Office Chair History and Ergonomics

With the advent of railroads in the mid-1800’s, businesses began to expand beyond the traditional model of a family business with little emphasis on administration.

Additional administrative staff was required to keep up with orders, bookkeeping, and correspondence as businesses expanded their service areas. While office work was expanding, an awareness of office environments, technology, and equipment became part of the cultural focus on increasing productivity. This awareness gave rise to chairs designed specifically for these new administrative employees – office chairs.

The office chair was strategically designed to increase the productivity of clerical employees by making it possible for them to remain sitting at their desks for long periods of time. A swiveling chair allowed employees to remain sitting and yet reach a number of locations within their work area, eliminating the time and energy expended in standing. The wooden saddle seat was designed to fit and support the body of a sitting employee, and the slatted back and armrests provided additional support to increase the employee’s comfort. Like our modern chairs, many of these models were somewhat adjustable to provide the maximum comfort and thus the maximum working time.

The culture of the office also demanded that a distinct difference exist between the chairs that the employees used and that of the chief executive. When swivel chairs were widely used, the executive sat in a straight-backed chair with no mobility to demonstrate his status. As design of the office chair eliminated the arms and added cushioned seats, the executive chair became a large, upholstered chair with closed arms and wide, luxurious seats. Even today, the size (both height of the back and width of the seat) of an office chair demonstrates the status of the user.

In the 1970’s, ergonomics became an important design consideration. Today, office chairs often have adjustable seats, armrests, backs, back supports, and heights to prevent repetitive stress injuries and back pain associated with sitting for long periods. Ergonomic chairs should fit an individual’s needs and provide support where the individual needs it. For this reason, one type of ergonomic chair is not the best for every body type and chairs should be tested before purchasing. (Source: Wikipedia)

Most Popular Articles

Choosing the right computer desk for use in your home office is a more important decision than a lot of folks who work from home realize. This is especially true for those of us who run online businesses from home. Why? Because we tend to spend more hours at our desks than those who are self-employed in offline
Read more of this article ...
Getting the right office furniture is part and parcel of setting up a business operation. That applies to simple home offices as well as large multi-city enterprises and everything in between. Here are several things you can do to ensure that you buy office furniture as economically as possible. * The first step is to plan your office. Write down your
Read more of this article ...
After a long days work, you want to come home and relax in your office chair. Or, perhaps you work in your home and need to find the best home office chair to do so. Nevertheless, home office chairs need to be just as durable, supportive, and good looking as those that you would have in an executive
Read more of this article ...