In sickness…

There is a growing body of research on how the indoor environment can affect performance and productivity. This research started back in the ‘80s with the rise of ‘sick buildings syndrome,’ and more recently it has been bolstered by studies such as Joseph Allen’s book [i] on how indoor spaces can drive performance and productivity. In addition, there are several ways that workplaces specifically can affect people’s health negatively.

Some of these effects can be easily measured, others less so. A ready-to-hand statistic is absenteeism (sick days). The average U.K. worker is absent from the office 4.4 days per year; this reality is influenced by being in a space that has poor air quality.

This impact is followed closely by presenteeism [ii] – presence at work despite sickness. Presenteeism, as defined by researchers, isn’t about malingering (pretending to be ill to avoid work duties) or goofing off on the job (surfing the Internet, say, when you should be preparing that report). The term refers to lost productivity because of real health problems.

Underlying the research on presenteeism is the assumption that employees do not take their jobs lightly, that most of them need and want to continue working if they can [iii] . 39% of employees and 57% of managers in Europe go to work even when they do not feel healthy. This behaviour encourages a cycle of sickness.Likewise, it is interesting to consider this thought-provoking quote from scientist James Levine [iv] about sitting in your chair all day: “We lose two hours of life for every hour we sit”. Combine all these factors together and it seems as though we should be re-evaluating the importance of health in our places of work.

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