Sedentary jobs can be a pain in the neck

Posted 5 years ago

In 2016, The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) reported that sedentary lifestyles may be affecting our work lives. They estimated 4 in 5 people in the UK have a desk job and with the lengthy time periods that people were sitting in the same position was the most common cause of back pain at work. Over 41% of people who had reported back pain said that this was a contributing factor.

In February 2019, The BCA found that over 40% of employees who sit down for the majority of their working day don’t think they take regular enough breaks and 45% of people saying that back pain was associated with sitting down for long periods of time and the best relief for this was to stand up and walk around.

They also found that only a minority of employers are proactively offering support to workers through things like effective DSE Training, workstation assessments and providing the right equipment.

In addition to this the HSE reported that in 2017-18, 469,000 workers suffered from musculoskeletal disorders that were work-related.

Good posture and few simple sitting exercises can go an enormous way towards counteracting these problems, so employers should ensure that they have effective and simple training in place to prevent various injuries, such as:

Backache
Upper limb pains
RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury)
Eyestrain
Fatigue

As an employer, you must protect your workers from the health risks of working with display screen equipment (DSE), such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

The HSE

We’ve always said that good health and safety training doesn’t just tick the ‘comply with legislation’ box, it can also have tangible benefits for both employer and employee. And it’s good to see chiropractors agree!

Here are some tips for preventing regular back and neck pain:

Take regular breaks: You should make an effort to stand up or walk around every 30 minutes. Things like shoulder shrugging and rolling can also keep your body from getting stiff after sitting for long periods of time.
Stay active: regular physical activity can help to strengthen your back so that it can deal better with the strains you put on it, but it is important that you warm-up and cool down. If you get an injury, you should adapt your exercise to cause you little/no pain.
Work in comfort: Your desk and chair should be set up to support a comfortable position. You can try altering the height of your screen, your chair or table.
Ditch the tech: Using technologies like tablets and smartphones can cause you to pull your head forward and put a strain on your neck. When using these things try and keep your head above your body and move the screen to you.
Straighten up: You can use the exercises below to help maintain a good posture at work and prevent damage to your body.

Check out some simple exercises you can do at your desk.

Online Display Screen Equipment Training

As we’ve mentioned above, our easy and effective DSE Training Course educates employees and employers alike about the need for regular breaks and setting up ergonomic workstations correctly. As well as this, you will learn about both the physical and visual aspects of DSE as well as DSE stress and how portable devices are included under DSE.