If your job requires prolonged sitting work tasks, it’s important that you adjust your chair so that it fits your body to avoid repetitive stress injuries. If you address these ergonomic issues by customizing your work station, you will sit more comfortably for hours each day and avoid the unnecessary aches, pains and physical fatigue which can be so common in today’s work place.
Most work surfaces are immobile. Therefore the chair height must be adjusted properly to fit your body. If your work involves a computer terminal and keyboard, it is best to adjust your seat height so that your forearm and upper arm angle is between 70 and 90 degrees. Your elbows should be about even with the desk.
Once your seat height is adjusted properly you should check that your feet are resting comfortably on the floor allowing you to pass two fingers easily between the top of your seat and the bottom of your thigh. In many cases an additional foot rest may be necessary to take pressure off of your thighs (prolonged pressure can inhibit proper blood flow and is a risk factor in developing or exacerbating varicose veins). Your knees should be at or above the level of your hips. This position tilts your pelvis properly taking pressure off of the discs and facet joints.
Next you will have to adjust your seat back so that it fits firmly into the small of your back; most chairs have lumbar supports which can be adjusted to provide firm support against the back. Many chairs additionally can have an adjustable seat angle. This ability to tilt the seat either forwards or backwards is useful to accommodate different work tasks. For example, computer or intensive writing tasks will be more comfortable with a forward seat while conversation or phone work may be more comfortable with a backward tilted seat.
Finally, if arm rests are present, they should be adjusted up or down so that the arms are slightly lifted taking tension off the neck and shoulders. Computer monitors should be set at eye level between 15 and 30 inches from the center of the screen. Be conscious of reflections or glare from back lighting which can contribute to eye strain and headaches.
Most importantly, always avoid holding a telephone receiver between your ear and your shoulder, hand hold the telephone or ideally, consider the use of a head set or speakerphone during conversations which simultaneously involve computer work.