ScienceToday

Office workers could look very different in 20 years because of the actual work conditions that are very harmful to human health. In the next two decades, desk workers will manifest severe health problems such as bent backs from staying hunched over a desk for hours.

The employers who stare at computer screens for long periods of time suffer from red and dry eyes. Poor air quality leads to unaesthetic problems such as hairy ears and nose. Sitting without moving for hours provokes poor blood flow and this is the main cause of varicose veins.

Emma is a human representation of an office worker from 2040 and she looks like the female version of Quasimodo, the famous Hunchback of Notre-Dame. She was created by Fellowes, a company that produces office supplies and workstation goods.

This company collaborated with a Behavioral Futurist and panel of experts in ergonomics in order to show the risks of a bad working environment. Their research designed a terrifying female representation of how we all can look in the next two decades if we do not improve our way of working. Unchecked work conditions will lead to permanently bent backs, varicose veins, red and dry eyes, swollen wrists and hairy ears. You may not believe this could be happening, but Emma is proof that this is our future if we do not make a change in our working lifestyle.

Do not forget that sitting at a desk for hours while looking at a computer screen affects the health both physically and psychologically. Many disorders appeared because of the exposure to low-level psychological stress and anxiety.

Office workers must understand that is really important to have walk breaks, to move more and to improve their postures while sitting at their desks. Stephen Bowden, a reputed ergonomist, declared that every employer must add to his working routine normal everyday movements.

Otherwise, workers in the next decades can have more health problems than the ones that had difficult jobs during the Industrial Revolution.

Unfortunately, not all the bosses understand the importance of a healthy work environment taking in account that many office workers’ requests remain unresolved. Poor office environments do not affect only the nation’s health, but also the economy.

Let’s take UK for example. More than 90 percent of UK office workers suffer from their working conditions and they take sick days that cost the British economy almost £77 billion per year.

So, if we do not want to look like Emma in the next twenty years, we must stop working with poor posture and inadequately set-up workstations. It may be hard in a society where bosses do not prevent workplace health issues, but it is not impossible. Emma represents the alarm signal every office worker was waiting for.