Keeping employees happy and healthy is important for a company to maintain productivity. Studies show acceptance of working mothers is increasing, likely as more mothers are returning to the workforce. With the work force increasing, it is more important than ever to avoid illness or injury, at the very least those contracted in the workplace itself.

After years of no change in how men’s and women’s places in the workplace are viewed by Americans, the culture finally seems to be shifting towards more egalitarian views. A new report from the Council on Contemporary Families reports that men and women have become more accepting of women working outside the home since 2006.

After years of growing acceptance in these roles since the 1970s, the trend plateaued in the mid-1990s, according to study leader David Cotter, a sociologist at Union College in New York. “The stalling persisted through both through boom and bust times,” Cotter says.

However, by 2012, less than one-third of Americans believed the ideal family was one in which the husband works and the wife stays home, and 65% disagreed that a working mother’s young children suffer. This is as opposed to 66% of Americans in 1970 who believed women should stay home, and 68% who felt that a working mother did negatively effect her children.

This growing acceptance implies that there are more women entering the workforce, making it more important than ever for workers to remain healthy, in order to take advantage of the increased workforce, and avoid decreased productivity.

In workplaces across the United States, many billions of dollars are lost every year in revenue as workplaces need to compensate for sick leave. When an employee is out sick, not only does the employers have to cover their sick leave, but the company as a whole suffers from decreased productivity, as a result of being understaffed. It’s important to keep employee injury and illness to a minimum, and there are steps to take in the workplace to do so.

If you’re working in an office, there’s not much you can do about having to work while seated for hours at a time. You can take periodic breaks to walk around and get your blood flowing, and to rest your eyes. But even if you’re stuck at your desk, there are steps you can take to make yourself a little more comfortable, and avoid illness or injury.

The most important way to maintain your health and well-being in the workplace is to make sure you are sitting in the right chair. You’ll want to look for an adjustable, ergonomic chair that you can adjust to suit your particular needs.

Not only will such a chair make you more comfortable, but it will help to avoid musculoskeletal disorders such as arthritis or repetitive strain injuries, which arise through constant, daily, discomfort from working in a bad sitting position. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair can also lead to bad posture, which results in back pain.

A well-adjusted, ergonomic office chair not only helps prevent back pain, but also helps to make sure your body is well-aligned, and distanced from the other tools you use as part of your job. For example, excessive or improper use of a computer can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, which is one of the chief causes of injury and accidents in the workplace.

Proper seat adjustment also helps to ensure that you are sitting at the correct distance and angle from your computer monitor. you should be looking at your monitor from a distance of 25 inches away, and should be looking down at about a 15 degree angle.

As the work force increases by the day, it’s important to make sure that everyone is health and happy at work, so they keep coming back day after day, maintaining productivity and avoiding wasted resources. Ensuring you’re in the optimum comfort at your desk can help keep you in good shape.