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Bosses of Britain wake up to the need for a healthy workforce

In the six years Active Working CIC have been conducting our annual Office Sitting Survey for On Your Feet Britain® day (Friday April 24, 2020), we have seen some dramatic developments.

Businesses are waking up to the need to build a healthier workforce, with almost 74% of employers now aware of the health risks associated with prolonged and excessive sitting, according to a new survey of British workers. Awareness has soared since 2015 when this figure was a mere 14% in the first annual sitting survey.

However, there is still a long way to go in improving activity levels among the nation's office workers. The habit of incorporating regular activity into the working day, such as walking around, stretching or merely regularly switching from a seated to a standing position every hour or so, is proving difficult to shift.

Even among generally active, motivated people, more than half (55%) spend six or more hours sitting at their desk or in meetings or similar during the course of their working day, according to this year's survey. The same amount (54%) ‘always' or ‘usually' sit for prolonged periods at work (90 minutes or longer).

Spending long periods seated at a desk is bad for your health, contributing to conditions including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint issues, back problems and even certain cancers. Study after study makes it clear: #sitless #movemore is the key to good physical and mental health.

But while individual workers continue to spend too much time glued to their seats, awareness of the importance of having a healthy workforce does appear to be sinking in.

• Almost 60% believe their manager cares about how long they spend seated at their desk, and only seven percent blame their employer for failing to enable greater activity in the workplace.
• Being encouraged to use the stairs rather than the lift, doing desk stretching exercises and having a height-adjustable standing desk are among the most common active working solutions available in the workplaces of those surveyed.
• Fewer than 20% of those surveyed said anyone could have a standing desk, while a third (33%) said only people with a medical condition could have a standing desk.
• Some 80% of workers say they would consider switching companies if their employer did not provide them with a healthy workplace.

On Your Feet Britain® is a free event to encourage staff to participate in a variety of fun and simple activities in the workplace that help them break the harmful "binge sitting" habit. Now in its sixth year, OYF is run by the Get Britain Standing® campaign, in association with Active Working, a community interest company. This year's On Your Feet Britain day takes place on Friday April 24, 2020, with staff from companies and organisations across the UK taking part.

Gavin Bradley, Founder of Active Working® and the Get Britain Standing® campaign, says: "Bosses seem to be getting the message that their staff need to be enabled to be more active in the workplace, which is good news, but workers themselves need to get out of their seats and onto their feet for the good of their health.

"That's what On Your Feet Britain® day is all about: empowering millions of office workers to take simple steps to break up their sitting time, like standing for phone calls, taking stretching breaks during meetings or walking to talk to a colleague rather than emailing, which research shows will benefit both their help and their productivity."

Public Health England advises that we should minimise sedentary time, spending more time on our feet, less time seated. International health bodies including the World Health Organization agree.