New infographic reveals flexible working could be leading to long term health issues

As a developing trend of UK employees adopt a more nomadic way of working, a new infographic reveals that flexible working could be leading to long term health problems for remote workers.

Already a staggering 71% of employees have suffered from illness or discomfort as a direct result of their computer/laptop work area with headaches (32%), tense shoulders (29%), neck ache (28%), eye problems (27%), sore wrists and arms (25%) being the most common complaints.

Most illnesses and ailments created by poor posture when working with computers or similar devices can be avoided by taking a simple workstation risk assessment. This will identify potential problem areas and provide simple solutions to help people work in a healthier, more ergonomic manner.

However, the new research, commissioned by ergonomic specialists Fellowes, found that despite being a legal requirement for all businesses to carry out, only 13% of nomadic workers have had a workstation risk assessment and home-workers are just as exposed with just 18% having had an assessment.

Get our essential weekday HR news and updates. Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Work Email Keep up with the latest in HR... This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_form This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_date Year Month Day This field is hidden when viewing the form Batch_Newsletter

With almost one in two workers now no longer having their own permanent desk space and nearly all working in a nomadic style at some point in their job illnesses and ailments associated with poor posture could rise significantly unless both employees and employers act responsibly.

Louise Shipley at Fellowes commented: “On average we are now spending 6.7 hours a day working at a computer and we are now carrying out this work in many locations – the traditional working environment is changing rapidly. It is critical that both businesses and employees recognise these facts and take steps to ensure those hours spent working on computers don’t affect our health or our productivity”

“Sitting in an ergonomically correct position can prevent a variety of ailments including back and wrist pain and ergonomic products are available to help improve certain areas of an employee’s posture. Creating an ergonomic workspace is not a complex or expensive undertaking, even when an employee is working in multiple locations, but it will increase comfort and productivity. The first step is to carry out a simple and free workstation risk assessment which will identify the issues which need addressing.”