hello!I am Brendan Henderson

I am here because I love to give presentations.

My masters year

The Thesis Year…✘ Why I did it?✘ The benefits I see in having done it

New skills and Employability✘ Its not for everyone…but there are

different options Traditional thesis Thesis by publication Coursework ✘ Do you want to dabble in research?✘ Do you have an issue at work that could

be solved through a research methods approach and support?

The Thesis Year…✘ Hard work (~15hours a week)✘ Rewarding✘ Fail to plan, plan to fail…yet be willing

to be flexible at times✘ Start the ball rolling now if you are

considering undertaking the masters year

Consider what your topic could be if you were to might want to do within your workplace

Or…speak the ESH team about possible projects that might suit you

Quick project summaryUser experiences of a sit-stand workstation

The issue and background✘ Workplaces are investigating and implementing health and

wellbeing initiatives in order to provide workers with more a satisfying working environment (Goetzel et al., 2014)

✘ This includes what can be done within the office setting✘ Initiatives aimed at:

Reducing sitting time Sedentary behaviour Lowering Work related MSD risk and rate Improving productivity and workplace culture Establishing a work-life balance

One initiative within the workplace is a sit-stand workstation

✘ Well established many employees can spend the majority of their day in a seated positon (Straker, Abbott, Heiden, Mathiassen, & Toomingas, 2013)

✘ Sit-stand workstations (SSW’s) are being seen as a means to mitigate occupational sitting time and possibly improve worker health by:

Decreasing workplace sitting time and overall sedentary behaviour (Alkhajah et al., 2012) Increasing metabolic function – may reduce Wr-MSDs (van Uffelen

et al., 2010) Improve fatigue resistance and MSD discomfort (Thorp et al., 2014) The above has flow on effects to risk reduction of cardio-metabolic diseases

(Owen, 2012)

However…there are still issues around the Sit-stand workstation

✘ Evidence suggests that poor workstation setups are associated with pain, discomfort and Wr-MSD’s of the upper body (Lindegård et al., 2012; Wahlström, 2005)

✘ SSW’s are being seen as a means to mitigate occupational sitting time (Ebara et al., 2008)

✘ But…. little research has focused on the users understanding and thoughts regarding:

A good ergonomic workspace setup Possible Wr-MSD’s when using one Longer term use of SSW’s Why people have ceased using one?

Design and Methods

Qualitative

Thematic

AnalysisIntervie

ws

Results

Associations with

behaviours and use

Useability Posture

💃

✘ All participants provided reflections on the positive and negative associations, and behaviours related to their use of a sit stand workstation.

✘ Considerations: Time of day AM preference Task being undertaken Preference for use with less demanding tasks✘ Productivity

Mixed responses

Associations with

behaviours and use

✘ Number willing to modify work behaviours and forgo some functionality of workspace so they could continue to use their sit stand workstation.

✘ Many believed that the positives of alternating between a seated or standing position outweighed the negative aspects such as a fully functional workspace

✘ Of the ceased users, the lack of useability and loss of workspace were key factors in their decision to stop using the sit stand workstation and removing it from their workspace.

Useability

✘ When participants started to feel uncomfortable or fatigued, they would typically change back to a seated position.

✘ Those who had ceased use of their sit stand workstation, provided various reasons as to why this was the case.

Some commented that anthropometric issues such as the uppermost height of the workstation was not adequate or accommodating for their personal use

Others questioned if there was value in using the sit stand workstation if static standing was adopted when operating in the standing position.

Posture

Moving forward…look at both sides

Summary✘ There seems to be a benefit in undertaking some of the

day standing.. But how much?✘ Most users have positive feedback about use✘ They are not a solution for everyone✘ If it is to be done, then do it properly!

Installation and training✘ It wont ‘fix’ most health issues ✘ Work areas should encourage other health initiatives

thanks!Any questions?

References✘ Alkhajah, T. A., Reeves, M. M., Eakin, E. G., Winkler, E. A. H., Owen, N., & Healy, G. N. (2012). Sit–Stand Workstations:

A Pilot Intervention to Reduce Office Sitting Time. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43(3), 298-303.✘ Chau, J. Y., van der Ploeg, H. P., Dunn, S., Kurko, J., & Bauman, A. E. (2011). A tool for measuring workers' sitting time

by domain: the Workforce Sitting Questionnaire. British journal of sports medicine, bjsports-2011-090214.✘ Ebara, T., Kubo, T., Inoue, T., Murasaki, G.-I., Takeyama, H., Sato, T., . . . Tachi, N. (2008). Effects of adjustable sit-

stand VDT workstations on workers' musculoskeletal discomfort, alertness and performance. Industrial health, 46(5), 497-505.

✘ Goetzel, R. Z., Henke, R. M., Tabrizi, M., Pelletier, K. R., Loeppke, R., Ballard, D. W., . . . Kelly, R. K. (2014). Do workplace health promotion (wellness) programs work? Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(9), 927-934.

✘ Lindegård, A., Wahlström, J., Hagberg, M., Vilhelmsson, R., Toomingas, A., & Tornqvist, E. W. (2012). Perceived exertion, comfort and working technique in professional computer users and associations with the incidence of neck and upper extremity symptoms. BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 13(1), 38.

Owen, N. (2012). Sedentary behavior: Understanding and influencing adults' prolonged sitting time. Preventive Medicine, 55(6), 535-539.

✘ Straker, L., Abbott, R. A., Heiden, M., Mathiassen, S. E., & Toomingas, A. (2013). Sit–stand desks in call centres: Associations of use and ergonomics awareness with sedentary behavior. Applied Ergonomics, 44(4), 517-522.

✘ Thorp, A. A., Kingwell, B. A., Owen, N., & Dunstan, D. W. (2014). Breaking up workplace sitting time with intermittent standing bouts improves fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort in overweight/obese office workers. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 71(11), 765-771.

✘ van Uffelen, J. G. Z., Wong, J., Chau, J. Y., van der Ploeg, H. P., Riphagen, I., Gilson, N. D., . . . Brown, W. J. (2010). Occupational Sitting and Health Risks. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39(4), 379-388.