How to Adjust an Ergonomics Office Chair
This educational video will take you through the 5 basic steps of fitting an ergonomics task chair to yourself or someone you are assisting. We are going to start with the feet and work our way up the body.
Seat height adjustment. The lever is located on the right-hand side of the chair. To lower the seat, pull up on the lever while sitting in the chair. To raise the seat, pull up on the lever while standing from the chair.
The ideal position is to sit against the chair’s back rest and place your feet firmly on the floor with a 90 degree or greater angle between the hip and knee. Seat depth adjustment This lever is typically located on the left-hand side of the chair.
Use this adjustment to change the length of the seat for longer or shorter upper leg length. Pull-up on the lever to move the seat pan back and forth. To make this adjustment while you are seated in the chair, press your body against the backrest and move your body back and forth.
Try to leave the width of 2 to 3 fingers between the front of the seat and the back of your legs when adjusting the seat depth. Lumbar height adjustment. Chairs are designed differently. For this adjustment, your chair may have either a fixed back height with an adjustable lumbar section or a ratchet backrest that when adjusted higher or lower moves the lumbar curve to fit into the curve of your low back.
To adjust the lumbar section on a chair with a fixed back rest height, move the lumbar section up or down to fit the curve of your low back. To adjust the lumbar section on a chair with a ratchet backrest, grasp the backrest with both hands at the bottom, pull it upwards to the position where the lumbar section fits the curve in your low back.
If the backrest is too high, pull it all the way to the top position and let it drop to the bottom. The adjustments should start again. The ideal position is for the lumbar curve of the backrest to fit into the curve of your low back.
Some chairs offer the capability of increasing or decreasing the firmness of the lumbar support section just described. Your chair may have a knob on the back of the chair that when rotated forward increases the firmness and when rotated backwards decreases the firmness.
Other chairs offer a way to increase or decrease the firmness by inflating or deflating the air bladder. If available, this adjustment is located on the rear of the backrest. Pressing the bulb inwards increases the firmness and depressing the small black button decreases the firmness.
Back angle adjustment. This lever is located on the right-hand side of the chair, typically in the back. Pull up on the lever to unlock the back. Keep holding it up and move your backrest to the position you want.
Let go of the lever and this will lock the backrest in place. It is recommended to lock the backrest while working on the computer. Some chairs offer lock and unlock with tension control. This lever is located on the right-hand side of the chair near the front.
Turn the knob in front of the lever to set a comfortable tension. To encourage movement while using the phone or attending meetings, release the backrest to allow for movement throughout the range. Arm Rest Adjustment.
Both the height and width of the arm rests can be adjusted. To adjust the arm height, use the trigger release button located on the outside or the inside of the arm rest to raise and lower the height.
To adjust the arm width, slide the arm cap or on some chairs unscrew the knob under the chair arm, to move it inward or outward. Where applicable, to pivot the arm rests, turn the arm cap or on some chairs lift and turn the entire arm cap and position at the desired location.
The ideal position for the arm rests is to place the height slightly below the natural fall of the arms. Learning to adjust your chair or assist someone with adjusting theirs will provide more seated comfort throughout the day.
For instructions specific to the chair you purchased through the matching funds program, please refer to the adjustment instructions located next to the chair model on the pre-approved product list at this link