Too much sitting? 4 ways your office can create a healthier workday for employees

As every savvy HR leader can tell you, there’s a lot more to managing human capital than simply paying people to come in to work each day and do their jobs. If you’re really on top of your game, you’re monitoring the day-to-day while also keeping one eye on the big-picture ideas that matter most to your organization – including employee engagement and corporate health and wellness.

The truth is that worker wellness risks are everywhere – even in jobs that you might expect to be perfectly safe. Even a simple task like sitting at a desk or working a checkout counter at a retail store can be harmful to your employees’ health.

How, you ask? Simple – there’s an inherent risk that comes with sitting – or standing! – in one place for too long. HR BLR recently explored this topic, drawing upon research released in December by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. According to the organization’s report, there’s a great deal of ergonomic harm done to workers who spend all day on their feet, unable to sit down.

“Nurses and retail workers demonstrate in their sore feet, back pain, swollen legs, and increased cardiovascular symptoms that standing all day is not the antidote to sitting all day,” the source stated. “Both too much sitting and too much standing can lead to back pain, poor cardiovascular health, and other problems for workers, regardless of whether they exercise regularly.”

Sitting all day – which is sadly all too common at “desk jobs” – is not the answer either. It can lead to back, neck and shoulder pain, not to mention obesity.

Therefore, the answer is clear. Companies need to mix up the workday for their employees, ensuring that there’s not too much sitting or standing. A happy medium is required. Here are four recommended strategies:

Providing accommodating work stations
If possible, try to offer workspaces that accommodate for multiple modes of doing work. Give them a stool to sit in and some open space to stand, for example. If they’re able to “mix it up,” employees will be better off.

Allowing for break time
Breaks are important. If your employees spend hours at a time sitting at a desk, then give them a few minutes to stand up and take a walk. It doesn’t take much time – mere minutes can be enough to add variety to the day’s schedule.

Educate workers about hazards
Employees need to know everything about the potential safety threats that come with their jobs. No position is immune – even a cushy desk job has risks, and people need to know them inside and out.

Rely on wellness programs
With every potential health issue that can arise in a workplace, employee wellness programs can certainly be of assistance, and issues stemming from excessive sitting or standing are no exception. Workplace health and wellness initiatives can go a long way toward providing people with valuable information and helping them overcome any setbacks that come their way.

This  post was originally published on the Ceridian HCM Blog.

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