Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is organising Workout at Work Day to highlight the benefits to employers of having healthier and more active staff.
On 12th June 2013, the Sitting for long periods, not taking a lunch break or working on smartphones and other devices late into the evening can all take a toll on health and lead to time off work.
Poor work habits like these can increase the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and stress, depression or anxiety, which the Health and Safety Executive estimate account for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill-health and cost employers 7.5 and 10.4 million working days respectively in 2011/12.
The Work Foundation reports that for every £1 invested in wellbeing initiatives, businesses get a return of £3.
As experts in rehabilitation, physiotherapists help people return to activity after illness and injury and so can reduce or prevent sickness absence. They can also advise on how to improve workplace wellbeing and avoid ill-health.
On Workout at Work Day, physiotherapists will be visiting workplaces across the UK to encourage employees to build more physical activity into their day.
The aim is to kick-start people into developing healthier work habits for the longer term. After last year’s event, when physiotherapists ran more than 300 events in different workplaces, 81 percent of employees who took part said they were very likely to build more activity into their daily routine.
Workout at Work Day is an ideal opportunity for your organisation to encourage staff to think about keeping fit for work by moving more. Why not work with your company’s occupational health service or a local physiotherapist to organise an event.
Getting staff more active could mean lower sickness absence rates, fewer compensation claims and less expenditure on temporary staff. Other likely benefits include increased employee satisfaction, higher productivity and improved staff retention.