A healthy and comfortable working environment is essential to ensure your professional well-being, as well as maintaining optimum productivity. With this in mind, ergonomics plays a vital role in creating an environment that promotes your health and performance at work. Find out in this article how to set up an ergonomic workspace effectively.
Understanding the challenges of ergonomics in your work environment
Ergonomics is a scientific approach that studies the relationship between people and their working environment. Its aim is to improve the comfort, safety and efficiency of equipment and workplaces, in order to reduce risks for employees' health and well-being.
Today, many companies are faced with an increase in the number of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in their staff. These problems, which mainly affect the back, neck, shoulders and wrists, are often caused by poor organisation of the workspace and can have a major impact on employees' quality of life.
To prevent these problems and ensure a suitable working environment, it is essential to incorporate ergonomics into the design of workstations and offices.
Assessing your needs and limitations
Before creating an ergonomic workspace, you need to assess your needs and limitations. To do this, take into account
- Your professional activity: depending on your sector of activity (office, industry, remote working, etc.), you will need to choose specific fittings and equipment.
- Your body shape: study the ideal configuration for your body dimensions, as well as the adapted equipment.
- Individual preferences: each person has their own requirements in terms of comfort, light, temperature and noise.
Arrange your workspace
Choose the right furniture
The choice of furniture is a crucial step in creating an ergonomic workspace. A few elements are essential for optimum comfort:
- A height-adjustable desk that allows you to adapt your working position to your height, whether you are sitting or standing.
- An ergonomic chair with good lumbar support and customisable adjustments (seat, backrest, armrests) to facilitate correct posture throughout the day.
- Useful accessories to optimise your environment, such as monitor supports, footrests or back supports.
Organize your workspace around electronic equipment
Equipment such as monitors, keyboards and a mouse are essential components of most workstations. To ensure comfortable use of these devices :
- Position your monitor directly in front of you, about 50 to 70 cm away, slightly below your eye line (the ideal angle is about 20°).
- Adjust the position of your keyboard and mouse to avoid straining your arms and wrists: when you hold these tools, your forearms should be parallel to the floor and form a right angle with your arms.
- Use specific ergonomic accessories, such as a wireless keyboard and mouse, to reduce strain on muscles and joints.
Adapt the environment to your needs
Managing noise pollution
Noise can have a major impact on your well-being at work, sometimes causing stress, fatigue and reduced performance. To reduce this problem :
- Choose interior design solutions to reduce noise, giving priority to absorbent and insulating materials (carpets, curtains, acoustic partitions, etc.).
- Don't hesitate to use hearing protection when necessary.
- Make your colleagues or family members aware of the importance of respecting peace and quiet in the workplace.
Managing lighting
Good quality lighting is essential to ensure an appropriate working environment. It is therefore advisable to :
- Take advantage of natural light and avoid positioning your desk facing windows, which can cause annoying reflections on the monitor.
- Combine this with appropriate artificial lighting: give preference to even, indirect light, using adjustable desk lamps with adjustable intensity.
- Check the colour temperature of light sources to find the optimum level for your needs.
Exercising regularly
As well as redesigning your workspace, it's advisable to maintain regular physical activity to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and improve your health. To achieve this:
- Consider alternating between sitting and standing positions throughout the day, for example by using height-adjustable desks.
- Take regular breaks to stretch or walk for a few minutes.
- Adopt a routine of specific exercises to exercise your muscles and joints and improve your posture.
Some suggestions of ergonomic monitors
JN-IPS282UHDR-C65W: this 28-inch 4K desktop monitor offers customisable settings (portrait mode, tilt, height adjustment) for optimum comfort during long working sessions. It can also be recharged via USB Type-C, so you can avoid cables accumulating in your workspace.
JN-i215FLFHSP-C65W: its 21.5-inch screen and various position settings will enable you to use it every day in your working environment, leaving plenty of room for all your ergonomic tools. Its Low Blue Light functionality will help reduce eye fatigue, ideal for extended use.
JN-IPS27WQHDR-C65W-T: this touchscreen monitor is ideal for on-the-road use or when you're working in a confined workspace, to avoid working for long periods on a single monitor (risk of eyestrain, switching between applications frequently, etc.). It can be charged via USB Type-C, reducing the amount of cables in your working environment. Low Blue Light and Flicker Free technologies provide optimum visual comfort.
The final word
By considering these tips and recommendations, you'll be able to set up an ergonomic workspace that promotes your well-being and professional efficiency. Don't hesitate to ask ergonomics experts for personalized advice on how to optimise your workspace.