“Our eyes have evolved for three-dimensional viewing,” New York optometrist Andrea Thau of the American Optometric Association said, “so we wind up over-focusing as we strain to find a 3D image on a close-up 2D screen.”
Computer Vision Syndrome is a growing problem as more people spend time focusing on a point two feet in front of them – their computer monitor – rather than 20 feet in front of them, where the eyes’ natural focus lies. This is just one of the risks faced by modern office workers. Today’s workforce faces a host of issues as people force their bodies to do things for which they were never designed, from focusing on close-up computer screens to sitting for eight or more hours at a time.
While the unusual strains of the office environment on the human body cannot be completely eliminated, creating a great workstation environment can significantly reduce the risks involved in office work and increase overall employee satisfaction and health.
1Stop Office Furniture’s workstations are designed with users’ needs in mind. These specialized designs establish the basis for creating a stellar workstation environment that reduces the problems faced by today’s office workers. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) makes several recommendations about modern workstations from lighting needs to ventilation. 1Stop’s furniture solutions help you meet these recommendations in your office environment.
Appropriate lighting is essential to avoiding eye strain. One of the biggest culprits in stressing eyes is bad lighting, usually caused by too much or inappropriate lighting on or around the computer screen. If a bright light is shining on your computer’s display your screen can have a glare on it or appear washed out, causing you to strain to read or to move physically closer to your screen.
In addition to ensuring that overhead lighting is from rows of light parallel to your line of sight and that lighting is diffused, you can lower overall lighting that may come from any source simply by choosing the right height of partition for your workstation environment, shielding your computer monitor from unwanted interference caused by various light sources.
Supplemental lighting can be used in other areas of your desk to make it easier to read papers and other physical documents, while still controlling the light that hits your computer screen. 1Stop offers a variety of workstation colors and configurations with varying heights, allowing you to choose what works best for your office, while giving you the freedom to have ample areas of your desk devoted to paperwork in addition to your computer screen.
The variety of workstation heights also helps you choose workstation solutions that fit OSHA’s number two cause of eye strain in the office environment, monitors set against bright light sources such as natural light from windows. When a bright light source is behind your computer display, it can create contrast problems and cause difficulty in seeing your work on-screen. A configurable office workstation that allows you to comfortably adjust your position compared to light sources is essential. In addition, choosing a taller workstation solution can block these undesirable interferences altogether.
1Stop Office Furniture‘s workstations also help ensure that workers are set at an optimal distance and angle from their computer monitors, further lowering the risk of eye strain as well as alleviating uncomfortable or unhealthy posture adjustments. Creating an optimal workstation environment begins with focusing on the health and comfort of employees through using carefully designed workstations that work with your overall office environment to build a healthy working environment. When you work with the office furniture professionals at 1Stop, you’ll discover the best ways to improve your office space and build a great workstation environment.
