Ergonomics at Home

After one year since going into a state of emergency, many British Columbians are still found to be working from home. Although this yields to be beneficial for the health and safety of employees, working from home may actually be a slippery slope when ill-prepared. Giving in to the temptation of sitting on your couch or melting into your chair will only feel good for a short amount of time, despite how comfortable it may seem. These natural tendencies can potentially be detrimental to your body, possibly resulting in some tension and pain. Ergonomics can be defined as “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely.” Creating a workspace that is ergonomic is an easy and productive way to take care of your body on a day-to-day basis.

Here are some ways you can make your workspace at home ergonomic: 

• Adjust your chair accordingly so that your arms sit at a 90-degree angle along the top of your table.

• When sitting on your chair, make sure that your feet are flat on the floor, and that your back is against your chair so that it promotes your spine’s natural S-shape. Use our video on sitting posture retraining as a guideline for how to properly sit on a chair and prevent back and neck pain.

• Keep your monitor an arm’s length away from you. By adding a few textbooks underneath it, raise your monitor high enough so that the top of the screen is at eye level. 

• Position your accessories and office supplies close at hand to help you avoid reaching for them when you need it, thus, preventing tension and pain.

Following these tips are crucial for creating an ergonomic workspace. Making these changes while working from home will be beneficial in caring for your body while working efficiently.