Being an office worker at a computer all day for going on five years now, I know a thing or two about how important ergonomics is in workstation equipment, and how necessary it is to protect yourself against strain on your body. You must be aware of your posture all day long, and how conducive your workstation setup is to good body placement for range and repetition of motion. The most important body parts that I’ve learned need to be protected are the neck, back and eyes. Your eyes obviously need breaks regularly to look at things greater distances away, and anti-glare screens might be helpful too. Your neck and back need to be supported and relaxed—not strained and at bad angles, plus you should get up and stretch or walk around every hour.
Your neck and back can hold a lot of tension if you allow it, so make sure your workstation equipment is set up to reduce as much strain on the musculoskeletal system as possible. Sometimes you can’t avoid stress at work, but you can ensure that your workstation equipment doesn’t cause strain when it’s supposed to be helping. Workstation equipment should be fit to the worker; the worker shouldn’t have to make their body fit the equipment.
That’s why, by design, workstation equipment has adjustability built in, especially modern desks and worktables. From office desks to industrial work benches, today’s manufacturers make their products with a key element that can be seen across the board—adjustable height mechanisms, which can be manual, hydraulic or electric. With a crank, a switch or even a foot pedal, one can make their work surface the optimum height, and if they require an angled work surface, there are options for that as well. The most important thing is to be aware of where your eyes are focused most throughout the day, and adjust your workstation so that your neck is not strained or twisted in any way while you do your repetitive motions.
There are add-on lift kits to retrofit existing table legs to adjustable ones; there are ADA Handicapped Accessible lift tables; caster/wheel options and overhead booms to accommodate industrial workstation accessories and supplies. For light, medium and heavy duty job applications, there’s ergonomic workstation equipment for every environment, for sitting, for standing, and for multi-shift tables shared by people of different heights.
