Spending a lot of hours in a fixed position will result in higher stress and over time it can lead to muscle strain and fatigue. Operators, telecommunicators and dispatchers work tirelessly during long shifts at their workstations. This can result in muscle strain, back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and even burnout. A control room console will help operators to maintain an ergonomic workstation and a healthy setup.
Let’s go over the different ways a control console can help you reduce stress and stay motivated throughout the day.
First of all, a standing desk, also known as a height adjustable console, will definitely improve your set up. The best thing about it is that standing up while working helps with posture, circulation and to prevent back pains. There is nothing wrong with working while sitting down. But prolonged and static postures, like sitting upright, or slouching, or leaning over your monitors, will put a major strain on your body. So, try switching between standing and sitting throughout the day so that your muscles get a change to relax and stretch every now and then.
If you are not sure how long you should be standing and how long you should be sitting down, try this approach: When you are in the zone (hyper-focused), sit up right, but if you are more carrying out more relaxed work, like emails or other administrative tasks, leaning back is a good idea.
Talking about posture, one of the questions we get a lot is: Which is the best ergonomic chair? We have a few of them in the catalogue and we invite you to go check them out. But what matters most in a chair are the habits you keep which affect ergonomics. This means maintaining a proper back posture, keeping your arms at a 90-degree angle, keeping your legs also at a 90-degree angle, with feet touching the floor (or a small stool if you need one). It is important when seating, you try to implement small motions to help with back pain and also avoid a static posture.
The height of the screens on your console an also affect your health in the long term. If it is too high you end up scrunching your neck, if it is too low you end up leaning forward. Both cause neck pain. And both will hamper down your productivity since you will find yourself constantly readjusting them to address the neck pain. To properly set up your monitors place the upper most part of the screens at the same height of your eyes. This way you can keep your head in a neutral position. Additionally, place your monitors at arms-length to reduce eye strain. When working in a to further reduce eye strain, it is dark room it is important to increase the ambient lighting to reduce eye strain, so make sure you have enough lighting at all times. This can mean implementing a heavy-duty task light which can be adjusted very precisely or using led strips that run along the console to illuminate the workstation.
Another part of your body which is placed under a lot of stress are the wrists. Maintaining a neutral wrist position, in line with your forearms is paramount. Make sure that when you are typing your wrists hover over your keyboard. Try not to rest your wrists on your desk.
Placing keyboards and the mouse as close to the edge of the surface as possible will help you maintain your hands in the proper position. This means your elbows will remain close to your body and it will be easier to keep them at a 90-degree angle.
Another important tip is to take regular breaks and move throughout the day. This involves stretching and stepping away from your desk at least for a few moments. Remember the 20/20/20 rule which involves taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes to focus on an object at least 20 feet away.
These small breaks and little actions throughout the day can help you optimize your control console setup so that it is a healthy setup that helps you get the job done.
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