Sedentary Work

Tuesday, 17.10.2017
10:00 – 12:30
1st Floor, Room 14

German-English simultaneously

Sedentary work and occupational physical activity:
A PEROSH-initiative for developing recommendations for practitioners and scientists

Prolonged sedentary work is increasingly discussed as a health risk factor for developing chronic diseases. Various studies show an adverse relationship between long-lasting physical inactivity and musculoskeletal disorders, adipositas, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes type II and premature mortality. Exposure assessments in this area have to a large extent been based on self-reported information or observations, being imprecise and potentially biased. This means that the existing knowledge, recommendations and legislation for prevention may not be optimal or, in worst case, incorrect. There is thus a great need for technical field measurements and assessment tools capable of providing valid information of sedentary work and occupational physical activity.

A PEROSH-initiative of 13 work-environment research institutes* has worked out a report on sedentary work during the last two years. The report covers the following topics:
• Sedentary behavior – health effects
• Sedentary behavior – occurrence
• Sedentary behavior – definition and rationale for how to measure it
• How to assess sedentary behavior?
• What principal wearables exist?
• Which wearable measurement system can be recommended for which application?
• Case studies

The aim of this symposium is to present and discuss the current state of knowledge on sedentary work. Recommendations for measuring and assessing sedentary work and occupational physical activity will be given to practitioners and scientists.

*Contributing institutions:
The Austrian Workers‘ Compensation Board (AUVA), Wien, Austria.
The Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute (CIOP), Warszawa, Poland.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), Helsinki, Finland.
Gävle University College (HiG), Gävle, Sweden.
HSE‘s Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL), Buxton, Derbyshire, United Kingdom.
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany.
The National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), Rome, Italy.
National Research and Safety Institute for occupational accidents (INRS), Vandoeuvre Les Nancy Cedex, France.
The Spanish National Institute for Safety and Hygiene at Work (INSHT), Madrid, Spain.
Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden.
Lund University (LU), Lund, Sweden.
The National Research Institute for the Working Environment (NRCWE), Copenhagen, Denmark.
The National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI), Oslo, Norway.

Uhrzeit Programm
Chair: Andreas Holtermann, Prof. PhD., National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE)
Co-Chair: Rolf Ellegast, Prof. PhD, Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (IFA)
10:00 Introduction
Andreas Holtermann, NRCWE, Denmark
Rolf Ellegast, IFA, Germany
10:10 A Guideline for Field Based Assessments of Occupational Sedentary Behavior in European Countries – a PEROSH initiative.
Nidhi Gupta, NRCWE, Denmark
Andreas Holtermann, NRCWE, Denmark
Peter Hendriksen, NRCWE, Denmark
Svend Erik Mathiassen, University of Gävle, Sweden
Vera Schellewald, IFA, Germany
Rolf Ellegast, IFA, Germany
The workgroup for PEROSH Recommendations on Occupational Sedentary Behavior Assessment
10:35 Practical objective methods for measurements and feedback of sedentary worktime
Mikael Forsman, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Farhad Abtahi, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Henrik Åhlander, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Liyun Yang, School of Technology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
11:00 Activity Break 1
Vera Schellenwald, IFA, Germany
11:05 Dynamic workstations to prevent sedentary behavior in offices – practical experiences
Vera Schellewald, IFA, Germany
Rolf Ellegast, IFA, Germany
Ingeborg Eisenacher-Abelein, Worktivity, Germany
Christoph Groß, Deutsche Telekom, Germany
Jens Kleinert, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany
11:30 Take a Stand! Effects of a multi-component intervention to reduce sitting among Danish office workers
Andreas Holtermann, NRCWE, Denmark
Ida H Danquah, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark
Stine Kloster, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark
Annette K Ersbøll, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark
Janne S Tolstrup, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark
Mette Aadahl, Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, Denmark
Adrian Bauman, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia
11:55 Activity Break 2
Vera Schellenwald, IFA, Germany
12:00 Discussion on assessment of occupational sedentary behavior and effective preventative measures to reduce sedentary work
12:25 Concluding remarks