Ergonomic Setups for Desk Workers

Leonard Bevill leads as the president, CEO, and owner of Macon Occupational Medicine, the first nationally certified practice of its kind in the state of Georgia. Responsible for the delivery of services surrounding work-related wellness and safety, Leonard Bevill draws on training as a Certified Ergonomic Evaluator.

The first step to improving the ergonomics of your work setup is to determine your natural posture, which you will find sitting forward in a chair. You should sit with your feet flat on the floor, shoulders relaxed, and feel each breath throughout your torso. This position allows your vertebrae to stack naturally, and it is what you are aiming for when you optimize your desk for ergonomics. 

Your chair should be at a height that lets your feet rest on the floor and your thighs angle just slightly downward. There should be about a fist-size space between the end of the chair and your knees, and your tailbone should be slightly behind you.

The computer monitor you use regularly should be directly in front of you so that if you look straight ahead your eyes will rest on the address bar of your Internet browser. This keeps you from having to misalign your neck to look up or down. The screen should also be about an arm's length from your body, far enough away that you don't have to lean forward, but not so far away that you have to crane your neck to see it properly.

Your keyboard and mouse should be about an inch or two above your lap so that your elbows are at your sides and your arms are at or below your elbows. Your mouse and anything else you use often should be accessed easily without strain. For those who frequently use the phone, it’s smart to use a headset or speaker mode so that you don't end up tilting your neck to hold the phone stable while you type.