Dr David McGrath

Spine Physician

MB BS (Hons) FAFOM, RACP, FAFMM
Master of Pain Medicine

Ergonomic furniture has not been the success that was hoped for. Why is that so? There are several possible answers.
1.The ergonomics are "ideal" but people fail to implement the recommendations
2.There is too much anthropometric variation to enable the best ergonomic fit
3.The problem is more dynamic than simple geometry and goodness of fit

All of these possibilities are reasonable and possible. There is certainly evidence for point one. Most people fail to adjust the chair height or monitor level when moving to a new work station. Simple laziness operates. If the workstation is reviewed by an OHS person and set as ideal, no further adjustments are made.
With respect to point two,not many workstations have the full complementary range of movement to match every human size.
Dynamic considerations are quite large. There is an assumption that the structure we start with in the morning is exactly the same in the afternoon. How valid is that assumption given that we are under the influence of a daily hormonal cycle. In addition, if the match was imperfect in the morning there would be progressive strain as the day proceeds leading to an altered ergonomic match and a worsening situation. Under that scenario, the furniture would need to be adjusted as the day proceeds. In practice, it is quite common to see people slouch further and further as the day proceeds. Intuitively, people are making their own internal adjustments to restore comfort.

There exists a simpler answer alltogether. Possibly we were never designed to stay for long hours at a desk regardless of furniture match. For the moment, dont rely on ergonomic best fit.