Johannesburg - It’s becoming painfully clear that sitting with limited movement throughout a nine-hour working day is terrible for one’s health.
Companies abroad are taking a stand by adopting new work methods and office furniture to promote different postures.
And now, according to Richard Andrews, managing director of Inspiration Office, South Africa is beginning to follow the same approach.
Health studies conclude that people should sit less, and be more active and mobile during their working day. After one hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat declines by as much as 90 percent.
Extended sitting slows the body’s metabolism, affecting vitals such as high-density lipoprotein levels (the good cholesterol) in our bodies.
The number of deaths associated with obesity in the US is now 35 million.
The New York Times reported last year that for each additional hour of television a person sat and watched per day, the risk of dying rose by 11 percent.
The alarming obesity rate, coupled with prolonged hours of sitting and limited movement, is a global health concern.
Andrews says that movement throughout our working day is critical to maintaining employee wellness – whether it’s through sitting, walking or standing, movement is key to alleviating the concerns caused from sitting.
“By simply providing our workforce with a variety of postures and different places to operate in, it lets workers change positions, keeping them engaged, productive and well,” he says.
Interestingly, Andrews says that when one looks at the need for movement and different postures in the office, the best way to identify them is to observe the cigarette smokers.
“If you speak to staff, you will find out that it’s the change of posture and scenery, coupled with the excuse to engage in some movement they are really after, often as a direct result of physical discomfort, when they step out to have a smoke.
“That’s even more of a factor than just getting a nicotine fix,” he says.
In response to the sitting dilemma, many companies, including a number of South African organisations, are turning to active desks – from trendy standing work spaces to, in the most progressive environments, even treadmill desks.
By offering workers a flexible work environment, the benefits are significantly obvious, such as:
* High-quality, task-specific seating options reduce employee fatigue and repetitive-motion injuries.
* Reduced fatigue means more time on the job, improved job performance, lower healthcare costs and, overall, an increase in employee wellness and workplace wellbeing.
* Allowing employees to walk or stand while working reduces the need to leave the office to take a break, keeping them on task and boosting productivity.
“When one turns to international examples, ‘sit, stand, walk’ is a specific philosophy that global office furniture brand Steelcase uses to keep workers moving,” Andrews explains.
In the United Kingdom, the people behind the Get Britain Standing campaign have partnered with the British Heart Foundation for the On Your Feet campaign, Andrews adds.
He says the initiative aims to raise awareness by encouraging people to stand for as much of the working day as possible.
“Employers need to be aware that once work space solutions are provided to avoid prolonged hours of sitting, staff then need to be educated on the available choices, and how to make the right ones,”Andrews says.
“Technology and new-age furniture designs might have freed us from the cubicle, but one can still sit poorly at an improperly adjusted work surface.
“Workers also need to be more aware of the options available to them and, as they move, they must learn how to choose their postures and work places wisely in order to avoid sitting for lengthy hours and encountering the long-term negative health effects.
“As employers, we have a duty of care to our staff and should provide a palette of places, postures and presence to make the work environment healthier and that much more productive.”
* For more information, visit www.inspirationoffice.co.za.
THE STAR