Consider for a moment how much money you were willing to spend on your sofa compared to your office chair.
More than likely, you put some time and thought into picking out the most comfortable couch you could and shelled out thousands so you could relax on it for a couple hours every night. For your office chair, on the other hand, you likely picked out the cheapest model you could find and begrudgingly handed over a few tenners so you could sit in it 8+ hours a day, 5+ days a week.
What’s wrong with this picture? Yet it’s happening in every office in Ireland and well beyond. Although there’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to save money, this is an area that could seriously hurt you or even kill you in the long run. There are several reasons for that which we’re going to explore, so keep reading to find out exactly why cheap office chairs are not OK.
Health Concerns
There are not only a number of health concerns that come with being seated all day, but others that come from sitting in a cheap office chair that doesn’t provide the right support for your body. Cheap office chairs are made from cheap materials which means they don’t compare to the comfort level that you’ll get from your couch, even though you’re spending significantly more time in them every day.
The biggest sufferer when it comes to a cheap office chair is your back. Without good back support, your back will become strained, and this can lead to a myriad of other problems, including back pain, headaches, slow digestion, and poor blood circulation. These problems can then lead to other problems, turning your cheap office chair into an avalanche of health concerns.
Danger of Accidents
When an office chair is made cheaply, it means that some corners were cut, and although that usually just means they use the scratchiest fabric they can find and the hardest filling for the cushion, it could also mean that corners have been cut in the area of safety. You may not realize that every time you sit on your cheap office chair, you are putting yourself in danger of injury.
Although rare, there have been reports of people severely injured or even killed by exploding office chairs. This is because of the gas-pressured lifting mechanism that many cheap office chairs have. If the company decides to save money on office chairs by filling it with air rather than the type of gas they’re supposed to, then there is a risk that these chairs could explode at any moment.
Decreased Productivity
It’s no secret that when you’re uncomfortable, you have a hard time focusing on what you’re doing because you end up spending so much time trying to get comfortable or at least ease your discomfort. When you use cheap office chairs, you are often uncomfortable the entire time you are at work, starting from the moment you first sit down.
As your attention is constantly taken away from what you are doing to how you are feeling, it’s easy to see how cheap office chairs can limit how much you are able to get done in a day and how well you are able to do it. It could even prevent you from getting that raise you’re going after because you simply weren’t able to produce the same level of work as the guy who wasn’t afraid to spend more money on a nice office chair that lets him concentrate on his work.
Bottom Line
If you want to improve your health, lower your risk of being in a life-threatening work accident, and improve your productivity, upgrade your office chair from that cheap one you’ve been using. You’ll see an immediate difference and wonder why you didn’t switch sooner.