By DOUG MINTZ

I know, I know, you’ve heard this before – about how many hours of an employee’s day are spent in an office chair. Well there’s a reason you keep hearing about this.

It’s very important!

Let’s consider another similar situation. If you’re taking care of yourself, then you spend

almost a third of your life in bed sleeping – 29 percent to be exact. That’s right – 7 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. There’s no disputing this fact. These days most people are making significant investments in this part of their life and purchasing quality mattresses and bedding systems to ensure they get the sleep they need.

Now let’s go back to our original scenario. An admin employee spends 8 hours a day in their office chair. 40 hours a week x 50 weeks in the year (everyone needs a vacation).

That’s 8 hours/day x 5 days/week x 50 weeks for 2,000 hours per year.

What does this mean? Well, there are a total of 365 days x 8 hours/day or 8,760 total hours in any given year. So, an admin employee spends 2,000/8,760, or 22.8 percent of their year in their office chair. This too is a significant portion of their life.

So, when you break down this analysis, just like sleeping, a very large portion of time is spent in that task chair in your office.

The best way to deal with an admin employee that sits in their chair so long is to make sure they sit in one that provides good support and will hold up under these heavy-use conditions.

A quality office furniture vendor should be able to assist you with task chair selection. There are passive-ergonomic chairs and active-ergonomic chairs. Chair mechanisms vary as well; swivel-tilt mechanisms, mutli-tilt mechanisms, and synchro-tilt mechanisms.

There are also task chairs designed for 3 shift applications. Whatever direction you chose to go for your admin employee seating needs, be sure to test drive the product before you purchase. Have 2 or 3 demo chairs brought to your office and pass them around for a week so everyone gets to try them out and you can receive good feedback. Even in the world of quality ergonomic seating, not all chairs are the same, and every employee may prefer something a little different. Again, an astute office furniture representative can help through this selection process. You may end up standardizing on two models of task chairs to best take care of all your employees. Some features and benefits of quality ergonomic seating:

FEATURE                                         BENEFIT

Proper Lumbar Support                  Reduces Lower Back Strain

Back Angle Position                         Reduces Disc Pressure

Arm Height Adjustment                 Prevents Neck and Shoulder Strain

Pneumatic Seat Height                   Prevents Pressure Under Thighs – Eases Blood Flow

There are also several features one doesn’t see that go into a quality task chair. Denser foams, contoured foams, memory foams, thicker plywood seat pans and back supports, larger diameter mounting screws, load-rated pneumatic cylinders, heavier gage steel in the mechanisms, and key metallic components (vs. plastics or composites) are several such items.

What I can assure you is after you make this investment in your employees, they’ll be happier, healthier, and very appreciative of your actions, which will also increase their productivity and decrease their down time out of the office. Happy chair hunting!

Doug Mintz founded and is president of CPOF Inc – Cubicles Plus Office Furnishings, and has been in the office furniture industry for over 20 years. Mintz has had success in several vertical markets in his industry including Retail Auto Sales, Banking, Mortgage & Finance, and Medical Clinics. His focus is primarily on the patient’s waiting room experience, as well as the ergonomic health and wellbeing of clinic employees. He can be reached at doug@cubiclesplusof.com