In just 20 years’ time, the average office worker will have a hunched back, protruding stomach and sore eyes, according to a life-sized doll developed as part of a report into workplace health.
Named Emma, the model shows what desk-bound workers will look like in the future – with a number of medical problems, unless changes to the work environment are made.
She has thick varicose veins from spending so much of the day sat down, as well as a protruding stomach caused by her sedentary lifestyle.
Emma also has a permanently hunched back and red and sore eyes from leaning forward and staring at a screen.
According to William Higham, the author of the Work Colleague Of The Future report, if employers and workers don’t act now to address the health risks posed by modern desk jobs, then we will all end up looking like Emma.
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“Unless we make radical changes to our working lives, such as moving more, addressing our posture at our desks, taking regular walking breaks or considering improving our work station set up, our offices are going to make us very sick.”
According to the report, which was commissioned by office equipment firm Fellowes, more than 90% of office workers in the UK who suffer from health issues because of their jobs are therefore performing more poorly at work.
Roughly 50% of all of the British workers questioned as part of the study said they had eye problems because of work, and 49% had bad backs.
