Working on a 9-5 job every single day is pretty tiring, especially when you’re overloaded with work and other tasks. It’s common for employees to experience body stiffness, neck pain, body pain, and other discomforts from working all day long. But did you know that your chair or desk might also be the reason why you feel extra tired and stiff every day?
Many pieces of fancy office furniture have entered and dominated the market since the worldwide lockdowns. Equipment such as ergonomic chairs, standing tables, wrist supports, and other ergonomics have attracted many companies and workers. In particular, the demand for ergonomic furniture has significantly increased ever since many companies adopted the work-from-home setup. And it’s not because consumers want to purchase fancy and brand new office furniture; it’s because of their undeniable benefits.
If you’re having trouble dealing with correct posture, or you always feel some back pain, hip pain, or neck strain after working for long hours a day, there’s a big chance that you need to start investing in ergonomic furniture to address your daily working problems.
What does ergonomic furniture mean?
If you don’t know what ergonomic furniture is, these items are furniture designed to provide comfort, functionality, and productivity to a person. In fact, they are becoming the new trend these days because of their advantages.
Ergonomic furniture can be chairs, tables, desks, and even keyboard support. As long as they are designed for your comfort, they are worthy investments that will give you long-term benefits.
Why should you consider getting ergonomic furniture?
Whether an employer or an ordinary worker, investing in ergonomic furniture will help you tremendously. This is especially the case for people who spend most of their day sitting at their desk, working in front of their computer, and doing their job from morning until late afternoon.
Since online classes are also becoming the worldwide education setup for many countries, letting your children sit and study with ergonomics would undoubtedly aid them in their studies. The comfortability and productivity they get from this furniture will help them focus on their lessons instead of the uncomfortable learning environment.
Unsure yet? Ergonomics statistics may convince you why it is worth it to invest in ergonomic furniture. Eighty-six percent of office workers have soreness and body strain because of improper office furniture. This is also the case for back injuries that workers are experiencing as 79 percent of the reported cases occur in their working environments.
Many employers now provide a better environment for their employees by equipping them with ergonomic furniture. Though they may be a bit pricey, it is better than sacrificing the productivity and work quality of poorly-conditioned employees.
Ten Benefits of Using Ergonomic Furniture
Still not convinced by equipping and designing your work environment with this equipment? If you are looking for more specific advantages, here are some of the benefits you can get by using ergonomic furniture and why you should consider them:
1. Reduces back and neck pain
Everyone knows how painful and tiring back and neck pain are. Investing in ergonomic furniture, such as an ergonomic chair, would significantly lessen the body pain you feel from sitting for long hours. Imagine how stress-free it would be if you worked all day long with a highly comfortable chair.
You will no longer constantly worry about taking medicine, applying ointment, or setting up an appointment with a massage therapist just to ease your pain. Investing in ergonomic furniture sets you in your peak condition when sitting in front of your table for eight hours every single day.
2. Improves productivity
Employees who feel comfortable, safe, and pain-free from any discomfort are more likely to feel motivated and productive. Ergonomic furniture will make your workstation natural and comfortable. When no significant problem is visible, your productivity and motivation will continuously flow.
Optimizing your workplace by including ergonomic furniture lets you work effectively and efficiently. It also enhances your focus and gets your job done quickly without sacrificing the quality of work.
3. Improves work satisfaction
How can someone be satisfied with a workstation that induces pain, discomfort, and stress both in mind and body? One of the best benefits of using ergonomic furniture is work satisfaction. This promotes overall happiness to your job and drastically lightens your work stress.
If you are an employer, keeping your employees’ interest and engagement in their job would also reflect your company’s care regarding your staff’s well-being. It will also help them be motivated and be enthusiastic about working every day.
4. Improves overall well-being
Did you know that working in a workplace that is not ergonomic-friendly can affect your overall health? In fact, most workers suffer from many injuries caused by not having ergonomic furniture. One of the common injuries that an employee can acquire is musculoskeletal disorders or MSDs, a condition that affects significant parts of your body like muscles, tendons, and nerves.
When physically healthy and perfectly conditioned for work, your mental and emotional health also improves. Remember, when you are feeling any discomfort, you are always steps away from emotional stress, breakdown, and burnout.
5. Promotes quality work
If the work is exhausting and highly demanding, working in an uncomfortable environment could make you feel worse. Consequently, your working ability will also be affected, which could reduce the quality of work. Of course, everyone wants to have a top-quality output and performance, but poor working ability compromises that.
