Is your chair giving you a pain in the ar*se?

When they hear the word ‘ergonomic’, most people probably think of the familiar office chair with the padded, round-cornered seat, back support and five-pointed base on castors. But dig a little deeper and you'll unearth a host of competing ideas about the best seating for back support, whether you need a sit-stand desk and the optimal layout of workstations, equipment and controls.

Some people swear by the benefits of sitting on a large gym ball, also known as an exercise ball, yoga ball, fitness ball, or Pilates toning ball. They say that having to balance on the ball helps you maintain good posture and minimises back and neck strain.

Over the years, fashions have shifted through saddle-type seating that helps you to alternate between sitting and standing, kneeling chairs where much of your weight rests on your knees, and countless variations on these and other styles of alternative seating.

Why does it matter?

How you sit, stand, move and even sleep, for that matter, can greatly impact your physical well-being and comfort. 

Muscles don’t only come into action when you flex them – they’re busy all the time when you’re sitting or standing. Muscles can be loaded up even when you’re perfectly still – try holding your arms out sideways and straight at shoulder height, with a heavy book in each hand, for more than a minute. You’ll feel the tension and stress in the muscles charged with holding each arm up. After several minutes, holding the books out sideways can get quite painful.

This is what happens to the muscles of your back, neck and shoulders when your head is bent forward, looking downwards at the screen of your phone, laptop or another device. It’s called ‘static muscle loading’, and it’s the cause of a lot of aching backs, necks and shoulders and in turn, headaches.

There is even a recognised condition known as ‘text neck’, a newish term describing the pain and damage from looking down at your phone, tablet, or other devices too often and for too long. Google it and you’ll see the way it curves your spine forwards, moving the weight of your head further away from your centre of gravity, building up the static muscle loading.

More than chairs and desks

Ergonomics is about so much more than just chairs and desks. It’s about the effect on your body – and your comfort, and your efficiency – of your posture and movements when you sit, stand, carry things or put them down, or otherwise move about. 

Ergonomics is about the design of jobs, tasks, equipment, furniture and fittings, and the postures and positions people are obliged to adopt with them. It’s about the efficient and logical layout of controls and signals; for example, where car designers position brake lights for optimum visibility to other motorists. 

Poor ergonomics affects people who have to reach far forwards across deep trays, pick up heavy loads from floor level, or twist or stretch into awkward positions to hold or operate controls. 

So, it's not just about chairs. But this is not to say that chairs and seating are not important – they’re very important, in more ways than you might think. For example, seating in cars, trucks, cranes and other vehicles and equipment has been blamed for pain, backache and a range of other problems caused by the position and shape of the seating, its accessibility and the level of seat vibration when the vehicle is moving.

Employers’ responsibilities

The main point for employers is that good ergonomics in the way work is organised can reduce risks to workers’ health and safety, and can also improve their efficiency, comfort and stamina. The better the design of a job, task or workstation – in terms of the ease and comfort of the person’s interaction with their environment, tools and equipment – the less tiring it will be for staff.  And if people are less physically and psychologically stressed and fatigued, this can improve morale and effectiveness and lead to better business outcomes.