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Sitting, stress and the struggle to take a break: What a new review reveals about health in contact centres

Latest evidence

Contact centres are the beating heart of many industries, from emergency services to banking, telecommunications, and community support. Yet behind the constant flow of calls sits a workforce facing some of the toughest health and wellbeing challenges of any desk‑based occupation. Long hours of sitting, high workloads, emotional strain, and tightly monitored schedules all shape the daily reality of contact centre work. A new systematic review led by BeUpstanding team member Dr Charlotte Brakenridge and colleagues brings together findings from 54 studies and 24 grey literature reports to understand what helps – and what hinders – health promotion in this unique environment. Their review offers insights how workplaces can better support contact centre workers to sit less, move more, and protect their mental and physical wellbeing. Background: A global industry with local health impacts Contact centres represent one of the world’s largest service industries, employing millions of workers across the globe. In the United States alone, the sector employs an estimated 2.86 million people, while 29,000 Australians are employed in the industry. Contact centre workers experience high levels of stress, monitoring, low job control, and repetitive, sedentary tasks, all of which contribute to musculoskeletal issues, mental health concerns, and high…

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Walking the Line: The Pros and Cons of Treadmill Desks

Latest evidence

In today’s work-from-anywhere culture, staying active while working has become a major focus. If you’ve ever felt stiff after sitting at your desk for hours, you’re not alone! One innovative solution gaining traction is the treadmill desk—a workstation that lets you walk while you work. Treadmill desks aren’t exactly a staple in every office, but they are becoming more popular. Estimates suggest that between 300,000 and 500,000 treadmill desks were in use in the U.S. by late 2013. With the rise of remote work and health-conscious workplaces, that number has likely grown. In fact, one study found that 65% of participants obtained their treadmill desks in 2020 or 2021—showing a major spike in interest. Treadmill desks come in a variety of price ranges based on features, quality and brand. Budget-friendly under-desk treadmills start at around $300, but durability can be a concern, as frequent users report these models lasting about a year with regular use. Mid-range options ($500–$1,500) strike a balance between affordability and longevity. High-end models can cost upwards of $3,000, offering premium features and top-tier construction. So right now, you might be thinking that a treadmill desk sounds like it could be a perfect way to get moving…

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Creativity in motion

Latest evidence

It’s ten minutes from lunch and you’ve just finished a long meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, a new project proposal was raised by your manager. This project is different to your average work project and requires consideration of factors not typically present within your usual work. You ran out of time in the meeting to brainstorm as a team, so your manager encouraged you to think about possible ways to creatively and effectively approach the project between now and the next meeting. Your options for the next ten minutes are: Quickly return to your desk and use the time to tick off some easy tasks before lunch. Stay in the board room and write down some strategies for the project proposal while it’s fresh. Take a ten-minute walk and verbally brainstorm your ideas. If you picked option “3”, you might just come up with the most amount of appropriately novel (or creative) ideas. How? A study by researchers from Stanford University tested university students’ ability to produce creative ideas from either a seated or a walking condition. It was found that those who switched from sitting to walking in their second trial, produced more novel and quality ideas…

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Seeking workers with type 2 diabetes to sit less and move more

News and Events

BeUpstanding is about supporting workers to sit less and move more through raising awareness and creating a supportive culture for change. At this stage, there is no individual support provided for staff (though stay tuned on that!). However, many of the BeUpstanding research team are also involved with the OPTIMISE study, which is about understanding how to support workers with type 2 diabetes to sit less and move more across the day and the benefits of doing so. Intervention participants receive a sit-stand workstation, a Fitbit, tailored feedback and health coaching to help support them set and achieve goals both during work time and outside of work time. The study is now seeking volunteers, so if you live in Melbourne, have type 2 diabetes, and have a sedentary job, and this sounds of interest, please get in touch with the OPTIMISE research team via this link. Check out the recent news item for some more information.

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New report examines occupational sitting and mental health in young people

Key resources

A new report, funded by Wellcome, explores the potential health risks associated with high levels of occupational sitting and methods to reduce excessive sitting in the workplace or home working environment. Below is a summary of the report, taken from here. A full summary of the report can be found here, while a summary presentation of our key findings can be found here, and a podcast can be found here. BeUpstanding investigators David Dunstan and Genevieve Healy were co-authors on the report, which was led by Aaron Kandola. Full author list: Aaron Kandola, Jessica Rees, Brendon Stubbs, David W Dunstan, Genevieve N Healy, Joseph F Hayes Background Due to the rising prevalence of desk-based work, excessive sitting represents an emerging occupational health and safety issue. Employed adults are typically sitting for over 9 hours per day. Spending large periods of the day seated with insufficient active breaks increases the risk of several physical and mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders. Allowing or facilitating excessive sitting in the workplace can affect employees’ mental health and compromise the duty of care between an employer and employee. Combatting excessive occupational sitting with regular breaks involving light activity for a couple of…

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