100 Years of Great Design at Steelcase

Join Steelcase in their centennial year as they celebrate 100 Years of Great Design.

As part of Clerkenwell Design Week 2012, they will explore the past, present and future of great workplace design with a series of talks and product installations:

22nd May, 12.30pm: Explore the design partnership between Steelcase and Frank Lloyd Wright, including the iconic Johnson Wax building

23rd May, 1pm: Share the latest Steelcase research exploring the global trends that influence the Interconnected Workplace

24th May, 1pm: Join our 100 Minds member Victoria Redshaw of design trends forecasters Scarlet Opus as she looks to the future of great design

The London WorkLife showroom, will also be operating an ‘open house’ each day between 10am and 5pm when you can drop by the showroom to view some iconic Steelcase products from the last 100 years including the Frank Lloyd Wright/Steelcase desk and chair.

RSVP to: gsapra@steelcase.com

FX Awards 2010 Workplace Seating Winner – Generation by Knoll

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Knoll produces it’s Generation chair in varied frame and chair colours. The breathable net-mesh back flexes and is made up of individual flexing components and adjustable parts which respond to the user’s movement and allow them to change the chair to suit them.

The Knoll Generation chair supports a large range of postures and work styles ensuring that the person using it will be able to sit how they want, even when sitting to the side in their chair. Researchers from Knoll and Formway design, showed that that people in work environments can be classified into working types, each with its own set of positions.

The first they modelled was “focus work”, where a person works alone at a desk, often sitting back or forward. The second is “share work”, where workers manage or advise others. The third is “team work” where workers are involved in work with others. The last is “active work” where workers engage in activity-based work. The researchers noticed that while people often work in these four types of sitting positions, work environments are set up more often for what they termed to be a “standard, old fashioned” ways of sitting. Armed with this research, knoll chose to create a chair that would assist workers in all four modes with a single chair.

Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSD’s)

So what can happen when the needs of the human body are not addressed when performing daily tasks? The question that you must first consider is ‘what is comfortable?’ 

This may seem like a straight forward concept, but when you think of the variety of positions that you assume throughout the course of a day, the answer may not seem as obvious as first thought.  At rest our bodies naturally seek to find the most ‘neutral’ position they can find.  This is a position in which the body expends the least amount of muscular effort in supporting itself.  For example sitting in our favourite armchair or standing with weight shifted onto one leg while we rest the other one.  So, notions of comfort are not necessarily tied to fabric and upholstery. 

We are dynamic beings, so changing position not only helps to rest muscle groups, the flexing of muscles and joints helps to circulate the blood through the body, drawing nutrients into cells and expelling toxins.  The key thing is that we can change position whenever we feel like it, resting various tired muscle groups whilst bringing others into play.

This picture changes somewhat when we have a specific job to do.  At work, our postures are dictated by the task rather than our body’s natural tendency to seek a neutral position, as a result, as bodily fatigue increases, the task limits what we can do to rest these tired muscle groups.

Technology is now an integral part of the office landscape – computers, mobile communications, internal and external networking and wireless working environments.  We can work anywhere at any time, however, these benefits of flexibility and productivity have come at a cost.

The professional office worker spends approximately 70% of their time sat at their desk, usually for 45 minute periods at a time.  Deskbound workers such as call centre employees can spend in excess of 90 % of their time sat at their desk.

The effects of these working environments are twofold – psychological and physiological.  Over the next few sections we will explore the various aspects of reducing the physiological challenges imposed by technology in the workplace.

The main health problems associated with technology in the workplace and in particular DSE work are a range of disorders known as Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD’s).  They are sometimes referred to by a number of other names: Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI’s) or Upper Limb Disorders (ULD’s) .

Some examples of MSD’s you may have heard of are Tendonitis, Tenosynovitis and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  They are all injuries to the joints, tendons, nerves, muscles and soft tissues of the body and are caused by repetitive use over an extended period of time.  The majority of these MSD’s are concentrated in the upper body – the neck, shoulders, upper limbs and hands, in particular, injuries to the neck and shoulders and becoming more common.

