Home ergonomics

By Robert Colapinto
Illustration: Doug Panton

Do you work from home? Even if you don’t, you might want to consider these devices that make work more comfortable

Lori Mullin’s office window looks down from the lush, coniferous slopes of Dillworth Mountain in Kelowna, BC. Her ergonomically correct chair swivels and pivots to easily take in the view of the idyllic Okanagan Valley. It also allows her to effortlessly access her well-accoutered office. The computer system, all-in-one scanner/fax/printer, shredder and fireproof storage unit are within arm’s reach. The only concession to low tech is her antique desk and its old-fashioned cubby holes used for her personalized filing system. “The desk makes it all work,” she says. “I’d never give it up for something modular and cool.”

Mullin is but one of a growing number of professionals, entrepreneurs and employees whose home-based offices have been furnished by the high-tech gadgetry and telecommunications innovations that have appeared over the past decade. CAs are particularly suited to working at home, and all the ergonomically designed tools on the market are making it easier for them to do so.

“The home-office worker often works long hours and consequently is in need of the best possible ergonomic support,” says Margo Fraser, president-elect of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists. “If they’re CAs — who primarily labour over a computer — any deviation from the proper ergonomic environment will increase their chance of injury.” Ergonomics (Greek for “the laws of work”) is the art of using furniture, workplace tools and the environment in a manner that reduces the risk of discomfort or injury. And according to Fraser, the key component for computer users is a proper chair. “It’s the chair and its relation to posture and setup of the computer and desk,” she says.

Home-office workers, she says, often start out with a hard-backed chair dragged in from the kitchen, with their computer station a laptop wobbling on a stack of newspapers. “There’s a simple ergonomic checklist that can easily be followed to ensure that you are not compromising productivity and your health,” she says (see “Ergonomic checklist,” below). “If you’re hunched over with no support to the spine, your arms and wrists awkward or unsupported by armrests and the desk, you won’t have to wonder anymore why over time each day ends with crashing headaches, backaches or flaring carpal tunnel problems of the wrists.”

Fraser is a little suspicious of Mullin’s antique desk but admits it may fit just fine. “As long as she has her adjustable chair and a computer that is placed properly — not on the side or too deep on her desk,” she says, “then she may not need what we recommend, which is a workstation with adjustable legs and keyboard.” Mullin has considered these concerns. “My chair fits to my desk, computer, filing cabinets and printer just fine,” she says. “I do, indeed, spend a lot of time sitting and working with all these gadgets and have no intention of hurting myself.”

Should Mullin change her mind, there is a panoply of new devices on the market targeting home-based CAs like her. Stores such as Backs Etc. of Toronto offer everything from high-tech chairs to ergo-computer mouses. The crème de la crème of chairs is the Aeron A1-S from furniture manufacturer Herman Miller. The multiadjustable Pellicle suspension meshed chair is an innovation that equitably distributes body weight and allows for air flow for maximum comfort. “We have Ergorest Articulating Arm Supports,” says Backs Etc.’s store manager Paul Peregal, “and a number of workstations — the E.Easy Adjustable Workstation is a desk-bound worker’s dream — as well as a super comfortable, ergonomically designed Humanscale Whale Mouse.”

Arden Vanderhorst of Whitby, Ont., has a chair that provides all the swivel and lumbar support he needs. “I also have a laptop for roaming about the house.” His desktop computer is set up with a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, which, he says, allows him to adjust and place himself in the best position.

What has Vanderhorst excited is a new product from Protect-IT Data Management Inc. The Canadian firm provides encrypted online data backup storage well suited to the needs of home-based businesses. “One of the first things clients of home-based CAs look for is security and integrity,” he says. “For $300 a year, you get the assurance all your work and the proprietary info your clients entrust you with is backed up on a regular schedule with privacy and security assured.”

