Have you ever given much thought to what your office job is actually doing to your body? You might think that sitting in office chairs on a day to day basis is better for you than physical labour, but in actual fact, it may be worse!
Studies have shown that sitting for long periods of time, i.e. a sedentary lifestyle, may be connected to high risk health concerns, including cardiovascular issues. That basically means that you are putting strain on your heart by sitting for too long on those designer office chairs and you need to get up and move around more!
We have to give the benefit of the doubt to a large extent; office workers are generally a conscientious bunch (yes, you!) and that means they want to get their work done and hit their deadlines. Of course, that means sitting for extended periods of time in front of a computer screen or discussing issues with colleagues. The problem is, without awareness into what sedentary lifestyles can do to overall health and wellbeing, the future doesn’t look particularly bright.
This guide is going to focus on the various high risk areas of the human body which office work can affect. Without wishing to terrify the life out of you, we’re simply going to highlight what can happen and then give you practical advice to stop it from happening to you.
With a little awareness and a little more movement, you can hit your targets on a daily basis and stay happy and healthy at the same time! The other good news is that there are many office furniture choices you can implement into your space, to not only keep you comfortable during your working day, but to also support your body and avoid aches and pains from developing.
Before we get into specific details, let’s explore exactly why a healthy workforce is benefit to a business.
The Benefits of a Healthy Workforce
It stands to reason that you want your staff to be healthy, because that means they’re going to do the job far better than if they were struggling with different health concerns. A healthy workforce also means far less lost sick days, which can cost a business a large amount over the space of a year.
The 2019 Health & Wellbeing at Work Survey – by CIPD – suggested that on average, each employee costs business around £554 per year in lost sick days. If you have a large workforce, that money can add up to a hefty amount over 12 months. The more sick days a business experiences, the bigger the problem. This puts stress and pressure onto the other staff members within the office, perhaps exacerbating problems they are already suffering from, and causing a huge dip in morale.
Morale means everything in business. If morale is low, productivity is low, and therefore profits are low. On the other hand, if morale is high, with staff feeling supported and healthy, productivity is higher, and profits are higher too. Of course, looking towards prospective profits shouldn’t be the sole reason for a business wanting to ensure their staff are happy and healthy, but it is certainly a big push towards addressing the issue and increasing awareness of what office workers can do to help themselves during the course of a working day.
Choosing the right business furniture is a huge step in the right direction, but ensuring that staff know to get up and move around and take their breaks is also important. A little later we will cover some of the best ways to stay healthy in the office environment, but for now let’s sum up the main reasons why a healthy workforce is a more productive workforce for a business.
Healthy employees are happier, meaning a higher level of morale and productivity
Less sick days, which cost a business a large amount of cash over a year
A better team working feel to the office space, as employees don’t feel that other members of staff being off sick is putting extra pressure on them
Choosing the right commercial office equipment cuts down on aches and strains which may turn into chronic problems, i.e. repetitive strain injury. This means staff are more able to do their jobs to the best of their ability, without restrictions
Overall, the biggest benefit to a business is morale. When people feel healthier, they’re happier and they are more inclined to work harder. They say that “health is wealth” and that is one of the biggest truths in life generally. By investing in the health and wellbeing of your employees, you’re investing in your business at the same time.
Now we know why health is important in terms of business gain, let’s look at the main risk factors for the human body, caused by persistent office work, and learn how to reduce the possibility of problems occurring.
The Musculoskeletal System
Probably the biggest issue with office work is damage to the musculoskeletal system. The most commonly affected areas are the wrists, the hands, the shoulders, neck, lower back and legs. This all comes down to sitting for too long, and also not sitting correctly.
Poor posture is a huge issue for office workers, and isn’t only about how you stand, but how you sit too.
Incorrect posture puts excessive pressure on the wrong parts of your spine, i.e. it can cause the discs to compress and cause a large amount of pain. When this goes on for a long period of time, the pain can become chronic. Lower back pain is one of the biggest issues for office workers, and again, comes down to sitting incorrectly. Ergonomic chairs can be a big help, but you also need to know how to use them correctly and ensure that you are actually sitting in the right position in the first place!
The video below is very useful for extra information on posture, and also shows you a few exercises you can do to try and adopt the correct posture at all times.
