Dangers of Sitting on Office Chairs
Sitting on office chairs does pose certain dangers, primarily manifesting in three aspects: health risks, safety hazards, and explosion risks.
Health Risks: Prolonged sitting itself poses a general threat to health, and incorrect sitting posture further exacerbates the harm. When a person sits with improper posture, the pressure on the lumbar spine soars from about 100 kilograms when standing to 180 kilograms. Over time, the cervical and lumbar spines gradually develop problems, with over 65% of office workers suffering from lumbar spine issues. Additionally, comfortable office chairs with wheels tend to encourage prolonged sitting, keeping various body parts in a relatively fixed state for extended periods. This leads to chronic, steady pressure on the shoulders and neck, triggering degeneration in different body parts. It may also be accompanied by a series of health problems such as lower back pain, back pain, neck pain, wrist pain, and hemorrhoids.
Safety Hazards: There have been multiple recalls of office chairs in the market, with problems mainly concentrated on component failures such as backrest breakage and bolt failure. These failures directly cause users to fall and get injured, with a cumulative total of 19 injury reports. These cases indicate that the structural safety of office chairs cannot be ignored. Once a component fails, it may cause direct harm to the user.
Explosion Risks: Pneumatic lift chairs carry an explosion risk and are commonly found in offices, homes, and barbershops. Over the past decade or so, there have been more than forty tragic incidents in China where the pneumatic rod of the chair has burst from the bottom and penetrated the human body. Uneven wall thickness or excessive pre-compression of the gas spring, as well as overheating caused by frequent height adjustments and rotations, can all lead to explosions. Under normal circumstances, the pneumatic rod should be filled with high-purity inert gas nitrogen, but some low-quality pneumatic rods use free high-pressure air instead of inert gas. In high temperatures or when the chair is frequently raised and lowered, the pressure inside the pneumatic rod surges rapidly, making it highly likely to explode and cause serious harm to the user.
