The awareness about ergonomics is at an all-time high today. An increasing number of people are interested in making their workspaces more ergonomic. The employees have started to voice their concerns about their offices' poor ergonomics, which has made employers more conscious and willing to ensure their employees are provided with a safe and healthy work environment.
However, the concept of ergonomics and its implementation is still somewhat limited to workplaces. Not many people think that poor ergonomics can have the same impact on health and safety at home. You may make your workplace ergonomic, but coming to a home where you haven't worked on improving the ergonomics will put you at all the same risks you worked so hard to prevent at work.
The importance of making your homes ergonomics-friendly is the same, maybe more. At work, it's just your health and safety that is at risk, but at home, your entire family might have to suffer.
It's critically important to improve the ergonomic design of your home so that you and your family can be safe from all the health risks associated with poor ergonomics.
How Can Improving the Ergonomics at Home Benefit You?
When we say that working on making your homes ergonomics-friendly is more important than designing ergonomic workplaces, we mean it to the core!
You're far less conscious about your posture at home, which means the things you might be careful about at work are more or less overseen at home. Then there are children who're more susceptible to developing health conditions due to poor ergonomics.
Ensuring good ergonomics at home can be a daunting task because you've got to ensure every aspect of ergonomics and every family member is taken into consideration. But at the end of the day, all of the hard work is worth it. Let's look at the many benefits of working on improving the ergonomic design around your home.
Better Support to the Body
The first way you can improve the ergonomics around your home is by investing in ergonomic furniture. Ergonomic furniture provides your body with all the support it needs.
If your'e sitting on the couch for long hours, watching movies and shows with your family, sitting in a poor posture can put a lot of strain on your body and make your body ache. However, if you've got the right ergonomic measures in place, like appropriate ergonomic furniture, you can rest assured that your body is well supported and you and your family aren't at the risk of developing posture-related health complications.
Improved Posture
'Have you ever felt your body stiffening if you sit a while longer at the dinner table? That's because your dining chairs are not ergonomics-friendly. The right ergonomic solutions at home will encourage correct posture. Using the regular sofa, couches, and dining chairs will make your body tire out sooner than later.
Reduced Likelihood of Body Pains
The most common consequence of poor ergonomics is pain in different parts of the body, most commonly in the shoulders, neck, and lower back. However, if you've got the right ergonomic furniture at home and you're carrying out your day-to-day activities in an ergonomic manner, the likelihood of body pains can be greatly reduced.
Enhanced Comfort
Why is it that you don't feel comfortable anywhere but your home? That's because your home offers you the comfort you need. Improving the ergonomic design around your home will make your home a lot more comfortable.
Enhanced Safety
One of the most crucial aspects of ergonomics at home is arranging the furniture such that it doesn't cause hindrance during movement or come in the way. If your furniture is arranged poorly around your home, you or anyone in your family can bump into it and hurt themselves. When you arrange all your furniture in an ergonomics-friendly manner, your home is much safer for you and your family.
How to Improve the Ergonomics around Your Home
Making your home ergonomics-friendly is more challenging than making your workplace more ergonomic. At work, it's just your workstation that you've got to work on, but at home, you've got to address all the areas of your house to ensure everyone at home stays safe and healthy. The question that might be bugging you is how to improve the ergonomic design around your home. Well, fret not. We've got you covered!
Invest in Ergonomic Furniture
One of the best ways to improve the ergonomics in your home is to invest in ergonomic furniture. Instead of placing regular sofas and chairs in your living room, invest in recliners. This would ensure that your back is fully supported while you're seated. Replace your dining chairs with ergonomic dining chairs. Bring home a dining table that's just the right height for you. If the table is too high for your children, invest in high chairs for them. This is important to ensure that you're sitting in the right posture while you eat. If the table is at a suitable height, you won't have to hunch your back or slump your shoulders while eating.
Add Feet Support
If you spend a lot of time watching TV or reading books at home, it's important to add foot support. Ensuring that your feet are supported well is an important aspect of ergonomics. If your legs are dangling and your feet aren't placed flat on the floor, your pressure points behind the knees may get stressed. This can lead to pain in the legs.
A common mistake that people make is to sit in a forward hunched position to ensure their feet are flat on the floor, but by doing so, they leave their back unsupported, which can cause back problems.
The best way to address this problem is to ensure there's foot support with the couch where you spend most of your time sitting.
Install the TV at the Right Height
Have you ever felt that your neck feels stiff after watching TV for several hours? If yes, it's a sign that your TV isn't installed at the right height. If your TV is mounted too high up on the wall, you'll have to raise your neck to see it properly. If it's mounted too low, you'll have to bend your neck downwards. In both cases, you're putting a lot of strain on your neck, and this can cause severe neck pain.
Invest in Ergonomic Computer Table and Chair
If your children spend a lot of time using the computer, you should invest in an ergonomic computer table and chair. This would ensure that the level of the computer is adjusted according to your child's height and your child is sitting in the correct posture.
Most children sit at the edge of the computer chair and use the computer with their necks bent backward to be able to see the computer monitor. This is because the table is too high for them. This puts them at a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders, especially if they spend too much time on the computer.
Arrange the Furniture Carefully
Adding too much furniture in your home makes your home look congested and dull and increases the chances of you bumping into your furniture and hurting yourself. Ideally, you should leave a distance of at least 50cm between each piece of furniture. If you've got less space, reduce the number of items in the room!
It's even more important if you've got elderly at home who already find moving about themselves difficult. If there's too much furniture around that's placed too close to each other, they may trip over and fall.
Address All Possible Trip and Fall Hazards
One of the most important factors to consider when working on improving the ergonomic design of your home is to address all trip and fall hazards. Make sure there's no step in your bathroom that you or anyone else in your family may trip over. There shouldn't be any steps in between rooms that you may overlook. The stairs and the patio must be leveled.
Ensuring ergonomics around your home can be a daunting task, but it's extremely necessary. It's not something that you can waive off as an option. Ergonomic design around your home ensures the health and safety of everyone living in your home!
Improve the Lighting
Did you know that lighting is also a vital part of ergonomics? You've got to work on the lighting in your home to improve the ergonomics. Install adequate lighting in your children's study room. The lighting in your bedroom shouldn't be too bright. The lighting in your living room must be just right to make the living room look alive and happy. You can use Modern Floor Lamp in rooms where you need extra light.
The right lighting will ensure your eyes aren't strained because of too little or too much light. Both situations can result in consistent headaches and discomfort.
