I advise one of our call-centers and have been asked to consider a request from an operative to use a gym ball instead of a conventional office chair, as they "feel" it would allow them to be more comfortable and have other health benefits over an office chair. They cite lower back pain as a justifying reason. From what limited information I have, there are as many negatives as positives and the health benefits may well be outweighed by the health risks. Quite apart from this, the DSE regs require seating that is both stable and adjustable, characteristics that quite patently a gym ball would not normally have. Obviously this has to be tempered by making "reasonable adjustments" but even so, I struggle with the concept of a gym ball providing a stable seating solution - I would think they were inherently unstable. This also does not take into account any other factors such as getting the correct size of ball for the desk heights etc. Personally I don't see why a properly designed office chair, maybe a backless version, would not be every bit as good or better than a gym ball - coupled with advice to move around more, and to try incorporate changes of posture during the work. This along with advice to the user to get better advice from the medical profession, should be a more reasoned response. It's a pretty large call center (200+) and I want to ensure we have a properly considered response to this issue, otherwise we could end up with all sorts of "alternative" seating arrangements being requested. Any other views please?

IMO the chair would be best, not just for clairel's comment about giant football, which sound like fun :) but have you thought if the person slips off the ball and hit their head against the desk behind. Mike

It may be a gym ball chair product that is being suggested http://www.johnlewis.com...p;tmad=c&tmcampid=73 Others are available - They have been around in the states for a while but not sure of the benefits/best usage. You get an exercise book to go with it. Peter

There must be some physios or perhaps "new age" gurus advising people that it is beneficial to use these at work as I had a similar request at my last place of work (and not) surprisingly it was one of the members of a call centre team who was making the request. The request was dealt with via the process of risk assessment - the aforementioned and very foreseeable risk of injury through falling off the ball and banging a head of surrounding furniture meant this wasn't a long or complex process! Our Occ Health Advisor at the time fully supported this. What we did allow was for the requester to use the ball in a designated "safe" area during their breaks and gave all relevant advice about keeping active, taking regular breaks etc. This solved the problem and never heard about it again & never did find out whether the "ball" was used during breaks or not. My money is on "not"!

Because there is some evidence that they do more harm than good.

One of the employees in my office had a gym ball chair provided for him a few years ago. When the office was re-organised and he moved floors he didn't take the chair with him and has never used it again. Another employee requested one recently - he said that his physiotherapist recommended it. We swapped his chair for a different one in the office and never heard anything else. Another thing to consider is that a height adjustable desk will probably be needed with a gym ball type chair. I agree with 'Clairel' that a properly adjustable chair with adequate rest breaks should be more than sufficient. Can the employee be referred to occupational health or for an assessment by a third party - a specialist chair might be required.

The work carried out by DR A C Mandal in the 1980's regarding seated work remains the leading work in this field. I would refer anyone to his highly readable book "The seated man - Homo Sedens" and his website. http://www.acmandal.com/ Gym balls do offer a more ergonomic seating solution than ordinary chairs and some find them useful. Alternately the use of Bambach saddle chairs or the raised, forward-inclined seating position recommended by Mandal can be useful. I've been recommending trying such seating where back problems are reported for years. I've seen such balls used in offices and if it works for the person using it.... Physios will recommend such things where back problems exist. Unfortunately most of us like to slouch in a conventional chair which probably has poor lumbar support etc.