Ergonomic working in the office: 6 tips

What is ergonomic working?

When your employees work ergonomically, they can perform their tasks as comfortably as possible. They adopt the correct posture, prevent strain, and use helpful tools. Investing in ergonomics is investing in the health of your employees. By creating a workplace where your entire team enjoys spending time—comfortably!—productivity peaks, absenteeism decreases, and you score points with your employees.

40% of ‘screen workers’ have neck complaints

This is according to recent figures from the VerV, the Professional Association for Ergonomics. You might know them from the 10-10-10 awareness campaign. With this, they called on companies to have the entire team stand for 10 minutes on October 10th. This was to highlight ‘dynamic working’. More on that later.

But anyway: 40% have neck complaints. That is almost half. What if they all suddenly became incapacitated? It is distressing when you think about it. Especially because you can avoid these—and other complaints—quite easily. How? By encouraging your employees to move more and by investing in an ergonomically designed office.

But how do you do that? Follow our 6 tips to integrate ergonomic working into your office.

1. Adjustable office chairs

The longer your employees sit, the more they will appreciate a soft seat. But also: the better you must be able to adjust the office chair. Every body is different, which means the ideal sitting position requires that you can adjust the seat height, as well as the depth, backrest, and armrests. In our Concept Place, you can test a number of office chairs before making a purchase. And after the purchase, we set the correct height together with your team. There are even smartphone apps that tell you the ideal settings for your office chair!

2. Adjustable desks

A table is a table, you might think. But the correct height is actually very important to avoid complaints. Ensure that your employees can place their arms on the table in the most comfortable and natural position. So, go for adjustable desks. These come in all shapes and sizes: manually adjustable or electric. Or, even better, replace your classic desks with sit-stand desks.

A plea for the sit-stand desk

Sitting still in the same spot for eight hours a day is asking for trouble. Those who regularly stretch their legs and work while standing suffer less from typical ‘sitting ailments’. But that’s not all: working while standing makes you sharper, more creative, and more alert.

Many of our office designs feature sit-stand desks. These are easily adjustable in height, allowing employees to choose their preferred way of working: sitting, standing, or alternating between the two. It is all possible. Furthermore, the desks simply look cool.

3. Ergonomic tools

Certain ergonomic products also ensure a correct working posture. Do your employees work with laptops? Then provide them with a laptop stand so that the screen is at eye level. Also, do not forget an ergonomic mouse and keyboard. For fixed monitors, it is best to choose models with an adjustable monitor arm.

4. Pleasant total design

Ergonomic working is more than individual workstations. Meeting rooms, lunchrooms, waiting areas for clients… To increase the well-being of your employees, your clients, and of course yourself, it is best to adapt the entire office to their (and your) needs. And those may have changed significantly in recent months since hybrid working became the norm.

Partnering with a specialist in ergonomic office design, such as Buro Project, makes the difference here. For example, we consciously design the spaces so that your employees have to move more. Think of one central print room instead of a printer per desk, the coffee corner located on the other side of the water fountain, and toilets a few minutes’ walk from the central workplace.

Would you like to compare and test products with guidance from our experts? You are most welcome to visit our Concept Place.

5. Encourage ‘dynamic working’

Not every task, meeting, negotiation, video call, brainstorm session, or coffee break needs to take place while seated. Break the tradition! Try meeting while standing, exchange ideas with colleagues during a short walk, or pace around during your next phone call. If you lead by example, your employees will be more likely to follow suit.

6. An ergonomic mindset

As an employer, you can provide the best office chairs or the hippest sit-stand desks to enable ergonomic working, but if your employees do not use them correctly, they yield little result. Therefore, try to make your team aware of an ergonomic mindset: show them how to use ergonomic tools, emphasize that they are in control of their ideal working posture, and encourage movement.

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