Mullin experienced this security concern in dramatic fashion in the summer of 2003, when large swaths of the Okanagan around Kelowna were consumed by fire. “A lot of people lost their homes,” she recalls, “and we were watching anxiously as the fire approached.” Although Mullin had confidence in her fireproof safe and was ready to evacuate with backup disks and armloads of files, she is now considering an offsite storage strategy. Perhaps, though, not online. Like many, when it comes to Internet security, she has not entirely embraced cyberspace. But Vanderhorst has no qualms. “This company’s security is impeccable,” he says. “It would be silly not to get from the technology what we can.”

ERGONOMIC CHECKLIST Is the workstation desk height adjustable? Is the chair adjustable — reclining and inclining, backrest fitting inward for lumbar support? Is the chair, armrests and workstation desk compatible for neutral positioning of wrists on keypad? Is the computer keypad removable, on an adjustable tray? Is the computer monitor placed to the side or directly in front of the user? Is the workstation area constructed in a way to reduce unnecessary twisting and bending? Lighting: is the work area, especially the computer monitor and document area, free from glare? Is it placed at a 90-degree angle from natural lighting? Is ceiling lighting diffuse and task-light fixtures directed properly?  Is the entire workstation environment compatible for support of shoulders, arms and wrists? Does the workstation, in particular the chair, allow you to vary your posture and allow for freedom of movement throughout the workday? Do you get up and move at least once an hour, even with the best workstation?

Techno-wizardry within the home office is all the rage these days. By logging on to www.cica.ca, for example, CICA members can access the Knotia.ca store for an impressive array of new software programs tailored to every accounting niche. And although Post-it notes still litter the majority of (if not all) office settings, personal data assistants, Blackberries and the concept of the connected home — where computer networking, phone systems, intercoms and the Internet, along with cable and satellite, are seamlessly interconnected — are becoming more prevalent and necessary to making home-based businesses successful.

For the so-called “wired” home office, a wireless local area network (LAN) system is becoming the inter-home networking technology of choice in many home offices. By simply installing a wireless rout-er ($115) and wireless card ($120) into the main home-office computer, the user is able to connect to other computers, printers, scanners et al in the house, as well as shared access to the Internet. Often, creating full connectivity can be an expensive proposition. Wireless LANs avoid pricey rewiring of the home and offer the convenience of moving the laptop out to the patio or to another room, when inevitably the walls start to close in on some days.

From the time he set up his home office in November 2002, Vanderhorst has moved farther into cyberspace, joining the increasing number of entrepreneurs who have invested in their own business websites. “It’s a key tool for any small business,” he says. His website succinctly describes his bona fides, his area of expertise — personal taxation, corporate taxes, accounting and advice on small business startups — and a certain intangible he believes is crucial to his business. “Sure, it’s an inexpensive way to market your wares, but it’s also one more way of effectively showing potential clients your professionalism.” 

For Karen Carruthers, professionalism and garnering trust are key factors in any home-based operation. As special projects manager for The Rostie Group’s virtual offices division, her company, which is based in Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., offers a wide variety of services for the home-office professional looking for a little respect. The company has doubled in size over the past two years in its attempt to cater to virtual tenants seeking anything from day rental offices and conference rooms to providing a prestigious mailing address or a professional answering service that can seamlessly forward calls to the home office. “There are times when you need things like a secretary, a boardroom or a high-tech videoconferencing facility to win the big contract or show you mean business,” she says. “Being a virtual tenant is not selling a lie. It is providing your clients with a level of professionalism and care you would hope to receive.”

“Yeah, there have been times,” Vanderhorst says, “when my wife [who also works from home] was busy and I found myself having to quiet my boy on my lap while talking to a client on the phone. Fortunately, those clients were family friends, but I could imagine why someone else might run off to a day rental.” For Mullin such a service, which is offered nearby, has little appeal. She had once worked for a large firm and had enjoyed both the interoffice atmosphere and her impersonal dealings with clients. “But now, my customers all know who I am, that I work from home and that my pet sleeps at my feet,” she laughs. If she were approached by a client who required her to be all gus-sied up and different than who she is, she wouldn’t take that client on. “I mean, this is why we all left the big firms. We’re free to pick and choose. We’re free to work our brains out, as well — which we do.”

Robert Colapinto is a Toronto-based writer