JOBS START

AND here’s us thinking that working from home would do wonders for our health in terms of stress and relaxation. Unfortunately, a new survey carried out by etailer Furniture123.co.uk, has found that those working from home regularly risk their health with poor or unsuitable office set-ups.

So next time you avoid the office in favour of working from you sofa, it might be better to rethink. The research, which surveyed 1,004 UK workers in full and part-time work, found that 41 per cent of people take work home with them at least once a week, although the vast majority do so without a proper desk set up.

In fact, just one in three (34 per cent) home workers claimed to do their work at a desk within their home. Meanwhile, a further one in five (19 per cent) said they worked from an office chair.

The remainder of respondents could be risking problems such as repetitive strain injury and back injuries because of poor posture.

A worrying one in four (24 per cent) said they were happy working from their sofa when doing overtime at home.

But it seems this attitude isn’t necessarily down to comfort – one in three (32 per cent) of those who failed to work from either a desk or office chair claimed the lack of a proper set-up was due to not having enough space in their homes for this type of furniture.

The research also found that it was the youngest demographic of millennial workers – those aged 18 to 24 years – that were the most likely to be risking their health by not working from an appropriate work station at home, with just 18 per cent working from a desk.

Mark Kelly, marketing manager at Furniture123.co.uk said: “The data shows that, unfortunately, many workers are really risking their physical health to get their work done. The odd hour or two slumped in front of a laptop on the sofa might not seem like it will cause a big problem in the long term, but over time this can cause issues with posture and repetitive strain injury. “It’s vital that, if working from home is a regular thing, workers use a proper office chair and either a desk or laptop, to allow them to keep the screen or laptop is at the correct height, their posture will remain straight and their arms will be at the right angle while typing. All of these are vital to preventing some of the problems associated with computer-based working.”

WORST OFFENDERS?

Those working in the information and communications industry were found to be the worst offenders for health risks, with just 17 per cent saying they worked from a desk when working from home. These were closely followed by those in the marketing (21 per cent), professional services (25 per cent) and the education (31 per cent) industries.

The rest of the top 10 industries least likely to work from a desk at home included: administrative and support services, utilities, healthcare, local or national government, manufacturing, and creative and photographic.

The data shows that, unfortunately, many workers are really risking their physical health to get their work done Mark Kelly