Mobile device enslavement a plague on British workers' health

After-hours fondling threatens office bods

British workers are ruining their health by fondling slabs and touching screens after the work day is done, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said.

UK office monkeys are slaving away well into the night on their tablets and smartphones to try to take the pressure off during their actual working hours, doing an average of two hours and 18 minutes of extra work a night on top of their six- to seven-hour days.

Londoners were the least able to switch off, usually spending two hours 50 minutes on their mobile devices after they left the office, though that could have as much to do with how much time they have to spend commuting as anything else, but folks across the country are having a hard time detaching from the office.

Around half of office workers polled by the physios said their out-of-hours work had increased in the last two years and the main reasons they found themselves glued to their screens were to try to ease the pressure of the working day or just plain having too much work to do.

“The results of this survey are a huge concern to physiotherapists, who see the consequences of poor posture and bad working practices each day," Dr Helena Johnson, chair of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said.

“While doing a bit of extra work at home may seem like a good short-term fix, if it becomes a regular part of your evening routine then it can lead to problems such as back and neck problems, as well as stress-related illness. This is especially the case if you’re using handheld devices and not thinking about your posture."

The poll found that around two-thirds of office workers were already feeling the consequences of enslavement to their mobiles, reporting job-related ill health such as headaches and back pain.

The poll, done across the country and broken down into regions, is part of the society's efforts to get employers to consider their staff's health with a Workout at Work Day, which will attempt to encourage better working habits. ®