It’s not just back pain which affects office workers, but pain in other parts of the body too. The main issues in this region are:
- Chronic neck pain, usually caused by looking down at a laptop or mobile device
- Lower back pain, caused by not sitting correctly
- Shoulder pain, again caused by looking down, rather than looking straight ahead
- Sciatica, caused by sitting incorrectly and pressure being placed on the sciatic nerve.This then causes shooting pains to radiate from the lower back, down the leg, often persisting even after you leave your chair for the day. Sciatica is probably one of the most painful issues to deal with
- Arthritis. Whilst some types of arthritis are autoimmune conditions to a certain degree, it can be exacerbated by sitting for long periods of time, especially sitting incorrectly
- Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI. This is caused by repetitive movements, e.g. typing for too long
- Carpal tunnel syndrome. This affects the nerves in the wrist and is due to compression, again down to repetitive movements and incorrect support when typing or using a mouse
All of these problems, every single one of them, can be minimised and even eradicated by knowing how to sit correctly, how to stand correctly, using the right modern office workstations and equipment, and taking regular breaks.
It’s certainly a truth that musculoskeletal problems are amongst the most prevalent issues for office workers. It’s hardly surprising when you consider that you may spend up to 8 hours per day sitting in one position, and if you’re not sat in a position which your body likes, i.e. out of alignment, it’s totally normal to experience aches and pains. When this goes on for too long, the aches and pains become chronic and can even start to affect your life outside of work. You’re not supposed to be in pain due to your job! There are plenty of inexpensive modern office furniture choices which will support your body in the way it needs to be supported, with al little help from you – sitting correctly and taking your breaks.
It’s crazy how easy many of these issues are to prevent, and it all comes down to awareness. Employers should certainly give staff training on posture and sitting correctly, whilst encouraging them to get up and move around, take their breaks, and become more active in general. Strengthening the core through yoga, walking, and stretches is ideal for ensuring protection for the back and neck in particular, and this can easily be done in just a few minutes every day.
Headaches And Eye Strain
Two other common office ailments work hand in hand, headaches and eye strain. If you sit for too long staring at a computer screen your eyes are certainly going to start screaming at you. Offices with air conditioning can dry out the eyes, leading to soreness, itching, and redness. This means you’re then going to start squinting at your screen, which will ultimately lead to a headache.
Glare from windows and overhead lights can also cause headaches and eye strain, as well as not taking regular screen breaks.
To minimise the chances of developing a headache or eye strain make sure that you wear glasses if you need to, and get your eyes checked on a regular basis. You should also manually adjust your screen’s brightness and other settings if you find you’re not comfortably able to look at the screen without squinting. Move your monitor if you find you have glare from windows, or better still, ask for your desk to be moved, so you can sit comfortably from all angles. You can also ask for a glare hood or screen to protect against glare, and therefore avoid the chances of a headache occurring.
In order to prevent eye strain and headaches, you should also take regular screen breaks. This doesn’t need to be a long break, but the HSE recommends that you should take frequent short breaks, such as 5 or 10 minutes after an hour of computer work. This is considered better than taking longer breaks less often.
During these breaks, simply get up and walk around, go to the printer and pick up your work, do a coffee run, go and fetch something you need from the designer desk storage over the other side of the room – basically do something which doesn’t require looking at a screen, and give your eyes the break they desperately need. By getting up, you’re also giving your back and legs a stretch, which will prevent those musculoskeletal issues we just talked about. Breaks are not counterproductive, they are super-productive in so many ways!
The Medical Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle
In addition to your musculoskeletal system and your eyes, there are many other systems within the body which can be harmed by a long-term sedentary lifestyle. We should point out that these issues are not going to occur if you sit for a long period of time once or twice, but they will put you at a higher risk if you sit at your desks for more than a few hours every single day.
Sedentary means you’re not active, you’re not getting up and moving around. Counteract that by moving yourself around!
The biggest risks are:
- Heart disease and other cardiovascular problems, such as a heart attack or even a stroke
- An increased risk of developing diabetes
- Suppressed immune system, leading to you catching every single virus that is going around – not ideal in an open plan office which is already a big infection control hotspot!
- Risk of obesity due to lack of exercise. This in itself is extremely dangerous and can lead to an even bigger risk of diabetes and heart issues
A sedentary lifestyle basically means that you’re not getting enough exercise or moving around as much as you should. The chances are that you’re also not eating healthy because this type of lifestyle doesn’t particularly run hand in hand with salads and green smoothies! Even if you do watch what you eat, the fact that you’re not exercising your body still increases your risk of complications and obesity is one of the biggest issues for office workers who aren’t aware of sedentary lifestyle risks.
