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?
