How Can Ergonomic Office Design Boost Your Profits?
Ergonomic sitting signifies the right sitting posture meant to support the spine, neck, and head. It is important to ensure that your body has good posture while at work. This will help you avoid pain and discomfort in your back, neck, shoulder, and arms. The importance of ergonomic sitting cannot be emphasised enough, as it will greatly affect the quality of your work and your health. So when the employees in the office are sitting right, their health stays good, and profits will automatically be better because their work is not affected.
In this article, we will talk about the importance of ergonomic sitting in the workplace and how it helps boost productivity plus profits.
First, Let’s Define Ergonomic Sitting
Ergonomic sitting is the key to avoiding back and neck pain. It is important for everyone in the office to sit in a way that does not strain their back or neck. The most common ergonomic position is sitting with the feet flat on the floor.
- The seat should be at an angle of 90 degrees or less, and there should be enough space between the knees and the desk so that they are not resting on it.
- The head should be tilted slightly forward, and there should be sufficient room for arm movement.
This kind of sitting position also helps enhance the office design contractor and makes it look more professional and “ready to achieve” all the goals.
To set up an ergonomic sitting system in the office,
- The first thing that you need to do is to ensure that you have a desk and chair set up in an ergonomic manner. This means that the chair should be at the right height for your feet, arms, and back. It should not be too high or too low.
- The desk should also be at the right height so that the individual doesn’t have to bend over or stretch their arms. You can provide them with a footrest if required.
- The desk and chair can be adjusted so that they are comfortable for your body type and height.
Even a slight thing as a bent spine, can cause serious problems to the individual in the long term. So by not implementing an ergonomic sitting system in the office, you are not only hurting your profits but also making the life of your employees difficult. While the demerits of non-ergonomic sitting are several, let’s focus on the positive side and identify how any business can observe higher profits with ergonomic sitting.
Increased Profits and Higher Productivity with Ergonomic Sitting
A company stays profitable by not only gaining more revenue, but they can also turn direct and indirect savings into profits. Following the ergonomic sitting system means every employee in the office fit out contractors london or workstation will have a better posture while working, which directly translates to better productivity, more hours put in for work, less absenteeism, better health, and much more.
Profits by Cost-Saving Method
Ergonomic sitting contributes to less medical claims and employee absenteeism. This leads to direct cost savings.
When the employees are in good health and don’t experience problems caused by inappropriate sitting positions for a long time, they might ask for medical claims and other expenses from the company.
Moreover, providing the required medical care and taking care of the employee’s medical expenses has become an integral part of the company culture. As a result, the onus of ensuring that the employees do not manifest a health condition caused within the office environment is on the company. With ergonomic sitting, you can save on three types of direct costs;
- Medical treatment arising out of the unhealthy sitting posture day in and out.
- Prescription costs, which are a part of the medical claim settlement process that an employee can seek from the organisation.
- Insurance premiums, arising from the fact that employees might be experiencing bad health with a higher frequency, which increases the company’s insurance costs.
In another scenario, we need to look at the indirect costs that can be turned into profits by ergonomic sitting. The lack of proper sitting infrastructure in the office can directly affect an employee’s health. Due to this, you will see;
- More absenteeism, which leads to lower work output and less revenue.
- Due to absenteeism, other employees might have to put in more work, which means more overtime payout on your end.
- With employees not keeping well, their morale and motivation might take a hit, leading to decreased productivity.
- Moreover, the costs to replace the existing employees, who cannot work due to bad health, is also high.
- Plus, the companies have to spend money on orientation and training of the new employees, who are replacing the existing ones.
The ergonomic office design does not only apply to how an employee should sit, but it also applies to other types of tasks. Whether it is to peel off the decals, to lift something heavy, or screwing a nut, good ergonomics is required in every aspect.
According to a Cost-Benefit Analysis Study by the Washington State Department of Labour and Industries, along with Puget Sound Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, implementing ergonomic office design can help save costs on multiple fronts. These include;
- Reduction in the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders by 59%.
- Up to 75% decrease in lost workdays, leading to higher productivity.
- A massive 68% decrease in worker’s compensation costs.
With all these costs saved, any organisation will observe an increase in their profits and revenue.
Profits by Higher Productivity and Better Quality
The required ergonomic office interior fit out london and workplace design will increase productivity. Basically, with ergonomics, you are making the employee’s work environment conducive and smoother.
As a result, they will experience less exertion and strain, which leads to higher productivity. For instance, using a pallet lift to pick up heavy equipment and products and move them from one place to another reduces the loan on the spine significantly. This leads to less wasted time and better motions, along with less wear and tear of the workers.
Better productivity is accompanied with a higher quality of work. Every organisation is dependent on providing the best quality of product to their customers. With ergonomic office design achieved, this goal becomes easier. A simple thing such as not being able to screw the nut tightly because the worker does not have the space to take the right posture and does not have the right tools can reduce the quality of product.
Conclusion
Ergonomic office design is no more a luxury that only big businesses and companies can afford. It has become a necessity for a company which has a single employee or one which has 10,000. The key is to set up the office design in a way that boosts the employee’s productivity, increases engagement, reduces work-related stress and injuries, and increases profits.
Get in touch with Divo Interiors to transform your existing office space with an ergonomic setting.