`’Ergonomic’ means to fit your need and be supportive to your health, so when choosing an ergonomic chair, the right one for you really does depend on your body frame and the duties you perform. One will be forgiven for thinking that all office jobs are the same and that one chair should fit all though, for straightforward data input clerks and call centre staff, the chair may always resemble the average office chair, with arm rests, castors and adjustable back and seat pad systems.

But what about the architect or the draughtsman or woman? Their duties do not necessarily allow them to work from a sitting down position, so an ergonomic chair for these professionals will not fit the normal design. Such an ergonomic chair will have a height adjustment from the normal 24 inches to the higher 32 inches and there will also be a footring, which is where the user’s feet will touch down, maybe some eight inches above the floor. Such foot support is necessary as, without it, a lot or pressure would be placed on the user’s thighs, which could impede blood circulation and, without being able to anchor’s one’s feet to something solid, staying in a fixed position would be nigh on impossible.

Then there’s the work of the presenter or the teacher, whose responsibility may mean sometimes presenting information from a standing position. The standing chair places its seat pad at a height which simply takes the weight off your body, while your legs are still touching the ground. The design of this ergonomic chair encourages good posture, allowing your spine to fall in its natural ‘S’ shape, with your head and shoulders held centrally above your pelvis. Users of the standing chair say that, in a semi-standing position, they think more clearly and that their leg muscles become stronger.

Of course, there’s also the kneeling chair, a design that allows you to do just that. Like the standing chair, this ergonomic chair encourages perfect posture, allowing your back to take its natural ‘S’ shape and is suitable seating for meetings or training courses, when one needs to be astute throughout the allotted time.

All in all, it can be seen that there are many different designs of ergonomic chair and getting the right one for the job in hand is essential. When purchasing yours, make sure you look at the specifications of the ergonomic chair and that you present the right personal information and ask the right questions. Otherwise, that ergonomic chair isn’t ergonomic after all.