TUC calls for less standing in the workplace

Standing up at work for long periods can damage workers’ health, according to the TUC. Standing for too long contributes to 200,000 workers with leg ailments being off sick for two million days a year. Problems caused by standing for long periods include varicose veins, swelling of the legs and feet, joint damage and circulatory problems.

The TUC believes that there is a tendency for employers to assume that staff are not working properly if they are sitting down. It claims that problems caused by standing are as prevalent as they were in Victorian times, when doctors campaigned for shop workers to be provided with seats.

Hugh Robertson, a health and safety specialist at the TUC said that although many people experience discomfort from standing all day, not many of them realise that it can contribute to a major illness or injury.

The TUC also said that the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was not properly enforcing the 1992 Welfare Regulations, which say that employers should provide suitable seats where work, or part of it, can be done sitting.

Since these regulations were introduced there have been only 5 enforcement notices issued and no prosecutions.