Posted By DavidW Hope someone out there can help with this. As a result of a DSE Assessment, I've been asked to provide one of those kneeling chairs (no back but have a pad for your knees to rest on). The chap says he has used one before and they suit him better than any other chair, especially the "orthopedic" type chairs. Does anyone have experience of providing these for office staff and are they suitable? Any help appreciated. Thanks David

Posted By Manny Carl, the question asked was "are they suitable?". I think it is up to the company on how they spend their budget. Manny

Posted By Simon Carrier David I have provided these to about 4 people on our site, having tried conventional chairs first. The user reported an improvement and have been using them ever since. The cost difference is not significantly more than a decent normal chair. Just be aware that you can get cheap and cheerful kneeling stools from IKEA type places but they do not last long, I eventually settled on a Hag stool, well made and good level of padding. regards

Posted By Steve Conway My experience has been that standard office chairs (if there is such as thing) are suitable for about 90% of people. The remainder, usually the very tall/short/large and those with lower back problems (me!) require an alternative. This is usually a chair with more adjustments in particular - a seat base that tilts forward with a back rest that can be adjusted independently of the seat. These tend to be suitable for the majority of the 10%. However, there are a few who find them unsuitable and may benefit from a kneeling chair. I've been using the same one for the past 12 years (a HAG which been recovered a few times). I have loaned it out to others to try but they didn't get along with it. Based on the information you provided, I would say in this case a kneeling chair is suitable, provided as Simon says it has a good level of padding. Steve

Posted By Simon Carrier The kneeling chair meets all the requirements bar the back support, however the configuration of it ensures that the user adopts a correct posture. I take the view that if the user is comfortable and it helps solve their problem then that is ok, consult and work through the problems together. However if you force people to use them that is a different story and will lead to problems. regards

Posted By Alison WR There is a strong body of opinion that kneeling chairs exchange one wrong posture for an equal but opposite wrong posture. We use ball chairs to rehabilitate people [so far only one user has been able to slouch - it was quite impressive!] - the instability forces them to start using their core muscles. Ball chairs can be tiring to begin with, so the user swaps between ball chair and conventional. Alison

Posted By J Knight My partner (a physio) has pointed out that the slouching posture identified as being better for the back actually puts the pelvis and spine in the same relationship as a saddle, ball chair or kneeling chair would, so maybe the research isn't as new as the authors think. I think kneeling chairs can cause knee problems (doh!) and are not as good in the long term as ball or saddle chairs, John