When you are at an increased risk of becoming obese, you are at a much higher risk of developing type II diabetes. If you receive a diagnosis of type II diabetes your health risks increase even further, with a far larger chance of developing heart disease, experiencing a stroke, having complications with your vision and eye anatomy, kidney disease and the associated complications which work hand in hand with that, as well as problems with the skin and even your feet.
These are major health issues here – we’re talking about your heart after all. You’re effectively risking shortening your life by living a sedentary lifestyle by choice. The good news is that there is always something you can do about it and changes you can make, but you need to put those changes into action before you cause irreparable damage.
Employers should increase awareness within the office of these types of problems, and encourage an active working environment. The agile workplace is one of the biggest trends in office space planning at the moment, and whilst it is designed with the task you’re completing in mind, it’s also designed to increase movement and collaboration. An agile workspace encourages you to take your breaks, move around, speak to other people, and not to sit at just one desk all day, hardly moving because you have a deadline that you daren’t miss.
Active working is something we should all be more aware of, whether that means going for a jog at lunch time or simply going for a walk around the block. It can also mean using furniture ideas such as standing desks or height adjustable desks, so you can switch between sitting and standing whenever you want a change. We’re going to talk in more detail shortly about the things you can do to be healthier and more active within the workplace shortly, but for now, these are a few ideas to bear in mind.
We should also point out once more here that these facts are not designed to scare you. These are truths, but they are there to raise your awareness of what can happen if you don’t make changes now. By focusing on your overall health and wellbeing and making it a priority in your life, both outside of the office and inside the office, you’ll be able to enjoy your office job and all the challenges it gives you, without having to worry about your health.
Keeping an Eye on Mental Health
Whilst talking about the body, we should certainly also consider our minds. Mental health is something we all need to pay more attention to, and knock down the stigma that for some reason still exists in the present day. The office environment can be a hot bed of mental health triggers if you allow it to be, but by being aware of how you feel, knowing what to do if you start to feel under excessive pressure, and by knowing how to help others you’re working with, you can drastically reduce the chances of your mental health suffering as a result of your office work.
The biggest issue within in the workplace, whether an office, hospital, factory, retail store, or other place of work, is stress.
Thankfully, more and more employers are recognising the damaging effects of workplace stress and are putting into place awareness and stress management courses to help employees recognise the signs of stress and manage it accordingly. We are constantly bombarded with deadlines, targets, comparisons, and the pressures we place on ourselves on a daily basis and this can add up to a hugely overwhelming picture if you allow it to build up. In addition, depression and anxiety are also on the rise, with many office workers suffering from either or both conditions, and not opening up about it.
This has to change.
There are many ways employers and employees alike can work together to protect mental health in the workplace, and to help reduce stress in particular.
Does your workplace have a stress management course you can take? Is stress awareness part of the mandatory annual training package you might have in place? Are there people you can talk to freely if you feel overwhelmed or under extreme pressure? We all need an outlet from time to time and in the working environment this benefits everyone. Not only do staff feel supported and able to get anything which is bothering them off their chests, but management benefit from happier employees, with a greater sense of morale.
So, what can be done in terms of protecting mental health in the office environment? Plenty!
Consulting with employees on any changes or decisions to be made is a great way to reduce anxiety and also to help everyone feel valued and listened to. Would you rather work for an employer who asks your opinion on big changes which might affect you, or would you rather work for someone who doesn’t care what you think and decides what they assume to be best? Of course you’d go for the first option! Allowing your staff to feel listened to means they’re going to trust you if they need to come and talk to you also. Having an open door policy between management and employees is vital for a healthy exchange of ideas, but also for discussing anything which might be bothering them, or leading up to a major breakdown in the future.
Giving staff the time and opportunity to take five minutes’ time out when things are getting a little too much is also vital. A breakout area is a good course of action for this, but desk pods and office booths can work just as well. Making everything about work, work work, is not good for the mind, body, or the soul. People need breaks! Not only do breaks ensure the body gets the time it needs to stretch and move, but it also helps the mind recover and focus too. It’s impossible to concentrate for long periods of time without a break; we don’t suggest you try it out but trust us, it simply doesn’t work!
