Workplace ergonomics — including healthy DSE use  — often starts strong. Training sessions are delivered, new chairs are purchased, and equipment gets adjusted. For a while, you see improvements: fewer complaints of digital eye strain and headaches, fewer reports of back or wrist pain, and maybe even a dip in absenteeism.

But then the progress stalls — or reverses. Old habits creep back in. Employees return to slouched postures, awkward workstation setups, or skipping breaks. And with that, injuries and discomfort start to rise again.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many organisations struggle to make ergonomic improvements stick.

Why Ergonomic Gains Don’t Always Last

It’s not that the advice doesn’t work — it does. The challenge is getting employees to consistently apply it, day in and day out.

A study published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation found that while ergonomic training improved knowledge and some behaviours, it didn’t reduce musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) symptoms unless it was combined with equipment changes and ongoing support. 

In other words, awareness alone isn’t enough. Without reinforcement, people often revert to what’s familiar — even if it’s harmful in the long term.

Ergonomics is a behavioural issue as much as a technical one. And that means we need behavioural solutions.

Why Employees Ignore Ergonomics Advice (Even When They Know Better)

Understanding what gets in the way is the first step to solving it. Employees don’t often actively ignore ergonomics and DSE best practices — standards slip because the broader work ecosystem lacks the infrastructure to support continued adherence.

Here are some of the most common barriers:

• It feels generic or irrelevant: Standard advice like “sit up straight” or “take breaks” doesn’t always apply to every job role or body type.
• Work pressure overrides well-being: When deadlines loom or meetings run back-to-back, it’s easy to skip a stretch or stay locked in one position for hours.
• Setup takes effort: Adjusting chairs, monitors, and lighting can feel time-consuming — especially if it needs to happen repeatedly (e.g., hot-desking or hybrid setups).
• The effects are invisible — until they’re not: Discomfort from poor ergonomics builds slowly. By the time pain appears, habits are already well-formed.
• No one else is doing it: If the workplace culture doesn’t normalise ergonomics, good behaviour feels optional — or even awkward.

To change this, companies need to go beyond awareness and actively reinforce ergonomic habits with feedback, tools, and motivation.

6 Strategies to Help Ergonomics Stick

Here are six actionable ways to turn short-term improvements into long-term culture change:

1. Share the Savings: Let Employees Benefit from Ergonomic Success

Injuries are costly — but they’re also preventable. If your ergonomics initiatives reduce injury claims, lost time, or insurance costs, share that value with your team.

Bonuses are likely the most inspiring reward, but you don’t need a huge budget. Even small incentives — like wellness gift cards, team lunches, or equipment upgrades — can motivate employees when they’re tied to real-world results.

When employees benefit directly from good ergonomics, they take ownership of the outcomes. This approach turns ergonomics from “something HR wants” into something employees have a personal stake in.

In principle, this is similar to offering employee shares in the business, which research has shown can have a beneficial impact on motivation and productivity.

2. Provide Ongoing, Visible Feedback Loops

Behavioural change requires reinforcement. Use dashboards, short surveys, or workplace posters to show employees that their habits matter and their efforts are working.

Track and share metrics like:

• Percentage of staff completing workstation self-assessments
• Uptake of microbreaks or stretch routines
• Reports of improved comfort or reduced pain
• Reduced absenteeism or claim rates

This kind of visibility promotes accountability, team-wide engagement, and a sense of momentum.

3. Use Peer Influence Through Champions and Role Models

People are more likely to follow ergonomic advice when they see respected peers doing the same. Identify individuals across different teams who consistently apply best practices and empower them as informal “ergonomics champions.”

Their role? Normalise the right behaviours by example:

• Adjusting their chair at the start of meetings
• Taking and encouraging breaks
• Offering friendly workstation tips
• Sharing personal stories around injury prevention

This bottom-up influence often works better than top-down mandates.

4. Offer Free or Low-Cost Tools to Reinforce Training

Not every business can implement a full ergonomics programme overnight — but there are ways to strengthen habits with little to no cost.

Here are a few practical, scalable tactics:

• Printable workstation setup checklists
• Stretch routine videos or GIFs
• Posters or digital signage with quick posture tips or break reminders
• Peer-led desk audits during team standups
• Manager micro-training on spotting posture risks during reviews or 1:1s
• Internal ergonomics channel for crowdsourced tips

The key is frequency. When ergonomic guidance becomes a regular part of the environment, it stops being background noise.

5. Personalise the Experience for Different Roles and Needs

Generic advice is easy to ignore. Tailoring ergonomic guidance based on individual work style, location, and physical needs makes it far more likely to stick.

Offer personalised assessments and training for:

• Office-based vs. remote employees
• Shift workers vs. desk workers
• Individuals with existing conditions
• Hot-desking or hybrid setups
• Shared workstations

Personalisation increases relevance, especially when it comes to display screen equipment use — and relevance drives action.

Enquire about bespoke DSE assessments from Cardinus.

6. Invest in Ergonomics Solutions That Influence Culture, Not Just Compliance

Lasting change in ergonomics doesn’t come from one-off training sessions or equipment upgrades alone. It happens when ergonomic principles are embedded into the daily habits, values, and behaviours of everyone across the organisation — in other words, when ergonomics becomes part of the company culture.

At this level, you can move beyond ergonomics compliance, developing custom standards that offer unparalleled protection for your people.

To reach this cultural level of influence, solutions need to:

• Be personalised and adaptive, recognising the unique needs of each employee and workstation
• Provide continuous reinforcement and real-time feedback that keeps ergonomic best practices top of mind
• Enable managers and health & safety teams to monitor and support progress centrally
• Scale easily across diverse teams and locations, including hybrid or remote workers
• Encourage peer support and accountability, making healthy ergonomics ‘the norm’ rather than the exception

This is where our end-to-end DSE/ergonomics software, Healthy Working, comes in. Healthy Working is designed to meet these exact requirements:

• Offers customisable assessments and guidance tailored to any workstation or employee, ensuring relevance and engagement
• Includes a central management hub (PACE) that simplifies tracking and managing ergonomics risks across teams and sites, giving managers clear oversight without heavy admin burden
• Enables ongoing monitoring and feedback loops that reinforce positive behaviours and highlight areas needing attention
• Supports scalability and flexibility for national or global organisations with a mix of in-office, hybrid, and remote workers

Through Healthy Working, organisations have seen injury rates drop by up to 80%, and the costs associated with ergonomics programmes cut by as much as 90%, making sustained cultural change achievable and affordable.

Want to see how our software can help first-hand?

Get a free trial of Healthy Working for up to 5% of your workforce.

Cardinus – Make Sound Ergonomics the Easy Choice

Most ergonomics programmes fail not because the advice is wrong — but because the follow-through is missing. Employees don’t need more lectures — they need a system that supports behaviour change, celebrates progress, and adapts to real-world needs.

By combining smart incentives, visible feedback, peer influence, and personalised tools, you can create a workplace where ergonomics is instinctive.

Contact Cardinus today to learn more about how we can support you and your team.