BeUpstanding™ Blog

January 2020

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Showing all posts made in the month of January 2020.

Surprising Data on the Cost of Sitting in the UK

The Evidence

Get Britain Standing’s page on costs of prolonged sitting for the employer has some surprising facts. The page breaks these down into three categories absenteeism, presenteeism, and costs to engagement and wellbeing. What is presenteeism you may ask? I’m sure we’ve all felt it before. I can recall showing up to work feeling “out of it.” Even when employees are present the tolls of prolonged sitting can impact the quality and quantity of work. Absenteeism is easier to quantify. Average sized employers (250 persons) loose an estimated 4800 GBP/week due to absences with all businesses forgoing a total of 15 billion GBP annually. Of this 1/3rd (5 billion GBP) is due to low back pain, an ailment directly related to sedentary behaviour. The financial boon of wellness programs in part accounts for their eager adoption overseas and here in Australia. Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Britain estimates that wellness programs can reduce absences by as much as 42%. Reorienting the workplace to support dynamic movement with sit-stand desks, walking meetings, and active breaks may seem daunting to employers but resources like Get Britain Standing and Australia’s own BeUpstanding have the tools to get your workplace started. This article was written…

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Get the Commonwealth Standing

News and Events

I was perusing the British movement blog Get Britain Standing when I came across their solutions page. Get Britain Standing is a resource for employers much like Australia’s BeUpstanding, which focuses on a healthier Britain by reducing the prolonged hours of sitting that accompany many jobs. Their upcoming nationwide event On Your Feet Britain is set for April 24th 2020 with a reported ~2 million office workers participating. Get Britain Standing accounts that Briton’s working hours contribute ~70% of the daily sedentary health burden. Dr. Stuart Biddle, a professor of Active Living and Public Health is quoted on their website acknowledging the growing body of evidence that to be healthy we must move dynamically throughout the day. Which leads me to what excited me about their Solutions page: the balance board section! The benefit being, as long as you don’t fall off, strengthening your balance and your core muscles at your standing desk. They come in a variety of styles from the simple sea-saw, the log roll, and even the expert level half dome or as I like to call it the danger dome! (see image) Maybe don’t tell HR about the nickname when you bring one to the office.…

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How to BeUpstanding by Cutting the Commute

Bite size facts

The 40-hour work week, a staple of modern office employment, is seldom questioned. In an article for the Canadian publication The Globe and Mail, author Cynthia McQueen asks us, in the age of the videoconferencing and interconnectedness though the internet of things why do we commute at all? The cost of a rigid 9-5 day is measured financially. The author cites a University of Guelph study that found a personal financial boon of between 8,800-23900 $CAD/year saved by eschewing the daily commute. Commuting, as the author points out also costs us time. While BeUpstanding Champions focus on harnessing the increased productivity of movement in the office, the time commuting by car to our places of work remains intractably sedentary. Should the saved commuting time of a flexible workplace be put towards movement the author points out, research shows a potential reduction in sick days by a stunning 27%. The Conference Board of Canada estimated that in 2012 alone workplace absences cost 16.6 billion CAD. In light of the mounting evidence it is no wonder that the majority of Canadian workplaces now offer some form of flexible work contract. With the mounting burden of evidence available to employers it isn’t hard…

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