The Office Planning Group-Seating

NeutralPosture

2011-01-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Stand For Just 2 Hours A Day
Lose Up To 20 lbs A Year

N-tune is all about raising desk heights from 29" to 40" and then raising the chair to stool height, allowing users to easily transition between sitting and standing throughout the workday. Not only does this help alleviate the pains of a sedentary workday, the overall health benefits it provides are immense as well. By standing for just 2 hours throughout an average workday, you can burn and extra 280 calories, translating into improvements in BMI, cholesterol and blood pressure levels and many other positive health outcomes.

For more information:
The Office Planning Group
423.773.8423
jrotty@opgtnva.com

Form and Function

2010-07-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

Ergo Gear Guide

You've got all the essential components of the ergonomic workstation---the task light, the monitor arm, the keyboard support, and of course, the ergonomic task chair. So now what? You may have the finest products on the market, but even the best of the best ergonomic tools need to be used properly to provide their full range of benefits.

Use the following guidelines to maintain healthy work posture and get the most out of your ergonomic investment.

Sit
1. Raise or lower your seat so your thighs are parallel to the floor and your feet are flat on the floor or a footrest.

2. Adjust the depth of your seat pan so you have at least 2" of clearance between the back of your knees and the front of the seat.

3. Adjust the height of your backrest so it fits comfortably on the small of your back.

4. Adjust your chair's recline tension---if necessary---to support varying degrees of recline. Avoid using recline locks.

5. Lean back and relax in your chair to allow the backrest to provide full support for your upper body.

Type

6. Position your keyboard support 1 - 1.5" above your thighs and angle the keyboard so it slopes slightly away from your body. Be sure to keep your wrists in a straight, neutral posture while typing, and rest the heels of your palms---not your wrists---on a palm support.

Mouse

7. Position your mouse close to the keyboard---preferably on a mousing platform---to minimize reaching. Avoid anchoring your wrist on the desk. Instead, glide the heel of your palm over the mousing surface and use your entire arm to mouse.

View

8. Position your monitor at least an arm's length away with the top line of text at or just below eye level. Tilt the monitor away from you slightly, so your line of sight is perpendicular to the monitor.

Illuminate

9. Position your task light to the side opposite your writing hand. Shine it on paper documents but away from your monitor to reduce glare.

Align

10. Align your monitor and the spacebar of your keyboard with the midline of your body. Arrange frequently used work materials within easy reach to minimize twisting and reaching.

Rest

11. Take two or three 30- to 60- second breaks each hour to allow your body to recover from periods of repetitive stress.

Make the above eleven steps to ergonomic compliance your own and save your body most of the rigors of working at your desk. Just another helpful guide from Humanscale and The Office Planning Group.

Sit You Die!

2010-05-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

A new study shows that workers who sit for most of their day have a greater chance of dying early than those who stand up regularly. That is some scary news for most of American Office Workers who sit all day at their computer screens. To view the Fox News video clip about the study click on the link below.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3929014/are-you-sitting-down

The Office Planning Group has several products to allow workers to switch between sitting and standing during their work day. The Mayline VariTask series allows the user to kick back his chair and raise the table height to work in a standing position at any time. The ESI Ergonomic Solutions innovative Apollo PAC stations easily adjust for sit or stand applications and give the user perfect ergonomic alignment. These "life-saving" products and many more are available at aggressive pricing from The Office Planning Group.

Work Painlessly

2010-04-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

Technology has had a profound effect on the way we live and work. As a result, we are spending more time sitting and using computers, which has greatly increased the occurrence of related musculoskeletal disorders. This entry reviews a number of techniques for avoiding work-related, repetitive stress injuries and enhancing both the comfort and productivity levels of the workers who adopt them.
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The ultimate buzzword of the past decade is Technology. It touches nearly every corner of our lives, from media entertainment to the way we buy groceries. A quick retrospective reveals it has also had a profound impact on the way most of us work.
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Only 10 years ago, if you wanted to send or receive a fax, you got up from your desk and walked to the fax machine. Today with online faxing, a couple of keystrokes is all it takes. In days of yore, if you wanted to ask your coworker a question you would probably get up and walk to their desk or office.
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Today, however, there are several less taxing ways to communicate. E-mail and on-line messaging, in addition to sophisticated phone paging and voice mail systems, have taken the place of the leisurely stroll down the hall brandishing coffee and (only two decades ago) a cigarette.
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The result of all these changes is that we're spending more time at our desks, and more time on our computers - a lot more time. While 90 percent of all U.S. office workers now use computers, 40 percent work on their computers at least four hours a day. But Dr. Alan Hedge, Professor of the Human Factors Laboratory at Cornell University, warns that the risk of musculoskeletal discomfort increases by using the computer as little as one hour a day. Even worse, the risk of musculoskeletal injury is nine times greater when you spend four hours a day at the computer than it is for a one-hour-a-day-user. These statistics shed some light on the growing number of work-related office injuries, and the increasing importance of ergonomics in the workplace.
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So what exactly is ergonomics? In a broad sense, office ergonomics applies science to workplace design to maximize productivity while reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. While the concept is fairly straightforward, its application is open to debate. That is why it is important to articulate the real issues facing workers in today's office, and to debunk the misconceptions that typically surround discussions of ergonomics.
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While workers suffer from task-related injuries, employers are footing the staggering costs. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) now account for one-third of all occupational illnesses and injuries. They constitute the largest job-related illness and injury problem in the U.S. today. In 1997, employers reported a total of 626,000 lost workdays due to work-related MSDs. They pay approximately $20 billion annually in direct worker's compensation costs and another $60 billion in indirect costs.
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The ergonomic workplace incorporates several scientifically designed products, some of which are keyboard platforms, foot machines and copy holders. All are very important in reducing MSDs in today's office environment but good ergonomic seating will support correct sitting posture with technology advanced easy to use adjustments.
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The adjustments that need to be made to the ergonomic task chair can be confusing for the user. Seat forward, seat back, lumbar support position, back height, back tilt, seat height and seat tilt are all adjustments that need to be made correctly for the health of the worker. Sadly, most workers never take the time to adjust their chair risking discomfort, fatigue and injury.
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The Office Planning Group has become a dealer for Humanscale, a recognized leader in the field of ergonomic products for the workplace which includes their award winning Freedom chair.
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Technology can make simple things complicated or complicated things simple. We prefer the later.
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The Freedom chair is designed to give the maximum ergonomic benefit to the sitter with a minimum number of manually-adjusted controls. Once the chair is fitted, no further adjustment is required. The idea is that movement, which is essential for a healthy body, shouldn't be constricted by locking mechanisms and manual controls. In other words, sitting comfortably isn't something you should have to think about. www.opgtnva.com

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