Ergonomics in the Home Office: Tips for a Healthy Workplace

In times of the Corona pandemic, many people are forced to stay at home and work from there. This makes the topic of health in the home office particularly topical right now. But how can you design your home office to be health-friendly? How should the monitor, desk or office chair be adjusted to prevent complaints such as back pain and tension? We give you tips for the right ergonomics in the home office.

What is ergonomics?

Ergonomics is a branch of science that deals with the mutual adjustments between people and their working conditions. In practice, ergonomic workplace design means making work as comfortable and healthy as possible. The goal here is to achieve an ergonomic posture. This is a posture that relieves the joints and prevents tension. At the office workplace, for example, an adapted desk and office chair are essential to prevent back pain, slipped discs, foot malpositions and varicose veins.

How do I design my workstation?

Those who work on computers at home should try to create the best possible conditions for healthy work in the room in question:

The home office should be at least eight to ten square meters in size and located in a quiet environment. If possible, it may be advisable to set up one’s workspace in a separate room. This way, the work area can be separated from the living area. Quiet disturbances can lead to headaches, stress, and even hearing loss in the long term if there is noise.
A room temperature of 18 to 24 degrees is optimal. Cooler temperatures make typing and writing more difficult. Warmer temperatures can lead to headaches, dizziness and circulation problems.
The humidity should be about 50 percent. This can prevent allergic reactions (such as to pollen or house dust) and irritable cough, which are often the result of too dry air.
Room temperature and humidity should remain the same.
In addition, plants improve well-being and metabolize carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Optimal lighting conditions in the home office

The right lighting conditions are also crucial to avoid unnecessary strain on the eyes and to concentrate well. The desk should be located near a window, so that daylight is utilized and you can do without an artificial light source if the lighting conditions are right. In addition, a line of sight to the outside world is established, which has a positive effect on the well-being. The table should be positioned to the side of the window so that the sun does not dazzle from the front or cast shadows from behind. If one is dependent on artificial light, then the light should be bright enough. Experts specify illuminance in lux. This is a unit of measurement for illumination per square meter and should be between 500 lux and 1,500 lux for an office workstation. The lighting source should be obliquely incident from the side and illuminate the workplace as evenly as possible. Glare and reflections should be avoided as much as possible. Lamp light can have different shades of white. These have also been shown to have different effects on the viewer:

Blue, cold daylight white has a very invigorating and performance-enhancing effect.
Warmer, more yellowish light, however, acts rather calming and dampening

The shade of white should be selected according to need. It should be noted, however, that light sources with blue tones can trigger sleep problems when used in the evening or at night. Flickering lamps have a negative impact on health and performance and can cause headaches, fatigue and a reduction in work performance.

What is the right equipment to use in a home office?

To work well at home, apart from a quiet, stress-free environment and suitable lighting, the right furniture and technical utensils are necessary. Appropriate equipment has been designed with ergonomics in mind to enable relaxed, health-friendly and efficient work. This equipment includes:

Office chair
Desk
Screen
Keyboard
Mouse

What to consider with this equipment in terms of ergonomics at work, we present below.

What do I have to look for in the office chair?

Office chairs are usually designed with the aim of achieving an ergonomic sitting position. What is meant by this is a position with a relaxed posture and as little joint and back strain as possible. However, it is important to know that strict adherence to the ergonomic sitting position is not recommended, but that regular movements and changes in posture are beneficial to health. For a health-friendly sitting posture, consider the following tips:

The correct sitting height is achieved when the upper and lower legs form a right angle and the feet are straight on the floor. If this is not possible, a footrest can be used.
The back should be completely against the backrest and between the back of the knee and the seat cushion should be two to three fingers wide space.
If the chair has a lumbar support (a pronounced support in the area of the lumbar spine), it should stabilize the back posture. If it is incorrectly adjusted, it can push the sitter into a hollow back position. There is also the option of a dynamic backrest, which should be adjusted to the weight of the sitter.
The height of the armrest is correctly adjusted when the upper and lower arm form an approximately right angle.

The base, that is, the feet of the office chair, should be created so stable that when standing up, leaning back and leaning out to the side, the chair does not tilt. The choice of castors depends on the nature of the floor. Hard casters are suitable for soft floors and soft casters are more suitable for hard floors. For carpets, casters with a larger diameter are recommended, as they allow greater freedom of movement.

Other types of office chairs

Alternatives to the classic office chair are also active chairs or saddle chairs. The active chair has no backrest and usually has a movable base. It encourages more movement and changes in posture. Therefore, sore muscles may occur at the beginning of use. It is height adjustable just like the ergonomic office chair. In a saddle chair, you assume a more upright position due to the wide angle between your legs. Joints are thus less stressed, and the spine is brought into a more upright posture. This sitting posture also improves breathing and bowel function by opening up the chest and making the abdomen less squeezed. It also encourages more postural changes. The use of an exercise ball as a substitute for an office chair is not recommended because it is almost impossible to adjust the height of the chair. It can therefore be poorly adjusted to the individual size and weight. This leads to incorrect postures rather than the hoped-for ergonomic sitting posture.

