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How to Stay Pain-Free While Working from Home
Provided by the Society for Human Resource Management
Millions of people who are working from home to stop the spread of COVID-19 have found themselves in makeshift workstations without proper desks, chairs, computer monitors, keyboards or lighting.
If you are one of these people, you may be hunched over your kitchen table, sitting in straight-back chairs or typing away at laptops in less-than-ideal lighting. You may even be working from couches and beds.
“A lot of the people currently working from home have never worked from home and don’t have the proper setup to work from home,” said Christine M. Sullivan, Senior Vice President and Risk Control Services Director at Sompo Global Risk Solutions. “Setting up a proper workstation will help minimize the potential ergonomic injuries to the back, neck and shoulders,” she continued.
Bad posture while working at a computer is a leading contributor to stiffness and soreness, back pain, and “tech neck,” that ubiquitous bent-neck position used when focusing on digital devices. To reduce the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders, experts suggest the following ways to set up your work-from-home station.
Your Posture
- Hands, wrists and forearms should rest in a straight line, roughly parallel to the floor.
- Shoulders should be relaxed, with arms hanging normally and elbows kept close to the body.
- The head should be facing forward and balanced level on the neck.
- The back should be straight and vertical or leaning back slightly, with the lumbar region, or lower back, well-supported.
- Hips should be at an angle of 90 degrees, with thighs approximately parallel to the floor, knees at approximately the same height as the hips, and feet resting on the floor or supported by a footrest.
Standing is fine when the worker’s legs, torso, neck and head are in line and vertical.
“The worst offenders are people trying to work from their couch or bed,” Sullivan said. “You will never get proper support on your couch or bed.”
Experts agree that you must change your posture throughout the workday. “The key is to break up the workday with stretching, walking and a variety of postures,” said Karen Loesing, an Ergonomic Consultant and Owner of The Ergonomic Expert.
Varying your posture throughout the workday is critical. Stretch, walk around your home and change posture to break up the workday. Sullivan said, “It’s easy to fall into the trap of sitting at your desk all day. If you’re on a conference call, stand up, move around a little bit.”
Ryan Pavey, president of BakkerElkhuizen USA, recommends setting an alarm every 50 minutes, getting up and then taking a break for 10 minutes. You can also stand and stretch every 20 minutes.
Sullivan added that those working at-home should try to eat lunch away from their work station. “Computer users should also be encouraged to perform frequent stretching exercises of the fingers, hands, arms and torso,” she said.
Your Workstation
Find somewhere in your home that has with good natural lighting.
Lighting one of the most important considerations for a home-office workstation. “Glare from light fixtures or windows reflecting on the display can wash out images, making it difficult to clearly see the screen, and lead to eye fatigue. Arrange workstations to minimize glare from overhead lights, desk lamps and windows,” Sullivan said.
You monitor and keyboard is the most critical component of your workstation. “The key barrier to working comfortably with a laptop is that everything is in a very small package, with the result being that we start to lean into the laptop,” Pavey said. In order to prevent hunching, your desktop or laptop should be leveled.
“The monitor is the key to everything,” Loesing said. “You want to look straight ahead while you are working.”
Sullivan says, “Positioning the monitor off to one side forces the user to twist his neck or torso. The top of the screen should be positioned at eye level or just below eye level. This permits the head to be balanced on the neck, level or bent slightly forward.”
“Some people are getting creative and have plugged their laptops into the HDMI port on their television in order to use their TV as a monitor,” Sullivan said.
She added that traditional telephone use can also contribute to the development of musculoskeletal disorders, especially with frequent or prolonged use. “Prolonged conversations with the phone pinched between the shoulder and head may cause stress and neck pain.” She recommended using a hands-free headset or headphones.
Your Seat
Ergonomic chairs are expensive and many people don’t have one at home, but Loesing said it’s important to learn how to use your chair if it’s adjustable. The chair should allow your feet to be on the floor or on a footrest. The back of the chair should be adjusted so that the lumbar support is positioned slightly below your belt line. She explained that the average kitchen table is too high to be ergonomically sound. Chairs should be raised so that your elbows are at the same height as the table.
“A lot of people perch at the edge of their chair because the table is too high,” Loesing said. “If you have a footrest, it pushes you back in your chair so that your back is supported.”
She also said the chair should have a slight recline when sitting. “Most people think, incorrectly, that they should be sitting with their back at 90 degrees,” Loesing explained, but a slight recline will take the pressure off your hip flexors.
Sullivan added that placing a rolled towel behind your pelvis for lumbar support or a thin pillow on your seat can make an ordinary chair much more comfortable.