The Safety in Ergonomic Chairs - A Safer Way to Transfer For the Big and Tall People

Most people never think about safety, whenfloor, back behind the position of your knees. If
sitting in an ergonomic chair. However, safety isyou can raise your seat higher even better, for
an important area to consider, because of theease of getting out.
risks inherent in movement. If you're moving• Now lean forward from the hips and clasp
incorrectly, this may cause an injury to yourboth hands in front of you, stretching them out.
skeletal joints, or the ergonomic chair itself mayYour body weight should now be forward, so that
not be safe for movement.as you continue to lean forward more, your
The most important safety issue to remember,buttocks will rise out of the seat and you can
when sitting in an ergonomic chair; is the chair isstraighten your legs, until you are in a standing
never secure on the floor. The chair is fitted withposition.
casters, which means the chair will roll, when• If you are still having difficulty getting out of
transferring out of the chair. There is a danger ofthe chair, using with this method. Try using a
falls without locking castors, when getting out ofrocking action that will roll your body forward, until
an ergonomic chair.you are able to stand up out of the chair. It will
Locking castors are available on my website for alltake a lot of patience and work, but you need to
chairs, which will be discussed in another article.be able to do this in other transfer activities such
The ergonomic chair is not only unsafe, becauseas getting out of bed and off the toilet. So do try
of casters that don't lock; but the seat can alsopracticing this, as it will help your movements
move with a swivel device. This presents anotherbecome easier.
danger, as there needs to be a locking device forTransferring safely from an ergonomic chair is an
securing the seat, before transferring out of theimportant concern for safe functional transfer
chair.activity. This is because the ergonomic chair is not
Most people use the chair armrests for gettingstable, due to the casters fitted to the chair and
out of the ergonomic chair. The danger here isalso the swivel action of the seat, makes for
that the chair will move backwards and you willunsafe sitting stability.
end up on the floor, without locking castors. IfLearning to stand independently of the chair is
you are in the category of Big or Tall, then youimportant without using the armrests, particularly
are going to be in even more trouble trying towhen you are in the Big and Tall category;
get up from the floor.because you have the potential to fall by putting
There is a safer way to get off the floor bytoo much weight on the armrests for safe
yourself, but you need to be aware of the safetytransfers. Transferring out from an ergonomic
issues, before purchasing an ergonomic chair.chair should be a dynamic transfer movement to
To get up out of an ergonomic chair, withoutimprove your overall balance mechanism; which
using the armrests is better; because it willwill facilitate further active movements in your
encourage safer movements, increase yourbody which will respond to in a purposeful manner.
balance mechanism and help increase yourSafety is an important issue to consider in an
tolerance for easier movements in your body:ergonomic chair, when movement occurs in
• You first need to come forward towards theperforming productive activities. If the chair has
front of the seat, by moving each pelvic bonemoving part, without locking mechanism there are
forward, until you are near the front of your seat.potential danger in falls or other injuries.
Make sure that your feet are firmly placed on the