What is the right desk?

The desk should also be selected according to ergonomic considerations:

The desk should have a size of 160 by 80 centimeters.
The correct height of the desk is between 65 and 85 centimeters and the arms should rest loosely, respectively at the level of the armrests of the office chair. If you work standing, the upper and lower arm should form an angle of at least 90 degrees.
The desk must be stable. To ensure leg and foot room, C-foot or T-foot designs are particularly suitable. A four-legged desk is rather obstructive.
A matte table surface avoids annoying reflections. The edges of the table should be rounded.
It is recommended to run cables through installation channels to prevent tripping.
A tidy and neat desk promotes work efficiency.
A height-adjustable desk can be recommended to be able to set the correct desk height.
Standing desks allow a more frequent change of posture and thus relieve the joints, train the muscles and promote blood circulation.

How should my monitor be adjusted?

For the correct setting of the screen at an ergonomic workstation applies:

The distance between the viewer’s eyes and the surface of the screen is called the viewing distance. It depends on the size of the screen: for example, for a 19-inch screen, a distance of 80 centimeters is recommended, and for a 24-inch screen, a meter viewing distance is advisable.
The top of the screen is well below eye level.
The screen should be tilted slightly backwards.
The screen should be set to the highest adjustable resolution.
The brightness of the screen is set depending on the brightness of the workplace: The brighter the environment, the brighter the screen should also be set. A guide value here is at least 100 cd per square meter.
Dark characters should always be displayed on a light background, because then the change between desk pads and screen is less tiring for the eyes. This setting is called positive display. In contrast, the so-called “Dark Mode”, where the background is dark.
The characters should be easily distinguishable from the background. According to experts, a contrast of at least 4:1 is best suited.
A matte screen surface and a bright housing are recommended.

By the way, those who own a laptop should, if possible, connect an external monitor or place the laptop on a raised laptop stand and use in combination with an external mouse and keyboard. Because working on a laptop causes an awkward head position, which in the long run can lead to tension and back pain.

What is special about an ergonomic keyboard?

Many keyboards are too wide or tilted at the wrong angle, which can cause discomfort in the arms, shoulders and neck. With an ergonomic keyboard, the wrist remains in a relaxed position and is not bent up and to the side, as is the case with conventional keyboards. If an ergonomic keyboard is not available, a soft hand rest or tilting the keyboard backwards can help. Especially for right-handed users, shoulder and neck pain can be prevented by not using a keyboard with a number pad. With the so-called compact keyboard, the mouse can be guided closer to the center of the body, which means that the arm does not have to be spread as far.

Why an ergonomic mouse?

Conventional mice lead to a recurring high tension in the forearm, which can be the trigger of tendonitis or the so-called mouse arm. In addition, nerves are irritated, which can lead to neck, shoulder and back pain. Ergonomic mice aim to support the natural posture of the hand by inclining the hand more sideways than normal mice. In doing so, the forearm rests at an angle on the surface of the desk. The ulna and radius are thus parallel to each other. This puts less strain on the muscle, nerve and connective tissue and maintains good blood circulation. The palm of the hand is in almost complete contact with the mouse, making it easier to control.

Where can I get more information?

In 2013, the German statutory accident insurance launched the prevention campaign “Think of me. Dein Rücken” (“Think of me. Your back”) prevention campaign against work-related back strain. On the website, you can find a lot of information on the topic of work-related back strain, including for office work. There are also links to possible exercises for training the back, shoulder and chest muscles.

More tips for home office health

It’s not just the ergonomic setup of the workstation that’s important when working in a home office. If you spend the whole day within your own four walls, you can do even more to stay healthy. As the following tips show, balance is the key to a healthy home office:

Make time for your work, but also just as much for regular breaks. While doing so, stand up, move and stretch a little and also allow your eyes to relax now and then, for example, by looking into the distance.
In the office, a chat at the coffee machine provides a brief distraction and soothing interruptions. Try not to neglect the interpersonal contacts even in the home office, for example, by picking up the phone more often.
Drink enough. It can help to take your water bottle directly to your desk to save yourself the annoying walk to the kitchen and to have the bottle as a constant reminder in your field of vision.
Eat a balanced and healthy diet.Even if you’re currently drawn more often toward the sofa with the bag of gummy bears and work hours in the home office merge more often with free time, allow time for cooking. Make sure to eat enough fruits and vegetables.
In addition, sports balance is very important. Even at home, there are many options, from yoga to High Intense Interval Training, that you can discover for yourself. Meanwhile, even many local gyms offer online workouts. Here we also present some exercises for at home.