From The Ergoweb® Learning Center

On the Ball, But Not Ergonomic

A book advocating fitness balls as office seating is in the news in April, and an article about it in a Canadian newspaper promises to revive arguments about the value of perching on an oversized balloon in the office as an “ergonomic” activity. The consensus in the ergonomics community is that it is anything but ergonomic.

The issue surfaces periodically, particularly when the balls are advocated for mitigating or averting the musculoskeletal disorders that bedevil workers in many occupations. Experts quoted in an Ergonomics Today