A healthier working day takes more than a better chair

You adjust the screen, buy a better chair and remind yourself to move. Then the calls run back-to-back and lunchtime disappears. Is the problem really your setup—or the way the day works?

Equipment matters. So does having the opportunity to use it differently. A useful approach considers the workstation, the pattern of work and the conditions that allow people to change position and move.

Make the setup work for the task

Start with what you actually do. Can you reach the keyboard and mouse comfortably? Are your feet supported? Can you position the screen so you can see it clearly without awkwardly arranging yourself around it? Safe Work Australia’s workstation resource provides a practical starting point. [1]

Regular laptop work may be easier to arrange with separate input devices and an appropriately positioned screen. Frequent calls may warrant a headset. Test adjustments against the task and your comfort, rather than trying to hold a diagram’s exact posture all day.

If the equipment cannot be adjusted or shared workstations do not fit, record the difficulty and discuss it. Repeatedly reminding yourself to sit differently cannot fix an unsuitable work surface.

Make movement possible within the work

WHO recommends limiting sedentary time and replacing some of it with physical activity. This is a general-health recommendation, not a diagnosis of what causes an individual sore neck or back. [2]

Look for opportunities that fit the task: moving between calls, walking during a suitable conversation or changing position while reading. Safe Work Australia encourages work design that allows variation in posture and movement, including for people doing standing work. [3]

A height-adjustable desk offers another option, rather than an instruction to stand all day. Agreeing when movement is feasible may be more useful than setting reminders that the workload makes impossible to follow.

Equipment works within a wider system

A 2022 trial involving 756 UK council workers tested a sitting-reduction intervention, with and without height-adjustable desks. At 12 months, both intervention groups sat less than the usual-practice group; the reduction was larger with desks. Crucially, the intervention included organisational and behavioural support. It tested more than a furniture purchase. [4]

The result supports the possibility of changing sitting behaviour through a coordinated workplace approach. It does not establish that a desk alone will resolve neck or back pain.

That distinction matters when deciding what to request: equipment, changes to the diary, support from colleagues, or a combination.

Ask who can change the barrier

Some changes sit with the worker; others need organisational action. WHO’s mental-health-at-work guidance includes organisational interventions alongside individual support. Workplace wellbeing therefore needs attention to how work is arranged, not only how individuals cope with it. [5]

For a worker, a useful starting point is one specific observation: “I cannot leave the screen between calls”, or “The shared desk does not adjust to a workable height”. Raise it with your manager or health and safety representative and discuss a feasible change.

For a manager, ask whether scheduling allows breaks, equipment is usable and workers can suggest adjustments without being treated as less committed. Movement opportunities can be part of that response; they do not compensate for excessive demands or other workplace hazards.

Trial one change and review what happened

Choose one equipment adjustment or work-process change and agree when to review it. Ask whether people could use it, whether it made the task more workable and what still got in the way. These are practical review questions, not a validated treatment protocol.

If symptoms persist, worsen or limit function, seek individual assessment. A better working arrangement and clinical care can complement each other.

References

1. Safe Work Australia. Setting up your workstation infographic. Publication page dated 2 August 2023; PDF labelled July 2023. Source ↗.

2. World Health Organization. Physical activity. Source ↗.

3. Safe Work Australia. Sitting and standing. Source ↗.

4. Edwardson CL et al. Effectiveness of an intervention for reducing sitting time and improving health in office workers: three arm cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2022;378:e069288. doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-069288. Source ↗.

5. World Health Organization. Guidelines on mental health at work. 28 September 2022. Source ↗.