Office ergonomics: Your how-to guideA comfortable work space can help you feel your best. Give your sitting work area a makeover with this visual guide to office ergonomics.By Mayo Clinic Staff If you sit behind a desk for hours at a time, you're not doomed to a career of neck and back pain or sore wrists and fingers. Proper office ergonomics — including correct chair height, adequate equipment spacing and good desk posture — can help you and your joints stay comfortable at work. Ready to give your work space a makeover? Get started making your sitting workstation comfortable with this visual guide to sitting workstation ergonomics. Choose a chair that supports your spinal curves. Adjust the height of your chair so that your feet rest flat on the floor or on a footrest and your thighs are parallel to the floor. Adjust armrests so your arms gently rest on them with your shoulders relaxed. Keep key objects — such as your telephone, stapler or printed materials — close to your body to minimize reaching.
Stand up to reach anything that can't be comfortably reached while sitting. Place your mouse within easy reach and on the same surface as your keyboard. While typing or using your mouse, keep your wrists straight, your upper arms close to your body, and your hands at or slightly below the level of your elbows. Use keyboard shortcuts to reduce extended mouse use. If possible, adjust the sensitivity of the mouse so you can use a light touch to operate it. Alternate the hand you use to operate the mouse by moving the mouse to the other side of your keyboard. If you frequently talk on the phone and type or write at the same time, place your phone on speaker or use a headset rather than cradling the phone between your head and neck. If your chair is too high for you to rest your feet flat on the floor — or the height of your desk requires you to raise the height of your chair — use a footrest. If a footrest is not available, try using a small stool or a stack of sturdy books instead.
Under the desk, make sure there's clearance for your knees, thighs and feet. If the desk is too low and can't be adjusted, place sturdy boards or blocks under the desk legs. If the desk is too high and can't be adjusted, raise your chair. Use a footrest to support your feet as needed. If your desk has a hard edge, pad the edge or use a wrist rest. Don't store items under your desk. Place the monitor directly in front of you, about an arm's length away. The top of the screen should be at or slightly below eye level. The monitor should be directly behind your keyboard. If you wear bifocals, lower the monitor an additional 1 to 2 inches for more comfortable viewing. Place your monitor so that the brightest light source is to the side. Workstations components — Monitors. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Accessed March 17, 2016. Workstations components — Pointer/mouse. Workstations components — Telephones. Workstations components — Desks. Workstations components — Chairs.
ANSI/HFES 100-2007: Human Factors Engineering of Computer Workstations. Santa Monica, Calif.: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; Fitness & Exercise Home Related to Fitness & Exercise Diet & Weight Management Weight Loss & Obesity Food & Fitness Planner Stretching Exercises at Your Desk: 12 Simple Tips Try these stretching exercises at your desk -- or anywhere else -- to ease back pain and boost energy. You may feel awkward doing stretching exercises at your desk. But right now, as you sit there at your computer, you are doing one of the worst things you can do to your body -- you're sitting still. And not only that, but the way you sit -- and type, and hold the phone -- may be wreaking havoc on your bones, joints, and muscles. "People who sit at their computers for hours every day -- they're in for serious medical problems," says Sharon Hame, MD, associate clinical professor at UCLA's department of orthopaedic surgery. "We're seeing more things than carpal tunnel;
those pains go up the arm to the elbow and shoulder and then translate to the neck and back. It's a huge problem." In addition to carpal tunnel and other traditional ergonomic issues, new problems are cropping up, Hame says. "I saw a woman yesterday who had tennis elbow. She got it at work from the way she answered the phone and worked at the computer." The solution, experts say, is to break up your work by doing stretching exercises at your desk. Relieve Back Pain With Stretching Exercises at Your Desk Aches and pains, not to mention the weight gain that can result from hunching over your desk all day, are just the beginning. "People shouldn't be complacent about moving just because they're not obese," says Angela Smith, MD, orthopaedic surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and former president of the American College of Sports Medicine. "There are a lot of skinny people who, because they don't exercise for strength and balance, are osteoporotic fractures waiting to happen."
So what can you do to ward off pain and stiffness and boost your energy and alertness? WebMD consulted orthopaedic surgeons and exercise specialists for 12 simple stretching exercises at your desk that will release tension from head to toe. They take only a few minutes. Set the alarm on your cell phone or computer to go off every hour to remind you it's time to get up and stretch. The 12 Best Stretching Exercises at Your Desk Just stand up and sit down -- no hands You might have gotten a gold star in preschool for sitting still, but it just goes to show you (best sellers notwithstanding) that not all of us learned everything we need to know in kindergarten. "If you stand up and sit down (over and over) -- without using your hands -- it can be a challenge," says Smith. "Do it while you're on the phone; no one will know." Substitute exercise for sitting -- while you work Get rid of your desk chair and substitute an exercise ball, suggests Smith. "I used it for a while when I was having low-back problems;
it was great," Smith says. "All day you are engaging all the muscles in the back, legs, butt, everything, to stay balanced." Hame knows one man who put a treadmill in his office and conducted all his business while walking. (He lost weight, too, Hame says.) Shrug your shoulders -- to release the neck and shoulders Inhale deeply and shrug your shoulders, lifting them high up to your ears. Shake your head slowly, yes and no. You might as well amuse yourself while you do it to relax even further. Ask yourself silly questions: "Is your boss an idiot?" Move your head up and down, "Yes, yes, yes." Side to side: "No. (Shedding tension is as much mental as physical.) Loosen the hands with air circles Clench both fists, stretching both hands out in front of you. Make circles in the air, first in one direction, to the count of ten. Then reverse the circles. Shake out the hands. Point your fingers -- good for hands, wrist, and forearms Stretch your left hand out in front of you, pointing fingers toward the floor.
Use your right hand to increase the stretch, pushing your fingers down and toward the body. Do the same with the other hand. Now stretch your left hand out straight in front, wrist bent, with fingers pointing skyward. Use your right hand to increase the stretch, pulling the fingers back toward your body. Do the same on the other side. Release the upper body with a torso twist Inhale and as you exhale, turn to the right and grab the back of your chair with your right hand, and grab the arm of the chair with your left. With eyes level, use your grasp on the chair to help twist your torso around as far to the back of the room as possible. Hold the twist and let your eyes continue the stretch -- see how far around the room you can peer. Slowly come back to facing forward. Repeat on the other side. Do leg extensions -- work the abs and legs Grab the seat of your chair to brace yourself and extend your legs straight out in front of you so they are parallel to the floor.
Flex and point your toes five times. Stretch your back with a "big hug" Hug your body, placing the right hand on your left shoulder and the left hand on your right shoulder. Breathe in and out, releasing the area between your shoulder blades. Cross your arms -- for the shoulders and upper back Extend one arm out straight in front of you. With the other hand, grab the elbow of the outstretched arm and pull it across your chest, stretching your shoulder and upper back muscles. Stretch out the other arm in front of you -- repeat. Stretch your back and shoulders with a "leg hug" Sit on the edge of your chair (if it has wheels, wedge the chair against the desk or wall to make sure it does not roll). Put your feet together, flat on the floor. Lean over, chest to knees, letting your arms dangle loosely to the floor. Now bring your hands behind your legs, right hand grasping left wrist, forearm (or elbow if you can reach that far), left hand grasping the right.