BMJ  2006;332 (25 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7539.0-a

Are you standing comfortably?

Uncomfortable working positions and physically heavy work increase the risk of long term sickness absence for both women and men. In a prospective cohort study, Lund and colleagues (p 449) interviewed more than 5000 employees from Denmark and followed them for 18 months. In the 7% who had long term sickness absence, it was associated with extreme bending or twisting the neck or back, mainly standing while working, and lifting or carrying loads. For female employees, the negative effects of physical exposures were increased by exposure to psychosocial factors.


Figure 1
 Credit: VILLE MYLLYNEN/REX

 


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Relevant Article

Physical work environment risk factors for long term sickness absence: prospective findings among a cohort of 5357 employees in Denmark
Thomas Lund, Merete Labriola, Karl Bang Christensen, Ute Bültmann, and Ebbe Villadsen
BMJ 2006 332: 449-452. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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