The Truth About
Sit-Stand Workstations
WHAT SHOULD EMPLOYERS KNOW?
Over the last several years, the
media has been focusing on
how prolonged sitting at work
can negatively impact work-er’s
health. This has led to an increase in
sit-stand workstation designs and employ-ees
requesting standing desks. However,
research indicates that standing can actu-ally
be worse than sitting in some respects.
So, what is the truth; and what are employ-ers
and employees to do?
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH
SAY ABOUT PROLONGED
SITTING?
Over the years, office work has become
increasingly sedentary. We often think
the physical activity we do outside of
work can help minimize the effects of too
much sitting at work. However, research
has found that an individual’s physical
activity level does not provide the ben-efit
we hope. Independent of physical
activity, prolonged sitting has been linked
to an increased risk of diabetes, can-cer,
heart disease and obesity. Significant
sedentary time has also been linked
premature mortality.
From an ergonomics point of view,
prolonged sitting in an improper fitting
workstation chair can increase an employ-ee’s
risk of developing low back pain. Poor
back posture increases the pressure on
the intervertebral discs in the spine. Over
time, this can lead to wear and tear of the
discs, and in some cases, a disc protrusion
(or “slipped disc”) can place pressure on
the nerves in our back. Refer to the dia-gram
at right to see how different postures
affect spinal disc forces.
health & wellness
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH
SAY ABOUT PROLONGED
STANDING?
Prolonged standing has been known for
a long time to contribute to lower leg and
low back discomfort, as well as an increase
in overall fatigue. With prolonged stand-ing,
blood pools in the lower limbs, which
causes an increase in venous pressure.
The heart has to work harder to pump
this blood from the lower limbs back the
heart. This is one reason why it is more
fatiguing to stand and this also correlates
to an increased risk of cardiovascular dis-ease
with prolonged standing at work.
However, standing is not all bad. Standing
results in lower compressive forces on the
spinal discs than does sitting, as shown in
the diagram below.
By Marnie Downey R.Kin., M.Sc.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
With the knowledge that there are risk
factors associated with both prolonged
sitting and prolonged standing; what
are we to do? The key is that we encour-age
and allow workers to not spend
prolonged periods of time in any one pos-ture.
Movement is healthy and should be
built into job tasks to ensure a healthy
work day. Static standing and static sit-ting
should be minimized by changes
in posture.
One way to build posture change into
an office employee’s day is to provide them
with a workstation that can be adjusted
for both sitting and standing. Of course,
there are other ways to achieve change
in posture and not all employees require
a sit-stand workstation. Employees that
Pounds of compressive force on lower back
Risk of injury
High
Moderate
Low
20
Standing
upright
Standing
upright,
lifting 20
lbs. 10"
away from
low back
Standing
upright,
lifting 20
lbs. 20"
away from
low back
Bent over,
lifting 20
lbs. 20"
away from
low back
Bent over,
lifting 1 lb.
20" away
from low
back
Sitting,
leaning
forward
and lifting
1 lb.
80
170
260
635
460
220
10"
20"
20
20
1
1
20"
20"
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