Will all the healthy workers please stand up? A dynamic campaign is trying to get more office staff standing, with research suggesting sitting down at work for prolonged periods of time is bad for our health. The study, compiled by Get Britain Standing claims that sitting down for 8-10 hours per day can increase a multitude of health risks, from heart disease to cancer, diabetes and even mental health. And not only is standing up at work good for our health, but it can do wonders for our productivity too. The research reported that two thirds of staff members who could alternate between standing and sitting felt more productive, while 71% said they felt more focused. The case for sit-stand working We’ve waxed lyrical about how agile working and giving staff members the freedom to control their work environment can inspire that next big idea, so naturally, we love sit-stand desks! We’ve designed our height-adjustable Mono bench to meet the needs of both the modern office and the modern worker. When you need to get on your feet, moving the worktop is quick and easy, and our patented in-built safety device ensures no trapped fingers or cables when returning it back down to a sitting position. Sturdy enough to stand up to repeated re-configuration, it’s also the only height-adjustable station currently available on the market that can be retro-fitted at any position within a cluster. Sit-stand desks are already commonplace in Scandinavia - a massive 90% of office workers across Norway, Finland and Denmark are given the choice to work standing or sitting. To say the UK is lagging behind is an understatement - over here, fewer than 1% have the option of sit-stand working. What else can you do to help? In a bid to get Britain’s workers on their feet, Get Britain Standing has compiled some initial guidelines in association with Public Health England. The following recommendations are advised: • Standing and moving around for 2 hours at work, before progressing to a total of 4 hours over the course of the workday • Installing adjustable sit-stand work stations • Altering posture to help the body adapt slowly to a new stand-sit routine • Advising that prolonged standing can be as harmful as prolonged sitting • Encouraging other healthy behaviours amongst staff – healthy eating, giving up drinking and smoking etc. ‘Some companies have already invested time and money creating a more active working environment for their staff, but those that haven’t should evaluate how best to achieve the recommendations,’ said the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. ‘This could include desk designs and technologies that allow employees to do their job more easily either at their desk or from other locations in the office while standing up.’ That’s certainly an idea we can stand behind. To find out how sit-stand desks could work for you, click here to get in touch today.