RESEARCH
Working WELL? For many, working from home has been both a blessing and a curse. OPI takes a look at recent research that reveals the impact homeworking has had on employee physical and mental well-being – by Michelle Sturman
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or most, a first anniversary is something to celebrate. The milestone we’re talking about here, however, may not be. March/ April 2020 signified the mandate issued by governments worldwide to ‘work from home if possible’, and many employees have not returned to the office since. Plenty has changed for many during the past year in terms of setting up a more conducive working environment and figuring out a homeworking routine in lieu of the daily commute. But the strain is showing, and recent research reveals that for a substantial number of people, the drawn-out work-from-home (WFH) situation is exacting a toll, both physically and mentally. THE HAZARDS OF WFH Following on from its groundbreaking report The Work Colleague of the Future (see Spotlight, OPI December/January 2020, page 32), Fellowes Brands has released a new study on the effects of working from home. The company’s New Way of Working survey highlights the detrimental effects of the enforced move to WFH. Based on feedback from 7,000 office workers across Europe – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK – the results show that, overall, 35% have experienced stress and anxiety, 37% have suffered a sore or aching back, and 71% have bought home office Percentage of equipment with their own money. office workers who said their home Tellingly, just over half of respondents (52%) said workstation their home workstation caused more aches, pains caused more and strains than their traditional workplace setup – aches, pains and with the greatest percentage in Spain (61%). strains than their Those based in Poland were most likely to suffer workplace setup from strained eyes – 61% compared to a global
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average of 41%. A substantial proportion of Polish homeworkers reported dealing with a sore and aching back (56%). Headaches were also a frequent complaint. Once more, Polish workers suffer the most (51%), followed closely by those in Spain (49%) and Italy (48%). These results are hardly surprising. The interest in physical well-being in the workplace had already gathered momentum and created a demand for ergonomic furniture and accessories. However, the sudden decampment to homeworking meant employees abandoning their ergonomic workstations in the office for whatever space and makeshift ‘desk’ was available at home. A Totaljobs survey undertaken in the UK of 2,000 workers from 24-27 March 2020 suggests the impact of forced homeworking on their physical well-being was instantaneous – 48%, for example, said their sleep was suffering and they were less active than before lockdown, which officially started on 23 March. An additional survey conducted six weeks later revealed that 40% were still experiencing some discomfort from their work setup, a decrease of just 5%. Wildgoose Event’s 2020 Remote Working Employee study from June last year found similar results. The firm asked employees from 133 companies how WFH had impacted them and discovered that 45% felt less productive because of an uncomfortable work setup. Interestingly, those employed by large companies (over 1,000 staff) experienced the greatest dissatisfaction with their remote working configuration, pointing to an absence of allocated resources. SLOW PACE OF CHANGE Not a lot seems to have changed in a year. The Disparity Begins at Home report from the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) was published in February 2021. Its snapshot survey revealed the most common WFH health or health-related issues included social isolation, less exercise, disrupted sleep and musculoskeletal problems. Indeed, a paltry 28% of respondents worked from a dedicated home office, while 48% of those operating from a bedroom or sofa said they had developed physical issues. Alarmingly, RSPH found just 1% of respondents were offered a screen protector to prevent eye strain by their employers. A woeful 5% were supplied with a keyboard and mouse gel mats, 7% with a desk and 8% a laptop cradle stand. Only 17% were provided with a fully-adjustable office chair.
1%
Percentage of UK employees offered a screen protector to prevent eye strain by their employers
