Employers should conduct standing meetings and provide workers with regular breaks that involve walking to reduce sedentary time, say Australian researchers.
The researchers from Curtin University and other institutions say employers should reduce their workers' sedentary time by changing systems of work.
"Being sedentary (ie, too much sitting) is not the same as being physically inactive," the researchers note.
"Insufficient physical activity is defined in the public health context as not meeting the guidelines to accumulate at least 2.5 to five hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.
"Both physical inactivity and sedentary time have an impact on health: physical inactivity is estimated to account for 5.5 per cent of all-cause premature mortality, and excessive sitting time, after adjusting for physical activity, accounts for 5.9 per cent.
"Even if workers meet physical activity guidelines (ie, are physically active), they can still have high exposure to sedentary time."
The researchers say overall sedentary time and "the pattern of sedentary exposure" are associated with substantial harm, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Time spent sedentary is significant for office workers, they say, with more than 75 per cent of the office workday spent sitting, with much of this accumulated in unbroken bouts of at least 30 minutes.
Employers could be breaching their WHS obligations to provide a safe system of work by not reducing employees' sedentary time, the researchers say, and they recommend employers take a number of steps to tackle the issue.
Employers should consider changing work systems, for example by providing sit-stand workstations or active workstations, and conducting standing meetings, which are cost-free.
"While other strategies have a cost, the cost does not seem disproportionate given the potential for significant harm," the researchers say.
Redesigning work tasks to enable "postural variability" or providing workers with regular breaks that involve physical activity, such as walking, can ensure they are regularly moving and maintaining their wellbeing, they add.
Excessive occupational sitting is not a "safe system of work": time for doctors to get chatting with patients. Leon Straker, et al, Australia, Medical Journal of Australia, Volume 201, Issue 3, August 2014.
