B2 – Upper Intermediate
These days, the average office worker sits for around 10 hours. This results to a sedentary lifestyle and a potential threat to one’s health.
Find out more about this new risk associated to office workers sitting for too long from the article below.
Do you spend a lot of time glued to your computer screen at the office? Is your daily exercise limited to an occasional bathroom break and a brief walk to refill your coffee? According to a new study from New Zealand, if your response was “yes” to these questions, then you may be at risk of forming deadly blood clots. In fact, the risk for office workers is higher than most long-distance air travelers.
It’s called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. It’s also known as “economy class syndrome,” because it was first linked with long distance flights. The absence of legroom in economy class, as well as the more crowded conditions, means passengers are forced to sit for lengthy periods. DVT is a condition, then, in which a blood clot forms in one of the veins of the leg or pelvis. The clot can break off and block a blood vessel in one of the lungs. Death is the result.
Professor Richard Beasley headed the study. He discovered that a large number of patients coming to the hospital with blood clots had been seated at work for hours and hours. In fact, some people had sat for periods longer than many long-distance flights. He found that it wasn’t uncommon for people to sit for twelve to fourteen hours, nonstop except for a quick time out for the bathroom, coffee, and lunch.
1.4% of people who report blood clots have recently traveled on a plane. Compare this to 34% who have just spent the day at the office. The figures are alarming. They show the sedentary nature of the modern work environment.
The study covered sixty-two patients aged 65 and younger.
Source: headsupenglish.com
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you agree that employers should protect the health and safety of their employees?
2. What other hazards can you think of in association with the office?
3. What would be the perfect office environment? Is it likely you will ever work in such a place?
4. Describe your workplace. How conducive and safe is it for workers?
9 replies on “New Hazards At the Office”
1.- Do you agree that employers should protect the health and safety of their employees?
Yes, I am agree that there is a healthly protocols in the offices.
2. What other hazards can you think of in association with the office?
For example there are important eye problems due to screens and artificial light. Tired eyesight, blurred vision etc. Also, there is trafic accidents when the people goes to office and we should not forget our back.
3. What would be the perfect office environment? Is it likely you will ever work in such a place? We must to stop around 5 minutes each hour with simple moves in ankle, legs and arms. We should to stop for luch or coffe because there are several moments that we eat in front our computer. We must to use the modern devices and ergonic furniture . It is a ideal scenario.
4. Describe your workplace. How conducive and safe is it for workers?
At this moment, I am working at home and i try to do simple moves each hour, get up from the chair and walk in the house or go down 5-10 minutes to the street but not I do not get all days, because there is urgent issue, or I should to finish a report, etc.
Great to have you on the Phoneenglish blog! You did well in writing your responses.
Take a look at a slightly better way to write this sentence:
Just continue doing this exercise to keep improving.
Keep being consistent with your writing practice here.
1. Do you agree that employers should protect the health and safety of their employees?
I agree, but the truth is that since working from home has been introduced, daily physical activity has become even more limited.
2. What other hazards can you think of in association with the office?
The truth is that the offices are very safe, due to the law of prevention of occupational hazards, but I suppose it can be dangerous to transport or commuting to them.
3. What would be the perfect office environment? Is it likely you will ever work in such a place?
A perfect office should have enough space not only for work but also to be able to disconnect from it, such as a break room.
4. Describe your workplace. How conducive and safe is it for workers?
My office is small and cozy, it has several meeting rooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. It’s not much, but for the few of us it’s enough.
Well done writing your responses!
Here is a sentence you can revise:
Keep going with this exercise to further improve your writing skills.
1. Do you agree that employers should protect the health and safety of their employees?
Of course, it should be one of their priorities.
2. What other hazards can you think of in association with the office?
If office work: Issues with cables and electricity, ergonometric issues.
3. What would be the perfect office environment? Is it likely you will ever work in such a place?
Lot´s of light, fresh flow of air, clean and spacey, comfy chairs, tables and materials. Opportunity for workers to move and excercise.
4. Describe your workplace. How conducive and safe is it for workers?
Not very, there are cables and connectors exposed everywhere, and as the article says, we only move for short periods of time.
Good to see you keeping persistent with your writing practice. Keep it up!
See how you can improve this response:
Cheers to great work spaces!
I think that it’s not only the employers who have to protect the health of their employees, because nobody is going to take better of your health than yourself. Everybody should be concious about the risks and adapt their working behaviours to take care of themselves.
Regarding hazards and also related with health, I think that there are other perils like pain on the back, shoulders, elbows, wrist… Our body was not made to spend so much hours sitting in front of a computer. We evolved to hunt, collect, working with tools…
The perfect office environment would be one with an adaptable table that would let you work stand up, and if we can walk in a treadmill from time to time, even better. Right now, this is not likely to happen, but who knows if in a few decades with all the social advances this is going to be really common.
I work at home and I can work in a chair, but thanks to a mobile platform, I can change to stand up position. In fact, I spend most of the time working stand up and I fell more productive this way.
Thanks for your efforts in writing your answers to this lesson’s discussion questions. Well done!
Here are a few things you can improve in the following sentences:
1º I agree that employers should protect the health and safety of their employees. This would reduce the absentistm. Also, if the workers are in good conditions this will boast productivitiy.
2º Other hazards are electrical points. Also the position of some drawers or office closet.
3º the perfect enviroment would be a place with the right temperature and with all the furniture and machines placed in a ergonomic way. I would also appreciate nice views.
4º I work in a bank branch. It is a litle bit old so I suppose that the will refurnished soon. In the future I think they will implement state of the art technology.