24-hour chairs and control-room chairs: what matters
A chair for a control room is not a better office chair, it is a different one. What decides the matter is a standard that many suppliers do not mention — and a warranty condition you ought to know before you buy.
The standard makes the difference: EN 1335 or BS 5459-2
Every ordinary office chair is tested to the European standard EN 1335. Its test basis is unambiguous: eight hours of daily use by people up to 110 kg. A chair that meets this standard is simply not designed for shift work.
For continuous use there is the British standard BS 5459-2. It tests whether a chair is suitable for more than eight hours a day and for people up to 150 kg. That is the figure to ask about when you put work out to tender.
| EN 1335 (Europe) | BS 5459-2 (United Kingdom) | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily use | 8 hours | more than 8 hours |
| User weight | up to 110 kg | up to 150 kg |
| Intended for | the ordinary workplace | shift work, changing users |
At 24/7 the warranty is a different one
This is rarely mentioned, but it is what the Flokk warranty conditions say:
- Normal case: 10 years — at no more than nine hours of use a day.
- 24/7 use: 5 years — and only if the chair was expressly bought for that purpose and covered in a fabric or leather approved for 24/7.
- Gas lifts: HÅG safety gas lifts carry a lifetime warranty — chairs used for more than nine hours a day are excepted. In continuous use the gas lift is therefore a wearing part like any other.
Anyone equipping a 24-hour workplace should not pick the cover by colour alone. Talk to us before you order — we will check whether the colour you want is approved for continuous use.
What we stock
Our range for control rooms, control centres and shift workplaces:
- RH Secur24 3130 — the classic control-room chair, in several covers (Climatex Ultra, 24/7 part-leather, Dolce)
- RH Logic 200, 220, 300 and 400 — the Logic range covers everything from the lean to the fully equipped workplace
- RH Focus Ultra
- Giroflex 60-9229 and 60-9829 24h
You will find all the models in the category 24-hour chairs and under heavy-duty chairs.
And the HÅG Capisco?
A question we are often asked — and the answer is no. The Capisco is not certified for 24-hour operation. Within the HÅG programme only SoFi, Executive and Futu are tested to BS 5459-2. The Capisco is an outstanding chair for active sitting at an ordinary workplace; for a control room it is the wrong one.
We say so even though the Capisco is our best-selling chair. A chair that fails in continuous use costs you more than the difference in the purchase price.
What else matters in practice
Changing users. At a 24-hour workplace three people sit on the same chair in a day. Everything that can be adjusted has to be adjustable quickly — without tools and without a manual.
The cover. A fabric used by three shifts goes through in one year what a normal office chair goes through in three. Abrasion resistance and cleanability count for more here than looks.
Advice before the tender. With control rooms it is rarely about one chair but about an installation with fixed requirements. For business customers we quote from five pieces upwards and deliver with assembly on request.
Read on
Heavy-duty chairs and the permissible user weight · The warranty conditions in detail · Business customers and contract business