FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS! Why do I need a new chair? A chair is much like a suit of clothes. The chair should fit the individual using it, enable the user to do the required tasks in a comfortable manner and support the user throughout the entire range of motion required. A chair that can not move with the user will cause discomfort over a period of time which will cause a loss of task productivity or could cause injury to the user. What is ergonomics? Ergos means work. Nomos means laws. The Latin word translated is "Laws for Human work". Ergonomics is the study of how people adjust to their environment. Ergonomics in the sense of relating to an office chair is really in adapting the workplace to workers and therefore prevent injuries and increase productivity. What is Repetitive Strain Injury? RSI is an accumulation of small injuries to the body over a period of time. These injuries may not be noticed individually. They include carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis and other injuries that develop because of a variety of contributing factors. Generally, there are four major areas agreed on by experts that need to be analyzed in determining and isolating the most troublesome motions made by a worker in an office environment. The workstation, the equipment ( including chair ), materials, and environment. An ergonomic chair can positively affect each of the above areas by allowing ease of adjustment that can put the body in the correct posture, height and angles for the range of motion required. Why should I design a chair for myself only? If you are the primary user of the chair, why wouldn't you want that chair to fit? A chair that fits the sizes of the individual, the function to be performed in the chair and the quality/comfort for the time duration required is a must for protection against injury and for increased productivity and enjoyment from the task. Should I buy an arm option for my chair? Using a keyboard, the worker should have his forearm approximately parallel to the floor and the elbow position at close to the same height as the home row of the keyboard. An adjustable arm option on your chair relieves stress from forearms, neck, shoulders and back and promotes proper body posture. Chairs that do not support the arm, and ultimately, the rest of the body posture, may cause the worker to use hard, sharp desktops and bend their wrists. Adjustable arms allow the arm height to be changed for different workstations and different people using the chair. Several different people will be using this chair. What should I look for in this type of chair? Many of the chairs we offer will fit a broad percentile of the population. If the chair is used for 30 minutes or less, then a chair that will fit the largest person will probably be fine. Many chairs that Merit offer can be custom adjusted to fit the size and requirements of multiple users. Different users can adjust the chair for their body size and the function they need to perform. And these adjustments can be made in 30 seconds or less. Will my choosing the best chair eliminate all RSI or other problems? No chair or workspace consideration will totally eliminate the possibility of short term or long term injury. Merit Seating does not imply that our products, or anyone else's products, will eliminate workplace injury. Common sense must be used along with education on the proper postures and uses for the chair and the workspace environment in which you work. Ability to adjust and change angles and position in a chair have been shown to relieve stress on the body, thereby increasing comfort and productivity. Varying position allows the body to change movement patterns and range of motions to lesson the impact of RSI. Ergonomists generally agree on the following statements. Humans were not designed to sit for long periods of time. Humans are designed to be moving all the time and not to be sitting in a rigid forward leaning position for extended periods. Back pain is the number one reason for absenteeism and the number two reason why people seek out physicians health, after the common cold. Seventy percent of all workers do work in a seated position. Ninety percent of all these employees will suffer from a back pain episode in their working career. Back, neck and shoulder pain can be reduced from just educating workers on how to maintain a proper seated posture and can be almost totally eliminated through education training and adjustable workstation and chair. Poor seated posture can not only cause pain in the back, neck and shoulders, but reduces the ability to breathe properly, resulting in reduction of oxygen exchange to the brain. It all reduces blood circulation in lower internal organ and extremities. Chairs have different levels of ergonomic features. Comfort: The more movement a user can get in a chair, the longer the person can comfortably sit in the chair. Ease of adjustment enhances the position change. There are different adjustments and different methods of making the adjustments. A more ergonomic chair will have several adjustments, but will also make the adjustments easy from the normal seated position. Back: Adjustment of the angle allows the back to remain in contact with the users back throughout the seating angle changes. Constant back support enhances the comfort and productivity of the user. A lumbar pad in the back allows the back to maintain the natural lumbar curve present in the healthy back. This support enhances the comfort and long term health of the back. A height adjustable back allows for the back to be adjusted up or down to allow the user to fit his lumbar area correctly. The adjustable back also allows the height of the back to be moved up enough to allow for proper seat depth. Seat: The seat should have foam that is firm and resilient. The foam should allow the user to sit and not feel the seat pan underneath. The foam should be of a quality that will last several years without breaking down and collapsing. The seat should have a waterfall front. A waterfall front is when the front of the seat curves toward the floor. This provides comfort in that it helps prevent blood circulation from being restricted to the legs. This allows blood flow to be uninterrupted and adds to the total comfort of the experience. The seat should be of sufficient width to fit the largest user of the chair. Seat height should be easily adjustable to accommodate various sized people. A gas pneumatic cylinder is the most prevalent method available today. Substructure: The structure beneath the seat includes the chair control which gives the chair most of its movement and adjustability. It is the metal mechanism attached directly beneath the seat. This should be manufactured to meet industry standards in this country. The gas pneumatic cylinder is beneath the chair control and attaches the control to the base of the chair. This allows for adjustment up/down of the chair seat height. The base of the chair should meet industry standards and have five legs that extend outward from the center. The five legs allow for greater stability of the chair and do not overly interfere with the users feet. The rollers or casters attach to the bottom of the base and allow the chair to be rolled (moved) about. Many are dual-wheeled (two wheels) that allow for easier rolling. What are some of the differences in costs of chairs? The components that go into the chair generally determine whether a chair is expensive or budget. The more movement. The larger a chair, the larger some of the components. The better quality parts (stronger, longer lasting, better aesthetics). Optional comfort features. Some products on the market get a lot of their cost from the aesthetics and not necessarily the function. Merit Seating uses quality components that are manufactured for commercial use. So they last and are comfortable. Our less expensive chairs use many of the basic components in which our more expensive chairs use. They are generally smaller in size and offer less movement.