However, working with ergonomics can help you reduce the stress and fatigue you’ve been getting from your job. This will help you stay in top condition and get the job done with the highest possible quality.
6. Improve your company or individual representation
Working in an effective and optimized workstation leads to continuous outstanding outputs, performance, and work results. Hence, you would have impressive work records that could leave a great impression for employers or as individual employees.
Likewise, your company could also attract more top-notch aspiring employees because of your great office. Anyone would highly be encouraged to work for your company because your working environment would signify how much the management cares about their well-being. It will also keep them highly motivated to work diligently and produce quality results.
Investing in your company office and providing your employees with the best working environment could also help you retain your loyal workers. This is because of the comfortability and stress-free working life they are experiencing under you.
7. Keeps you at your optimum state
Ergonomic furniture can bring you long-term benefits or even protect you from a lifetime of bad effects. For example, sitting on an ergonomic chair could help you correct good posture in working. This would significantly reduce the risk of having spinal disorders in the long run.
Investing in an ergonomic keyboard could save your wrist and fingers and keep them healthy. This would highly benefit you because you would no longer be distracted from stretching and moving your hands now and then to ease the tension.
Lastly, having an ergonomic table and monitor stand prevents discomfort around your shoulder and neck area. This could help you stay focused at work and perform excellently. Having yourself stay in your best state would alleviate your stress fatigue and prevent you from experiencing burnout.
8. Reduce the expensive costs
Now, you might think that investing in ergonomic furniture to have a better workplace is painful on your budget. True enough, purchasing an ergonomic chair, desk, and other equipment can be really expensive. However, if you’re looking for a long-term investment, this is worth the money.
Suppose you are working in a non-optimized environment. In that case, there are high chances of experiencing frequent body pain, resulting in spending money on therapies, medicine, and other necessary treatment. If you are an employer, ergonomic furniture may lessen your worries about employees' injury claims or needs for financial assistance due to work-related problems.
There are also indirect costs that are three to five times more expensive than direct expenditures. These costs are the absent workers due to injuries, legal and investigation costs, and spending on advertisement for hiring and employee recruitment when an employee resigns or doesn’t return to work.
9. Increase employee engagement
If your company promotes a great working environment and shows quality care for its employees, employee engagement is likely to improve significantly. Your employees will more likely be present at work, reduce their chances of leave or absenteeism, and will have reasons to be passionate and excited when working.
When everyone in the area is happy, the overall atmosphere in the office is greatly boosted. There will be an increase in employee involvement, leading to outstanding company performance. After all, sharing motivation, engagement, and positive interaction always yields the best results.
In addition, healthy and happy employee engagement decreases the resignees and turnover rate. Investing in ergonomic furniture to give everyone the best working environment shows your company’s morals, culture, and workplace practices. If the work is good and less stressful, you’ll keep happy and positive employees that offer the best quality work and performance.
10. Guarantee a happy and safe environment
No one wants to work in a hazardous environment. Workstations that frequently cause problems such as body aches, stressful minds, distractions, frustrations, and unproductivity are chaotic. After all, it sacrifices the overall well-being of an individual. When health is at risk, everything can be turned upside-down.
Purchasing ergonomic furniture to make the place better and more comfortable and encouraging functionality would guarantee a happy and safe environment. Moreover, potential work hazards such as injuries, negative mental health, and poor emotional health would be greatly reduced.
If you’re working in a safe environment, you will be less stressed and frustrated, and you are away from too much burnout. In addition, you are likely to feel enthusiastic, motivated, and be in a better mood. Once you feel positive, everything else will also feel optimistic.
Fortunately, ergonomic furniture can help you feel positive. Investing in these items might make you feel like they only produce unnoticeable results, but it will surely impact your working life. This is not only within you; this will also extend towards the people surrounding you as you exude a better and happier aura.
Conclusion
Working in a 9-5 job is extremely hard and exhausting. Not only will it impact your mental health and emotional state, but it can also give you undesirable physical effects. Unfortunately, most workers suffer from bad body problems such as musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, bad posture, and frequent body pains directly caused by an uncomfortable working environment.
However, investing in ergonomic furniture, such as chairs, working tables, computer stands, and hand or wrist supports will significantly help you solve your problem. There is a wide selection of benefits like enhanced productivity, positive well-being, improved work satisfaction, and many more. Surely enough, ergonomic furniture might be pretty costly, but it guarantees that these benefits far outweigh the expenses.
If you think this equipment would yield great results, you should not worry. It is extremely beneficial. That’s why many companies and working people try to optimize their environment with ergonomic furniture.