the workplace in your own four walls, the employer must also consider how he can support his employees. First of all, of course, he does this by providing the office furniture required in the home office as well as the necessary hardware in the form of a laptop or a computer with the corresponding software. Here, contractual arrangements can be made if the employee is to use their own end devices at the request of their employer. The employer remains responsible for health, work and data protection even when working from home.
The efforts of the employee to create a ready-to-use, health-promoting workplace in their own home should, however, be supported by other measures by the company. For example, the company could hire an ergonomics coach for online training on this topic for its workers working from home.
Clever office furnishings are also a must in the home office.
The better investment – physical work environment instead of software
The most efficient work is not done by those who can use good software, but by those who feel good and are healthy. For this reason, it is important for the employer to equip the actual workplace and also the home office with office furniture that meets ergonomic requirements, enables a lot of movement even during work and thus promotes health.
These can be office chairs with a two-part backrest and 3D mechanics, sitting / standing stools or a mobile sitting / standing desk that is height-adjustable with gas pressure. Footrests for better leg posture or floor mats to support standing work are also sensible investments when it comes to establishing a healthy physical work environment.
Are you ready to invest in smart office furniture?
Conclusion – those who create healthy jobs are investing in the future
The most important investment is in the health of employees. With office furnishings recommended by experts, health problems such as headaches and back pain can be prevented. Entrepreneurs who provide their employees with ergonomic office furniture ensure fewer illness-related absences among staff. At the same time, motivation and performance are increased. Efficient and error-free software is important, but it does not support health in the workplace as much as clever office furnishings.
With ergonomic office furniture you can avoid many health problems.
Because good health is the most important thing!
Visit the rest of the site for more useful and informative articles!