Lower back pain is also strictly speaking an MSD, but can often be caused by a number of different factors, many of which are outside of the workplace.  It is a wide spread problem with approximately 80% of the population in the UK suffering from some form of lower back pain at some point in their working lives.

Eye stain and visual fatigue is also another common problem associated with DSE work.

Common examples of hand and wrist MSD’s:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:             Swelling of the carpal tunnel inside the wrist, placing pressure on the median nerve and tendons.

Raynaud’s Phenomenon:             Increased sensitivity of the hand to cold.

Trigger Finger:                            Catching and pain that occurs with movement of the finger.

Common examples of arm and shoulder MSD’s:

Rotator Cuff Syndrome:               Tendonitis of the rotator cuff inside the shoulder.

Epicondylitis:                              Tendonitis of the elbow

Lower back and neck MSD’s:

Herniated spinal disc:  Protrusion of the spinal disc, potentially placing pressure on a nerve.

Sciatica:  Pressure on the sciatic nerve in the lower back and buttocks area that results in pain running down the  leg.

Tension Neck Syndrome:  Tightening of the muscles in the neck, causing pain.

 The typical causes of work related MSD’s are:

Awkward postures – The body will naturally seek neutral postures which exert minimum strain and effort on muscles and joints. When we perform any task we often need to force the body into non-neutral postures. The more extreme the nature of these postures, the more damaging they might be.

• Bending your wrists
• Holding your elbows away from your body
• Stretching your arms out
• Sitting or standing with your back rounded or shoulder slumped forward
• Making long reaches for documents or materials

Even in fairly neutral postures, it is not good to maintain a static position for too long. Over a period of time they can lead to fatigue and a drop in productivity.  We are dynamic beings. Changing position permits us to rest certain muscle groups whilst bringing other into action. In addition, the flexing of our muscles and joints helps circulate blood through the body, draws nutrients into cells and helps to expel toxins.

Localised pressures – e.g. arms writs on edge of desk – can limit blood circulation, trap nerves, etc.

Use of excessive force or strength – e.g. hammering at keyboard can cause local soft tissue damage.

• Holding a pen too tightly
• Moving equipment or supplies
• Striking keys harder than necessary when typing or data entry
• Clicking a mouse harder than necessary

Repetitive activity -This is not automatically a bad thing in itself. However, if any of the above mentioned problematic factors are present, then repetition will rapidly multiply the effects.

• Data entry, typing and using the mouse
• Sorting
• Filing

In addition, certain individuals may have a predisposition to certain disorders, either due to physical characteristics, or due to activities outside of the workplace. This must be borne in mind when assessing workplace health problems of any individual.

The affects of MSD’s can be reduced still further if you are mindful your body and its movements.  For example, if you spend good part of our work day at a computer, pay attention to how you position your arms and wrists.  To reduce muscle strain on your upper body, keep your elbows close to your body, your shoulders down and relaxed and as much as possible; work with your forearms, wrists and hands in a relaxed and neutral position.

Also thinks about your posture.  When you sit or stand, try to maintain the neutral inward curve of your lower back.  Keeping your lower back in this position helps align your neck, head and shoulders and also reduces the stress to your lower back.  In addition aligning your head over your shoulders reduces the strain on your neck and improves the blood flow to the upper body.

Finally, be sure to give your body a rest by taking regular short or micro breaks throughout the working day.  This can be as simple as taking a break from one task and performing another e.g. switching from typing to making a phone call or adopting a sit down stand up work routine.  If the work is nearly all computer based, then every 15-20 minutes, look away from the screen and focus on something further away for at least 20 seconds – and remember to blink! When focusing on screens or reading etc. the rate of blinking falls considerably and this can lead to dry and tired eyes.

