Posted by: Mitchell H. Kirsch
Category: Ergonomics
Tags: desk chairs, discount office chairs, mesh office chairs, office chairs, office chairs review
Finding the Right Office Chairs for the Really Tall – and Really Small.
If you fit in regular office chairs, that puts you within “normal” body dimensions – the range of body types that fall between heights of 5’2″ and 6’2″, and weights of 120 to 300 pounds. Office workers who fall outside these outliers, though, are out of luck.
Designing office chairs for the whole range of body sizes may sound simple, but it’s not. The variation in sizes and dimensions between the opposite ends of the mean suggests that office chairs designed for the “average” human body type causes discomfort to a large subset of the population. Designing office chairs only to the average means that the long tails of the body-fit bell curve – the tall, wide, or diminutive – have to work in less than optimal conditions.
For shorter folk, their feet may dangle from their office chairs, when the OSHA specifies that feet must be able to lay flat on the floor for optimal comfort. For more generously-sized individuals, regular-issue office chairs may be too cramped or permit too little movement.
Over time, the bad fit can become a quality of life problem that affects productivity and increases operating costs needlessly.
Office Chairs That Solve the Problem
To solve the conundrum, facility managers and employees need to exert a little more ingenuity to get the office chairs and system furniture that fit their unique size needs. (Read more)