Today, it’s impossible to talk about workplace health without the mention of the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. This is largely due to the fact that the average worker partakes in this lifestyle by sitting 8-10 hours a day. This means the average worker is significantly increasing his or her risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, spine damage and muscular degeneration. You may already be aware of the risks, but are not familiar with some of the solutions. Well, one company in Conshohoken, PA took protecting their employees from these harmful effects into their own hands and called EthoSource.
Office ergonomics have been evolving to help minimize health risks in the workplace and even decrease the amount of sitting workers must do throughout the day. EthoSource has been helping create office environments that promote and support healthier lifestyles for companies all over the country, so when this PA company called us, we were eager to share with them what we could do for their business. After communicating with our design professionals and sales team on what they were looking for in their new office, we came up withe just the right furniture solutions for their work style and space.
The Solution? Adjustable height workstations for every employee. It’s true, sitting all day is bad for you, but standing all day isn’t much better. A balance between the two is the best way to get the blood flowing and trigger the fat-burning and blood sugar-decreasing functions of the body that you need. In order to most conveniently achieve this was to incorporate furniture that caters to both standing and sitting without disrupting your concentration or productivity throughout the day. The sit-to-stand worksurfaces were the way to go for this modern, ergonomic office.
“This was the first large scale sit to stand application I provided on a floor plan,” Account Executive, Brian Pethick said. From the beginning our design team, spearheaded by Designer, Jenna Kurtz, worked with the company to narrow down the specifics of how the stations would fit in their floor plan and how the worksurfaces would together achieve the sit-to-stand functionality that was best for each worker. This included top-notch furniture renderings to give the customer detailed visuals of what to expect from the layout once built in their space.
The project included over 95 workstations, all with L-shaped or U-shaped worksurfaces that feature a shared, normal height worksurface and an adjustable height worksurface facing the station’s spine. The shared worksurfaces included a frosted, up-mount glass divider to retain the privacy of each employee. Some of the stations were configured in a bullpen shape to encourage collaboration between employees, while the dividers helped establish separation between others. Employees have the ability to raise the height of their worksurface to match their standing height, and still have the normal height surface to also work from depending on their task or need to sit or stand.
All of the workstations were refurbished Ethospace utilizing a white laminate surface, translucent glass tiles on the spine, light/neutral fabrics and a mobile pedestal for simple and flexible storage. Every employee also enjoyed the additional ergonomic benefits of brand new Compel task chairs (105 total). These chairs included a molded foam cushion seat and breathable mesh back with zone-adjustable lumbar, seat-depth and height and synchro-tilt movement with lock and tension adjustments to help users achieve optimal comfort. In addition to these workstation set-ups, the office furnishings also included 30 9-to-5 side chairs, 10 Compel nesting tables, 6 armless stools and 1 gorgeous conference meeting table.
The company took advantage of EthoSource’s ability to creatively blend new and refurbished office furniture to create a beautiful, high-end office environment in a cost-effective way. They love their new workplace and their unique, customized ability to stay active and healthy throughout the workday. “I think that with sit to stand applications becoming more affordable and modern medicine now saying that sitting all day in a workspace does as much harm as smoking, we will continue to see an increase in the sit to stand application in the comping years,” Brian says.
If you’re looking to incorporate top-tier ergonomics into your office, or have unique needs for your employees, let EthoSource help you create the perfect office for you!
For more photos of the project, see below:
