There is something called ergonomics when you are working within a office setting. It can also apply to things that you do it home. In particular, when you are using a laptop for work, or even for gaming, ergonomics plays a large role in how successful and efficient you will be. By definition, this refers to arranging in designing your workplace. It has to do with your interactions with your office environment and the products that you use. The reason that this is important is that it can help you maintain high efficiency levels, and also avoid common problems that people face when working for long hours. Here are some of the best ergonomic solutions that you can use if you are going to be on a laptop for long hours.
What You Should Know About Ergonomics
The goal of ergonomics is to improve your workspace. From an employer’s perspective, it’s not just about the comfort of the employee, but how they can help them avoid certain injuries. For example, there are millions of dollars in medical fees paid out for conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition that can develop by doing nothing more than typing on a keyboard. Back related issues can also come up due to sitting for long hours. If you want to improve the workplace for your employees, and help them avoid these chronic injuries, you need to incorporate ergonomics into your job site.
How Ergonomics Can Help With Laptop Use
Ergonomics plays a large role in the use of computers. It has to do with how people sit, how they position their hands when typing, and the way that their neck is angled. Improper sitting leads to lower and middle back injuries. If your head is angled too high, or too low when working on a laptop, you can develop neck and spinal problems. Carpal tunnel syndrome develops by positioning your hands and fingers over the keyboard in a way that can lead to this condition. By providing your workers with ergonomic solutions, such as ergonomically designed chairs, you can avoid most of these problems from occurring. If your workers are using a laptop, you will first want to get them a separate USB keyboard and mouse, ones that are ergonomically designed. You should also provide them with an ergonomic keyboard wrist rest, allowing their hands to float above the keyboard without any tension on their forearms. They also make a wrist rest for using a mouse as problems can develop from mouse use as well. Although this is an added investment which will cost a business money, it will cost the business far less than having to pay for Workers Comp. and medical bills that could be long-term.
Is Laptop Use Similar To Using A PC?
When looking at these ergonomically designed tools for preventing injuries, you may wonder if the same injuries can occur using a laptop when compared to a PC. It has been shown that not only are they the same, but you can also develop additional problems using a laptop consistently. That’s why the development of laptop stands has become so popular. When you are able to adjust the angle of the laptop, and also how high it is, you can help your workers stay more comfortable. They can adjust the laptop so their neck is level, avoiding neck injuries, and the adjustable height will allow them to sit or stand while working. If you have both laptops and PCs at your place of business, you certainly want to invest in these ergonomically designed products. They will help prevent injuries that can occur from long-term use on both PCs and laptops that people use today.
Other Problems That Ergonomic Products Can Help Avoid
Some of the other issues that workers can develop will include tendon inflammation, tendinitis, and overall bodily pain. As one part of the body is becoming strained, different muscles and tendons will try to compensate, and these could subsequently become injured. That’s why investing in ergonomic chairs, mouse wrist pads, keyboard wrist pads, and laptop stands that can pivot can only help your situation. Whether you have 10 workers, or over a thousand workers or more, this small investment will help you keep your workers healthy and save you money at the same time.
Where To Get The Best Ergonomic Products For The Office
The best products can be purchased from either stores that sell large quantities of them, and offer them for a discount, or you could go to a specialty ergonomic store. If you find several businesses offering similar pieces of equipment, compare the prices that they are offering them on their website. Some will even offer free shipping depending upon the size of your order. Additionally, some orders can be placed and sent out within a day. They may even offer overnight shipping, allowing your workers to start using this equipment to help avoid injuries related to using laptops and PCs.
Other Ergonomic Products That You May Want To Consider Investing In
There are quite a few products that are ergonomically designed for the purpose of helping people avoid long-term injuries. Some of them have already been mentioned. Others will include sling bags, memory foam back cushions, and ergonomically designed keyboards that avoid the linear design that most of them have. If you are using your laptop for gaming, they also have ergonomic computer gaming glasses. Ergonomic monitors, and even adjustable motion stools, can be purchased to help you and your workers avoid unnecessary injuries from using a laptop computer.
Although the concept of ergonomically designed furniture was not popular initially, employers began to see the benefits once they were used on a larger scale. As a result of their popularity, and their success at helping workers avoid these long-term injuries, more employers began to purchase them for workers that were sitting or standing for extended periods of time. If you have a large number of workers that use laptops, you should certainly consider making this investment. Be better for them, and also help you expensive cost of rehabilitating your workers from these injuries.
