Whether the chair will be for the home office or an activity-based workplace, it can be difficult to navigate through the assortment of office chairs. A chair is part of the décor, and many people want one that both looks good and is comfortable to sit in for long periods. We’ve put together some questions whose answers may help you find the perfect chair or chairs.
How and where a chair will be used influences the choice of chair. Chairs that stimulate active sitting and movement during meetings are suitable for the conference room. Chairs with armrests can be a good choice for the meeting room. If you work for many hours at a desk with a computer, you need a work chair that can cope with 8–9 hours sitting.
Select a chair that allows you to change position regularly, as the body reacts automatically to long periods of static sitting. The office chair must be easy to adjust to vary the sitting position. Every person is unique and should have a chair that provides good support where needed and which can be adjusted to suit the person’s height, weight and body size. An office chair can have more than 10 different settings, but the most important are seat height, seat depth and back height. At Savo, we feel the best settings on the chair are the ones people actually use.
Whether or not your chair needs armrests depends on whether you work with your arms resting on your desk or on your armrests. Remember to locate the keyboard and mouse such that you can support your hands and arms on the desk if you do not have armrests. If you choose a chair with armrests, fixed armrests may be enough, but adjustable or multi-functional variants are a good choice if you want to adjust and tilt the armrests. Height-adjustable armrests with a glide-back function allows the occupant to slide the armrests backwards as necessary.
A good office chair provides good resistance and support for both back and lumbar region. Strain injuries are one of the most common causes of reportable occupational illnesses, and unsuitable working positions are a common cause. A good chair prevents strain injuries and fatigue that can be caused by sitting in the same chair for several hours. To prevent back strain from becoming worse, the seat should provide good full back support and have adjustable lumbar support. Seat comfort should be so high that you are unaware of the base when sitting in the chair. A seat that can tilt forward makes it easier to adjust sitting during the day.
Many office chairs have swivel stands with casters that assist your back musculature and make it easy to turn to reach something on your desk, for example. Will the chair be on a plastic, wooden, carpeted or concrete floor or tiles? This influences the choice of suitable casters. Savo has braked and decompression braked casters for hard floors and non-braked casters for soft floors.
While upholstery is a major part of a chair’s visual expression, it is also important for comfort. The fabric should be durable enough to withstand 8 hours sitting. A mesh fabric back is a good choice for preventing the chair from becoming too hot or uncomfortable after many hours seated. In some environments with high hygiene standards, it is necessary to use chairs in e.g. integral skin foam that can be wiped off. Leather is easy to clean, but fabric upholstery can feel cooler.