The Office Task Chair – Ergonomic set up guide (United Kingdom)

• For most office tasks, especially when working with a computer, the desk surface should be slightly below elbow level, when your arms are by your side and bent at a 90 degree angle. 
• Raise or lower the seat as needed to achieve the correct position.  If your feet cannot reach the floor when the chair is correctly adjusted in relation to the desk, the use of a foot rest or height adjustable desk would be ideal.  A foot rest should be made available to anyone who requires one.
• The appropriate height for a chair in practical terms means that when the feet are planted firmly on the floor, the thighs are approximately parallel to the floor.  This provides even support to the underside of the thighs without localised pressure, particularly to the backs of the knees.  This also helps ensure that the torso remains upright and the spine retains its neutral s-shaped curve (the lumbar curve).  A correctly adjusted chair also prevents the user from crouching forward and trying to support their body weight elsewhere, such as on the arm rests or the desks work surface. 
• Seat depth is also a factor.  A correct seat pan depth will allow the back rest to provide good supporting contact for the sitters back and still maintaining clearance between the front edge of the seat and the back of the sitter’s legs (approximately 2 fingers width).
• Most chairs offer some form of recline function.  In most situations the chair should be adjusted to recline about 10 to 25 degrees, similar to the correct driving position.  The other benefits of recline are mainly in the area of dynamic variation of posture – a chance to rest some muscle groups, whilst bringing others into action, reducing the amount of work being done by the spine and spinal muscles and transferring some of the torsos weight on to the chair back rest.  This function also opens up the angle between the torso and the thighs, reducing pelvic rotation and spinal deformation.  Extreme angles of recline should not been seen as alternative working postures.
• Arm rests can help support the weight of the arms and shoulders, reducing the load on the spinal structure and also provide additional support to the body when sitting down or standing up, when the body can be subject to extremely high transitional forces.  The armrest should be set slightly below elbow height.  In this way it can provide support when resting between periods of keying without interfering with arm movement when working. 
• For prolonged tasks involving intensive use of the mouse, some ergonomists suggest that support for the forearm whilst still permitting the appropriate movement of the hand and wrist.  However, it is important to note that arm rests can sometimes clash with the edge of the desk work surface.  If this prevents the user from adopting the correct position relative to the desk, then this problem could outweigh the benefits of armrest use.

The main requirements for an office seat are that:

The seat shall be stable and allow user easy freedom of movement and a comfortable position.  Shall be adjustable in height. Seat back shall be adjustable in height and tilt. Footrest shall be made available to any user who wishes one.

• Blood circulation to the lower limbs is not restricted
• It is easy to change and maintain a variety of postures with little muscular effort
• Loading or stress on the spine is minimised
• The seat surface has sufficient friction to avoid slipping off
• For thermal comfort, fabrics are permeable
• Compatibility with the work surface – especially height and the layout of equipment.

‘Independent height and tilt adjustment of backrest is not a requirement’.  The primary requirement is that is that user should be able to achieve a comfortable position. Other requirements are:

• seat should adjust in height
• backrest should adjust in height and tilt
• 5 star base with castors 

Standards applicable to task chairs

• BS EN 1335 Part 1 Dimensions
• BS 5459 Part 2 Strength and Stability for 24-hour use for people weighing up to 150kg or
• BS EN 1335 Parts 2 and 3 – Strength and stability for 8-hour use by people weighing up to 110kg
• BS EN ISO 9241 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDT’s) Part 5 – work station layout and postural requirements
• The appropriate seat height  for a seated user – popliteal height plus footwear thickness
• Backrest to give support to the back in all sitting positions. Particular support to the lumbar region.
• Lower edge of the backrest should start above the major protuberances of the buttocks and conclude below the level of the shoulder blades.
• Arm support should not restrict the user’s preferred working posture. Should not restrict access to the workplace, e.g. should not prevent chair from being slid under work surface.