Over the last few decades, computers have transformed human lives. It has not only served as a measure to boost workplace productivity but has also brought unmatched convenience to everyday life aspects like planning vacations, accessing new forms of entertainment, shopping, and more.
However, the excessive use of digital comfort in everyday life can bring several health hazards that often go unnoticed. One of the health hazards associated with the excessive use of digital accessories is repetitive typing. It is particularly a concern because the repetitive typing movement is often associated with improper posture and poor typing ergonomics, which turns out to be a cause of repetitive strain injury that leads to pain and discomfort or even impairment of tendon and muscle function.
Improper posture while typing and its implications are such a serious concern that they can be a threat to your health. While there are several ways to manage the implications of repetitive strain injuries through the use of braces, operations, and procedures, it's best to prevent the occurrence of these painful conditions in the first place by practicing ergonomic typing.
Ergonomic Typing is one of the stepping stones to a healthy digital existence in today's excessively digitalized world. In what follows, we look at what typing ergonomics is and look at some of the reasons why ergonomic typing is critical to your health and well-being.
Ergonomic Typing – Overview
Ergonomic typing refers to setting up the workstation such that the desk equipment and the posture are such that it aids in reducing strain and stress on the muscles, tendons, and joints while you are typing.
Ergonomic typing primarily focuses on multiple areas while typing, which include the following.
Placement of Your Wrist
The underlying principle behind ergonomic typing lies in the appropriate positioning of your wrist. Ergonomic typing revolves around positioning your wrist in a neutral position, which means your hand and forearm form a straight line instead of bending your wrist in an upward or downward position.
The use of an ergonomic keyboard, mouse, and ergonomic mouse pad can help you achieve a neutral wrist position.
Appropriate Placement of the Keyboard
To achieve a neutral wrist position, it's also critical that you appropriately place your keyboard on the workstation. Ensure that the keyboard is placed below your elbow level flat on the desk. It also helps if the keyboard is placed in a gently sloped position.
Moreover, to ensure that your elbows are placed in a neutral position, you need to maintain your chair's position such that your elbows are flexed at an angle between 90-110 degrees. The position will aid in reducing stress on your arms and shoulders.
Ensure Proper Sitting Posture
The last area that ergonomic typing focuses on is proper sitting posture. To ensure that you can type ergonomically, you need to place your feet flat on the floor. Moreover, you need to make sure that your back is upright and your lumbar spine is well-supported.
To ensure that employees at your workplace type ergonomically, you need to invest in appropriate equipment, such as ergonomic keyboards. An even more critical piece of furniture that will help ensure ergonomic typing is an ergonomic office chair that plays a significant role in helping workers adopt the most ergonomic typing positions.
5 Reasons Ergonomic Typing is Critical?
Now that you know what ergonomic typing is and what areas need to be focused on to ensure ergonomic typing let's look at some of the reasons why ergonomic typing is critical.
#1. Aids in Reducing Workplace Stress
Maintaining good posture to ensure that your body remains in good posture is critical for both your physical and mental health. It is common for individuals with a desk job to strain their hands often while using keyboards, contributing to wrist pain and other associated problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Ergonomic typing focuses on strengthening your muscles and improving the blood flow, which aids in managing pain. Moreover, it also aids in enhancing mental focus and awareness and improves your mood.
Employees who use ergonomic furniture and accessories at work, including ergonomic keyboards, report that they experience less workplace stress because the use of ergonomic equipment aids in improving their posture, which helps reduce workplace stress.
#2. Enhances Workplace Comfort
Since ergonomic typing revolves around positioning your arm and wrist in a neutral posture, it improves the movement of your wrist, which helps improve your overall level of comfort while typing.
#3. Reduces the Risk Keyboard-Related Injuries
Resorting to ergonomic typing while working on your desk job can significantly reduce your risk of developing keyboard-related injuries. According to statistics, employees who stick to the principles of ergonomic typing experience 77% lesser extension of their wrists than individuals who do not practice ergonomic typing.
The statistics indicate that reliance on ergonomic typing can significantly reduce the likelihood of typing injuries such as Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). At an organizational level, it's critical as ergonomic typing aids in reducing workers' compensation claims due to keyboard-related injuries.
#4. Aids in Boosting Productivity
One of the many other reasons to practice ergonomic typing is that it aids in boosting productivity while you are at work. Reduced risk of injuries and enhanced comfort while working aid in boosting your productivity. Practicing ergonomic typing significantly enhances your average speed of getting work done. Hence, you can do much more work than when you don't practice ergonomic typing.
#5. Show Employer's Concern for the Employees
When you, as an employer, Invest in the employees' health and well-being by making ergonomic choices for their workplace, it boosts their confidence and productivity at work. Moreover, it contributes to reducing workplace stress and aids in creating a healthy work environment for both employees and employers.
How to Ensure Ergonomic Typing at Workplace?
With insight into all the reasons why ergonomic typing needs to be practiced at work, many employers may wonder how to ensure ergonomic typing at workplaces.
It is important to remember that ensuring proper typing posture involves the following aspects:
Placing your feet flat on the ground with your back and neck straight and preferably supported,
Adjust your elbows such that your elbows make an angle of between 90 and 110 degrees with your desk,
Maintain a neutral position for your wrist,
Adjust the monitor screen such that the top of your screen matches your eye level,
Investment in appropriate ergonomic typing accessories, including an ergonomic keyboard and mouse pad.
With an increasing number of professions now requiring sitting for prolonged hours behind the screen, it's critical to maintain proper typing posture. However, appropriate typing posture is a lot more than the appropriate placement of your fingers. It involves the appropriate placement of your entire body ranging from your feet up to the placement of your head and eye level.
Below we look at a few elements that will ensure ergonomic typing posture at the workplace.
Maintaining Appropriate/Ergonomic Typing Posture
Maintaining an ergonomic typing posture requires the support of your entire body. It requires you to firmly place your feet on the ground with your neck, shoulders, and back straight. Your elbows should make an angle between 90 and 110 degrees, ensuring the neutral placement of your wrists and elbows. Moreover, the screen should be placed so that your eyes are at the level on the top line of your screen.
Equipment that Supports Ergonomic Typing Posture
Now that we've already discussed how you should position your body, it's also critical to know about the equipment that will support your body to maintain an ergonomic typing posture.
Ergonomic Keyboards
When working using a regular keyboard. It's often difficult to maintain a neutral posture for your hand and wrist as there's no negative tilt to support the natural curvature of the hand. Hence, it's best to upgrade the laptop and look for more ergonomically-friendly alternatives, such as an ergonomic keyboard.
Ergonomic Office Chairs
Along with an ergonomic keyboard, choosing your chair for your workplace also plays a significant role in helping you practice ergonomic typing. It's best to opt for ergonomic office chairs like Ergonomic Office Mesh Chair 3003, which provides optimal support to your back and allows you to adjust your chair's height to type ergonomically.
FlexiSpot – Your Partner in Ergonomic Typing
If you are looking for workplace equipment that allows you to practice ergonomic typing, FlexiSpot is your go-to solution. It offers a wide range of ergonomic office furniture and accessories that allow employees to work conveniently while boosting their health, well-being, and productivity.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about ergonomic workspace solutions!
