What if your job really is killing you?
Sure, it sounds like something every disgruntled worker has imagined from time to time. But for those who spend eight hours or more sitting at a desk each day, bad workplace ergonomics may be causing a number of short- and long-term health issues.
Fortunately, there is an easy fix for this. Using laptop stands can help improve your workplace ergonomics and even improve your productivity.
Keep reading to learn more about why this is as well as the benefits of laptop stands!
What Causes Workplace Ergonomics Problems?
Before we dive into how an ergonomic laptop stand can fix issues with your posture and health, it's important to understand what is causing these problems. Only then can you understand how to begin fixing them.
One factor may be the size of your existing laptop. Such a machine is going to have a small screen, and you may find yourself straining to see, which causes a number of posture-related problems.
Small laptops also have smaller keyboards. This means that you are constantly having to contort your fingers and wrists to reach all of the keys. Having to stretch like this is a pretty common cause of back pain.
Depending on your laptop and the space you have at your desk, you may be forced to use a trackpad instead of a traditional computer mouse. This forces you to rotate your hand and risk in some unnatural ways that add up to pain in your hand, arm, and back.
Finally, the position of the laptop itself is a pretty common problem. If it is lower than your line of vision, you will be forced to lean forward and look down to properly see the screen. This causes many painful issues with your neck and with your back.
What Health Issues Are Affected By Ergonomics?
While "ergonomics" may seem like a fancy word, most people can instantly identify the related pain in their neck, back, arms, and wrist. However, there are many other health issues that are affected by economics.
You may experience poor circulation, leading to stiff muscles and fatigue. And pain in the hands and wrist can effectively spread to your fingers: being suddenly unable to type is the worst thing that can happen to a desk worker!
Even your eyes are affected. Having to strain to see your computer screen, for instance, can cause headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and more.
As you can see, ergonomics issues can cause many different problems. This is why laptop stands are a very solid workplace investment.
What Is an Ergonomic Laptop Stand?
We'll soon be discussing how laptop stands can help to address many of the problems we just described. However, it's important that you first understand exactly what an ergonomic laptop stand is.
A laptop stand is exactly what it sounds like: a stand to lift the laptop up and adjust its position. And an ergonomic laptop stand uses the height and positioning of the laptop to deliberately provide you with better workplace ergonomics.
In recent years, the ergonomic trend has moved towards the laptop standing desk. This is a special laptop stand designed to be used by someone who stands at their workplace desk all day instead of sitting down.
The standing desk is a great innovation for improving ergonomics. And it's easy to find laptop stands that best suit your needs for both productivity and health.
How Do Laptop Stands Improve Ergonomics?
Each of the problems that we described earlier can be solved through the use of laptop stands. As an added bonus, they offer improved productivity--more on this later!
Regarding a small screen, the perfect solution is to buy a new laptop. However, such an expenditure doesn't always fit your company's bottom line!
However, a laptop stand can raise the small laptop and its screen closer to your eyes. Similar to sitting closer to the TV, this makes the screen appear larger and will minimize how much you strain your eyes and backs to see what's going on.
It works the same way with your smaller keyboard. Moving the laptop closer minimizes how much you must stain to reach the keys. And adjustable stands will let you find a laptop position that causes less strain on your wrists.
A laptop stand gives you more room to potentially use a traditional mouse instead of the trackpad, which helps improve ergonomics. Finally, a stand moves the screen closer to your eyeline: no more leaning forward and looking down to see what is on the screen!
Benefits of Ergonomics
So far, we've focused on how improving ergonomics can improve the health of employees. This is a great result in and of itself, but improving ergonomics leads to a number of other great outcomes!
First, there is a cost-saving component. Improving ergonomics can greatly reduce the amount of workers' compensation that employers must pay out for ergonomics-related claims.
The productivity benefits of improved ergonomics really speak for themselves. Employees who aren't having to deal with pain in their wrists, arms, neck, and back are going to be much more productive every day. And this productivity can stack up and give you a banner year of employee accomplishments!
As a related point, the work they produce will be of much higher quality than it was before. This is because employees dealing with ergonomics-related issues are constantly fighting both pain and fatigue, which affects the overall quality of their work.
So far, we've been focusing mostly on short-term benefits for your employees and your business. However, it's good to think about the long-term as well: happier, healthier employees are likely to stay longer, reducing your turnover and making your workplace that much stronger.
The Bottom Line
Now you know how laptop stands can help improve workplace ergonomics. But do you know where to find the best selection of stands?
At Uncaged Ergonomics, your comfort is our number one priority. To see how we can make each day more comfortable, come browse our laptop stands today!