Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic? Staying healthy and productive when working from home starts with a good set-up of your main work area. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries offers tips on how to best set up a safe and efficient workstation.
Ensure your chair is comfortable and working appropriately:
- Create a standing station and change positions from time to time
- Ensure your keyboard, mouse and monitor allow your arms, wrists and neck to be at comfortable positions – Your head should be level, shoulders relaxed, wrists straight and lower back and feet supported
Take care of your neck and shoulders:
- Align the monitor’s center with the middle of your body
- Place your monitor where you can easily see it while using your chair’s backrest (this will depend on things like monitor size, prescription glasses, etc.)
- The top of the monitor should be at eye level
- If you wear bifocals, position the monitor so you don’t have to raise your chin to see clearly
- Adjust your chair or use a footrest if needed
Take care of hands and arms:
- If your mouse hand or arm get uncomfortable, switch hands
- You can change your mouse settings so index finger click buttons make sense
- Look into other kinds of pointing devices
Give yourself a break:
- Set reminders to take breaks and move around
- Refocus your eyes on something 20 feet away every 20 minutes
- Purposely blink often
Make your workspace work for you:
- Ensure you have plenty of leg space, free from obstacles and hazards
- Keep frequently used tools close to you
- Remove tripping hazards
- Use a headset or speakerphone if you can
- For laptops use appropriate accessories, like separate keyboard, mouse and monitor, as much as possible
Regardless of how comfortable your home workstation is, Washington L&I experts encourage you to change positions at least every hour. “Change positions frequently, because your next position is your best position.”
