Are you sitting comfortably?

Different jobs require employees to sit on an office chair for dissimilar lengths of time and thus they are likely to use the chair quite differently.
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It’s a well-known fact that employees are a business’ most valuable and expensive commodity and their happiness is paramount to its success. However, research shows that an employees’ productivity is intrinsically linked to their working environment.

As a result, effective workplace interiors are becoming the catalyst for more efficient and profitable facilities.

A recent survey undertaken by The Office Exhibition, which questioned over 1,000 office workers from across the GCC, indicated that almost 90 per cent regard the design and layout of their office as affecting their level of motivation.

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However, only 50 per cent of this margin revealed that they had ever received a workplace assessment. This percentage is grossly disproportionate to European statistics although not many employers within the GCC seem to be carrying out work station assessments, according to Office Exhibition show director Sinead Bridgett.

However, while the UAE is statistically slow to adopt an ergonomic approach to workplace development, Middle Eastern companies are starting to realise the benefits of incorporating ergonomic elements within their office environments explains CitySpace design director Nick Burnett.

“We have noticed an increased awareness and ergonomic design considerations across our client projects, but, as the survey clearly shows, there is still some way to go,” he said.

Siddharth Peters of Total Office affirms that the growth of research and knowledge available is slowly filtering through to the UAE, which is actively changing attitudes towards work place interiors.

“Employers have realised the financial and social benefits of ergonomics: these products increase productivity and reduce injuries. This has only become more prominent with the ever increasing reach of the internet and the need for every employee to have continuous access to a computer for long periods of time.”

Ergonomic investment
While ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker, proper ergonomic design is necessary to ensure the heath and safety of its operators.
 

More commonly, employees are suffering from injuries such as RSI (repetitive strain injury) in the workplace at the hands of inadequate or poorly suited equipment. Such ailments can develop over time and in a worst-case scenario, lead to long-term disability, which act as reminders of the effect a poorly designed work space can have on the body.

In response to a FM’s growing need to accommodate the ergonomic necessities of employees, designers have been forced to create a new range of interior solutions.

This culture of innovation has inspired the development of office products that are cheaper, easier to use and more environmentally viable. This, in addition to a universal desire to use fewer parts in a bid to lower prices and further limit the environmental impact, has created a situation that favors increasingly minimalist designs.