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Given the amount of time we spend interacting with technology, either for work, school or personal use, ergonomics specialists have encountered new and growing challenges for keeping us healthy. We know that sedentary lifestyles are deadly to our health, yet the days when most of us could count on a job that keeps us physically active are long over as the U.S. switches to becoming a high-tech service economy.

We also know that the U.S. workforce is aging, which presents even greater health challenges when it comes to ergonomics. A body that doesn’t easily “bounce back” from long periods of sitting will deteriorate more quickly due to inactivity. Yet with each new release of technology or gadget, we add yet more unhealthful contortions to our daily routine. We are also starting to become glued to technology at younger and younger ages, with evidence that children spend much more time poring over small screens than they do actively playing.

In-depth studies of the way we use our bodies while we use technology have revealed some pretty grim statistics, according to a recent article by Avinash Rajagopa for Metropolis Magazine.

“Today, our ?ngers are furiously swiping and typing, our shoulders are hunched, our spines are curved, our necks are either bent over tiny screens or swiveling to catch the magni?cent sweep of big ones, and we increasingly want to start doing these things earlier in life and keep doing them later in life,” writes Rajagopa. “We continue to go wide-eyed at the release of each new smartphone and we want to use technology everywhere, with little thought for the physiological and cultural consequences. How can we learn to use our bodies more kindly in this new millennium?”

It’s not just a matter of health. For many enterprises, employees suffering from sedentary lifestyle (and work style) health challenges become an expensive burden on operations, resulting in excessive absences or higher health insurance costs. For companies with workers who are particularly tied to their chairs and screens, the challenge is even greater.

The contact center is one such place that is seeing the lion’s share of injuries from poor furniture design and too much technology. The average worker spends an entire shift in front of a screen, wearing a headset, stopping only to take meal or bathroom breaks. Unlike traditional office workers, they seldom need to get up to retrieve something from the printer or speak with someone in another office, cubicle or part of the building. Since contact centers are already plagued by high job turnover, how can they try to keep workplace injuries to a minimum?

It starts with properly designed contact center furniture that allows workers to move and change positions. Chairs, desks and keyboard stands that are designed for optimum health may seem like a luxury – until you add up how much repetitive motion and poor posture injuries can cost an organization. Call center furniture designer Interior Concepts offers what it calls “sit-to-stand” workstations that provide the ability to frequently change positions and help to improve not only computer-related repetitive stress injuries but also overall health. By allowing workers to adjust their furniture to different positions, these employees can continue to move their bodies and their muscles throughout the day, reducing strain and increasing blood flow, helping eliminate some of the risks that come along with a fixed sitting position all day long.

Other fixes may be using simply applications that remind employees to periodically stand, stretch and engage and simple isometric exercises. On-site exercise equipment may encourage employees to use free time to get the blood – and their metabolisms – moving.