Comfort Tips for Computer Users (Seated Workstations)
Symptoms of stress and fatigue from working at a computer can be avoided with proper posture, good work habits, and ensuring the equipment you work on is adjusted correctly. The following tips should help minimize these symptoms and maximize your personal comfort. These tips are illustrated on page three.
Posture
- All body angles - hips, knees and elbows - should be at or around 90 degrees.
- Sit up with chair tilted back slightly.
- Your head should be upright, facing forward.
- Your thighs should be approximately parallel to the floor while the back of your knees should not be in contact with the chair seat.
- Your shoulders should be relaxed.
- Your feet should be flat on the floor or on a footrest.
- Your back should be firmly supported.
- Your arms should rest lightly on the armrests of the chair.
- Your wrists should be straight and flat, not bent backwards.
Equipment
- Your keyboard angle should be adjusted as flat as possible or pointing slightly down, and the keyboard should be at seated elbow height.
- Your mouse or other input device should be at elbow height, next to your keyboard.
- Your monitor and keyboard should be in line with the center of your upper torso and eyes, to help you avoid awkward and uncomfortable body positions.
- The top of your monitor screen should be slightly below eye level.
- Adjust your chair and the height of your keyboard so you can follow the above posture guidelines.
- Use a wrist rest if you find it difficult or tiring to hold your wrists level. Never plant your wrists on the wrist rest while you key. Use it to support your palms between keying activities.
- Adjust your monitor so the contrast is high, the brightness low. You may need to adjust it several times during the day, as ambient room light changes.
- Adjust the angle of your monitor to reduce glare or reflection. Try to have your monitor at right angles to windows or long banks of light.
- Keep the screen free of dust and fingerprints.
- If the display is blurry or jittery, report it to your supervisor.
Work habits
- Use a lighter touch on the keyboard to reduce shock to your wrists.
- Use a document holder if you often type material from other sources. Task lighting may be necessary to read reference material.
- Periodically focus your eyes on an object at least 20 feet away.
- Take a minute every so often to stretch and vary your routine.
- Periodically change your posture throughout the day.
- Build dynamic work into your day. You should perform 15 minutes of non-keying activity for every 2 hours of keying.
- Do not cradle the telephone between your shoulder and neck while keying.
