Is your office causing you ill health?

According to new research by ergonomic specialists Fellowes, the majority of office workers suffer ill health as a result of their working environment. Seven out of ten office workers said they have suffered headaches, back pain or depression as a direct result of their office.

This is causing 20% of office workers to miss 14 days of work a year, which costs the UK economy an estimated £7.2 billion a year – a truly staggering figure.

A lot of bosses are said to be shirking on their legal requirement to carry out a workstation risk assessment for each worker every 12 months. Not that this would solve matters hugely, of course, especially when it comes to anxiety and stress.

One of the biggest problems for this isn’t just the fact that office workers often work in lousy conditions which are bad for their health. It’s not having a good enough relationship with their employer so they feel confident in asking for it to be changed.

The result, as many GPs will attest – and which this report confirms – is that many white collar workers muddle through by trying to treat the symptoms. So they take painkillers for their bad backs, headaches and tendinitis, and antidepressants for the mental anguish their job puts them through.