During the last years much research has been done on improving both the quality of the office related works and sedentary employees’ health. Now, many companies started putting emphasis on employees’ health because the health any company depends on the well-being of their most important assets: the employees.
First Study: Stand Up to Work ( Article ) Elizabeth Garland, (Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA) Over a 12-month period, the study found that height-adjustable standing desks are linked to increased productivity, better concentration and improved overall health.
KEY FINDINGS Reducing Sitting
People who received height-adjustable desks reported a 17 percent reduction in sitting three months into the study, a trend that remained at the one year mark. Feeling Better People (47%) with height-adjustable desks reported a significant reduction in upper back, shoulder or neck discomfort. Easy to Use People (88%) with height-adjustable desks reported they were convenient to use after 12 months. Increasing Productivity People (65%) with height-adjustable desks reported increased productivity after one year and also reported better concentration ability. In addition, they said they were more active, refreshed, awake, limber and energetic Improvements Outside of Work People (65%) said height-adjustable desks positively impacted their health outside of the workplace.
“The health of any organization is dependent on the well-being of its most important asset – its employees”Second Study: Source 1 Source 2
Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) follows trials
involving 146 NHS staff, just over half of whom swapped their regular
desks for sit-stand workstations.
146 people divided in 2 groups (height-adjustable standing desks and
normal desks)
About the first group : After three months, they spent 50 fewer minutes
seated each day. That number grew over time. After six months, they sat
for 64 fewer minutes than the control group, and after a year, they sat for
82 fewer minutes.
This research linked sitting more than eight hours per day to a heightened
risk of early death and cardiovascular disease. Type 2 diabetes risk also
appears to increase the longer you sit each day.
The researchers also measured mental health and job performance in the
new study. By the end of the trial, they found that people using sit-stand
desks were:
• more engaged at work and better at their jobs than their chair-bound
peers,
• with less job-related fatigue,
• less daily anxiety and higher overall quality of life.
• They also reported fewer lower back issues than the control group.
The research suggests that sit-stand desks, which can be adjusted
throughout the day, may be a better option than either static sitting or
standing desks.During the last years much research has been done on improving both the quality of the office related works and sedentary employees’ health. According to Cary Cooper – professor at the University of Manchester, founder of the Cooper Organizational Psychology and Health, recognised as a world leading expert on well-being and also the media’s first choice for comment on workplace issues – high levels of well-being at work is good for the employee and the organization which means: lower sickness-absence levels, better retention and more satisfied customers. People with higher levels of well-being live longer, have happier lives and are easier to work with. Together with his co-worker, Ivan Robertson, they found the Robertsin Cooper Team, and many business are following their guidelines for a healthier work environment, such as British Airways and Nestlé (source).
Professor John P Buckley – from the Institute of Medicine, University Centre Shrewsbury and University of Chester – inside a statement entitles The sedentary office: an expert statement on the growing case for change towards better health and productivity, published for the British Journal of Sports Medicine (source) says that for those occupations which are predominantly desk based, workers should aim to initially progress towards accumulating 2 h/day of standing and light activity (light walking) during working hours, eventually progressing to a total accumulation of 4 h/ day (prorated to part-time hours) and that this can be achieved by regularly breaking up with standing-based work using devices such as sit-stand desks. He also adds that companies should promote among their staff that prolonged sitting may significantly and independently increase the risk of cardio-metabolic diseases and premature mortality.
Since high static muscle loading are considered one of the major risk factors responsible for developing WMSDs (work-related musculoskeletal disorders) among office workers, sit-stand workstations are used to reduce this disorder. The United States Department of State made research on this topic scheduling the time people should work by standing up and being seated (source) and it shows that longer standing may have the potential to reduce muscle fatigue and that office workers prefer sit-stand durations in the range between 1:1 and 3:1.
An additional article for the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal (source) shows that the introduction of sit-standing desks can significantly reduce sedentary time and increase light activity levels during working hour, which is reconnected to Cooper’s research conclusion.
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