Aside from an open door policy, ensuring breaks are taken, and consulting with staff on issues, what else might be useful for mental health in the office?
- Mindfulness and meditation – Being mindful means being in the moment and aware of what is going on around you. You can practice being mindful and therefore bring a calmer sense of being to yourself simply by concentrating on your breathing and sitting outside for five minutes. Take in the colour of the leaves on the trees, the noise of the birds singing, etc. You’ll be amazing how much calmer you feel and this has some seriously beneficial long-term health perks too. Meditation is also something you could try, which may help you banish stress and even anxiety. Learning to meditate can be as easy as sitting somewhere quiet for ten minutes and concentrating on your breathing once more. This may help you be calmer overall, have reduced stress levels, better sleep patterns, and be able to deal with conflicts and pressure in a more productive and positive way. Meditation may also help lower your blood pressure, so it has physical benefits too!
- Nature and biophilic office design – There is plenty of evidence to suggest that nature can help us deal with conflict, problems, decisions, and basically help us to feel calmer and more ‘in the moment’, without stress. Biophilic office design takes this a step further and brings elements of the outside, inside, e.g. trees, plants, and furniture made of natural materials, such as a solid oak boardroom table.
- Offering private counselling sessions – It’s a good idea to offer employees private and confidential counseling services if they do feel they need to talk to someone. This can be offered as part of the company’s health and wellness package for employees and means that staff will feel able to access services and get to the bottom of a problem which they may not want to talk to someone they know about, and therefore avoid mental health issues from worsening over time. Encouraging staff to talk to each other, management, and outside agencies if they need help is vital in terms of raising awareness of mental health issues and knocking down the stigma.
- Sleep awareness – Another good idea is to raise awareness within the office of getting enough sleep and basically looking after overall health and wellbeing. Every single person needs a good night’s sleep if they’re going to function in the best possible way, and when sleep is hard to come by over time, it simply makes work impossible, and lowers immunity to viruses, especially the common cold.
Making the office a cheerful place to work, perhaps with a colourful office chair here and there, artwork on the walls and a generally creative feel, can also help to boost low mood and improve mental health.
How to Stay Healthy in The Office
Now we know what we’re up against, how can you counteract it all? Staying healthy in the modern office is not as difficult as you might think, and it really comes down to making healthy food choices, moving more often, and making sure that you get enough sleep at night. If you can tick those boxes, the rest should really fall into place.
To show you just how easy being active at work can be in particular, check out this useful infographic, showing you how to be more active during your day.
Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/exercise-at-work
If you can incorporate these active endeavours you’ll soon notice that you feel better in yourself, but you’ll also drastically lower your risk factors for serious disease and chronic pain conditions. In addition, make sure of the best furniture choices for the way you feel, e.g. using office partition screens if you simply need to be by yourself in your work for a short time, or collaborating around the boardroom table if you feel full of ideas.
A few other endeavours you can use include:
- Starting your day in a healthy manner, by eating a nutritious breakfast, packed with vitamins and minerals
- Walking all the way, or part of the way, to work
- Practicing mindfulness whilst outside in nature
- Establishing a standard sleep pattern, going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning.
This means avoiding lies ins which play havoc with your body clock!
- Talk about anything which is bothering you, rather than bottling things up
- Have any issues you’re not sure about checked out with your doctor
- Taking five minutes’ time out when you feel you need it
- Always taking your breaks and always eating your lunch away from your desk
- Cutting down on the amount of social media you use
- Have your eyes checked on a regular basis
- Wear glasses if you are advised to do so
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated
- Ask for specific office equipment if you need it, e.g. a foot rest, wrist support, ergonomic furniture, etc.
- Snack on fruits, nuts, and seeds rather than unhealthy options throughout the day
Conclusion
You might be surprised to learn about some of the ways in which office work can impact on your body, if you don’t take precautions to counteract them. The good news is that you can certainly do a lot to protect yourself against risks whilst sat at your classic desks, and you don’t need to do anything particularly special to achieve it.
Boosting the feel of the office will also help to boost mood and counteract low morale, which could in itself lead to mental health problems and physical issues. Go for bright white office furniture over dark choices, think about going for a creative, collaborative feel, and encourage your staff to come to you with any issues they may have.
By bringing more awareness to the ways in which a sedentary lifestyle can affect the mind and body, you can side step the risks and enjoy your job without worries or cares.
Thank you for reading!