Creating a Safe Standing Desk in Your Temporary Home Workspace

Have you recently found yourself working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak? If so, you may be looking for ways to create a safe and ergonomically friendly workspace.

Earlier this month, we published tips for creating a seated temporary work area but depending on your work set-up in your permanent office, you may be looking to add an ergo-friendly standing workstation.

Using a counter or a tall table, along with items already in your house, you can set-up a temporary standing workspace that is safe and supports smart ergonomics.

When creating your standing workstation, ensure that your body position allows you to:

• Keep Your Head Back and Chin Tucked
• Align Ears, Shoulders, and Hips
• Elbows at Your Sides and Flexed at 90 Degrees

Your space should allow your computer to be at eye level. Ideally, the top 1/3 of your screen should be level with your eyes.

For more detailed information on setting up your space including specifics on arm/wrist positioning, recommended footwear, using external keyboards, download our free diagram handout here. 

When using your standing workstation, it is best to adhere to the following guidelines for best practices:

• Limit total standing time each day to 30% of the day.
• Stand no longer than 20 minutes at a time.
• Sit down when fatigued, uncomfortable, or legs, feet, or low back have any discomfort.
• Use earbuds, headphones, or speakers to walk/stretch during meetings.
• Do no begin a standing regimen without physician supervision for medical conditions or family history of cardiovascular diseases.