Sit up! Making the work environment comfortable

Do you suffer from back-aches or head-aches? Does your wrist hurt? Adjusting your work environment might be the answer to your problems.

By DANA ZAX
Office desk 370 (photo credit: Wikicommons)
Office desk 370
(photo credit: Wikicommons)
Do you suffer from back-aches or head-aches? Does your wrist hurt, and your eyes get really dry? Adjusting your work environment might be the answer to your problems.
Most of us spend most of our work hours sitting down in front of the computer, and when we get home so tired from our work day we, well, sit down on the sofa.
A whole scientific discipline is based on the interaction of people and other elements of a system, trying to optimize human well-being. Fitting the user, the objects around and the environment is supposed to protect
the person from physical injuries and mental pressure.
Here are some tips you can easily take on to your everyday life, and will hopefully make a big difference.
Do's:
1. Lean back on the chair at 105 degrees, this would decrease the pressure on your back.
2. Adjust the height of your back rest, so it will fully support your lower back.
3. Adjust the height of your chair, your elbow should be at 90 degree, and your arm should be parallel to the desk.
4. It is very important to keep your shoulders loose while your hands reach for the keyboard.
5. The keyboard and computer mouse should be at 8-10 centimeters away from the edge of the table, so that your hands could rest on it.
6. Your feet should be touching the floor as you are sitting, supporting your legs would increase your comfort.
7. As you are typing, your wrist should stay in a straight position, try to not bend it at all.
8. Keep your arm supported by the table or the chair's hand rest.
9. The top of your computer screen should be at the same height as your eyes.
10. The screen should be at a 60-70 cm distance from you, you can easily measure that by reaching your hand toward the screen.
11. A five minute break every hour is recommended. GHet up and take a little walk, make a phone call or just do some stretches.
 
Don'ts:
   
1. Avoid leaning forward for a long period of time, this could cause back-aches.
2. Avoid reaching out to distant objects, this can cause pressure on your arms, shoulders and neck. Try to keep everything you need not more than 40 cm away.
3. Avoid blocking your legs with objects. Keep an open space under your table so that your feet would have room for comfortable positioning.
4. Avoid arching your wrist while working with a keyboard or a computer mouse, you can do that by keeping your elbows close to your body or adding a support pillow for your wrist.
Sitting down doesn't come to mind as something that can hurt us, but it can. You already know you are supposed to eat healthy and exercise in order to keep your body healthy, and that is now always a simple thing to do. How hard can it be to adjust your chair or put a book under your computer screen?
These simple changes in your work environment could help you avoid serious health problems. Don't wait for the problems to show up, take care of your body now.
 


Related Tags
life in israel
lsrael news