Good ergonomics means great productivity.
The human body is an amazing machine, capable of incredible feats. It works in close partnership with the mind, each reliant on the other to perform at its best. Which is why a team’s physical wellbeing is so closely related to its mental capacity and overall productivity.
Over 600 million days lost
More than 600 million working days are lost due to work related ill health each year in Europe, and around 40-50% of these will be for muscoskeletal disorders according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
8.9 million sick days
In the year 2016 / 2017, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) calculated that 8.9 million working days were lost due to musculoskeletal disorders. When it comes to impacting the nation’s productivity, this is second only to stress, depression or anxiety (12.5 million sick days).
Both body and mind need to be properly nurtured if we want to get the most from them. This means taking care of ergonomics in the workplace and ensuring everyone is working in a way that is conducive to their health.
Why ergonomics?
Ergonomics is the study of how furniture and equipment can be used and designed for optimum efficiency and comfort. There are certain ergonomic principles that underpin how we can appropriately use our workstation for productivity, safety and comfort – all leading to a healthier and happy workforce.
Fellowes Four Zones for a healthier, happier workforce
To optimise team productivity, it’s vital that you provide the correct environmental factors for safe, comfortable working. When you’ve got a niggle in your back, if you’re straining to read your computer screen, or if you have some other ache distracting you, it’s counterproductive to your working day. Fellowes Four Zones breaks down the office workstation into manageable chunks, systematically solving issues that may prevent teams from operating at their best.
Zone 1: The Back
The problem
Office workers and back pain are synonymous. Uncomfortable chairs and bad posture can combine to exacerbate existing back problems or cause new ones. That’s because sitting in the same position for a prolonged period, day after day, puts stress on the back muscles and spinal discs. The resulting pain can leave your team members with a lack of energy and very little enthusiasm for the job in hand.
The solution
To boost back support and help maintain a good sitting position, provide lumbar support cushions. These attach easily to any office chair. When used alongside a foot support, they can greatly improve posture and help ease back pain
Zone 2: Wrists
The problem
Whether it’s carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis, the wrists are a common area for pain caused by poor working practice and position.
The ache is annoying at best, agonising at worst and can only be solved by changing the way we work.
The solution
To help reset the way we work at our computers, wrist rests can help reduce the strain.
A wrist rest’s job is to align your wrists and redistribute pressure points to alleviate pain.
Zone 3: Neck, shoulders and eyes
The problem
Long hours spent squinting at a blue-lit computer screen, hunched up with stress or cradling a telephone receiver between your ear and shoulder can be seriously detrimental to your health. Most often, a badly positioned computer monitor is the cause of a literal pain in the neck and shoulders. Tiredness and the restriction of blood flow, thanks to those hunched muscles, mean the strain can also make itself felt in the eyes.
The solution
It’s essential to have your screen set at the correct height to avoid hunching or constant twisting. Fellowes stocks a comprehensive range of lifting products to raise laptops, PCs and documents for maximum comfort and productivity.
Zone 4: Reduce inactivity
The problem
An office environment encourages sedentary behaviour. It’s all too easy to spend all day at your desk without really getting up to move around. This can have a detrimental effect on our circulation, and on our waistlines.
The solution
Sit-stand desks give you the option to vary your working position. Standing up to work at least part of the day or at different points of the day, boosts circulation, adds movement while the act of standing burns more calories.
Incorporate the Fellowes Four Zone Approach into your work space today, to help mitigate health problems and improve employee wellbeing.