Should regulations on standing be toughened?

THERE IS a lot to admire about the UK’s manufacturing industry.  With an annual output of £183bn, the UK possesses the ninth-largest manufacturing nation. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics reports that the sector also employs over 2.6m people - a figure that has been fairly stable for more than a decade now.

But orthotic and lifestyle insole distributor FootActive is questioning whether many of those people in the sector are spending too much time on their feet and whether more stringent laws need to be incorporated to protect workers who are standing for large periods of time per day.

What’s clear is that day after day, it’s causing long-term health problems. In 2021, A HSE report showed that musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 43% of work-related ill health in the manufacturing industry. It also states that approximately 88,000 workers suffer from ill health over a three-year period.

Data in 2020 also showed the average number of days lost per self-reported work-related injury had doubled, rising to an all-time high of 20 in 2019/20. When we think of those injuries, very few would immediately turn their attention to how much time we’re spending on our feet. But the reality is, it is causing more harm than many think.

Issues caused by standing long periods

Is it time for proper foot health guidance. Research undertaken by doctors in Australia has shown that even spending two hours per day on our feet can have significant health benefits. 

However, alongside that, studies suggest that as little as 30 minutes of standing without dynamic movement can lead to fatigue, discomfort, and pain in other areas of the body, particularly the legs and lower back.

This can include:

• Plantar fasciitis
• sore feet
• swelling of the legs
• shin splints
• varicose veins
• general muscular fatigue
• low back pain 
• stiffness in the neck and shoulders

These pose a big problem for manufacturer employees in certain roles, like managing assembly lines, for long periods of time without frequent enough sitting breaks.

As well as a review of foot health guidance within the manufacturing sector, another area that needs looking at is the footwear that workers have at their disposal. This is backed by studies from the steel industry showing that when people were provided with the proper footwear, the number of sick days and time off fell dramatically.

A lot of that comes down to that we’re spending time on our feet on foundations like concrete, which are too hard for the human foot over a long period of time. Workers are wearing footwear that is not suitable and doesn’t offer any support to the foot. 

There are simple solutions out there, like insoles which can provide a necessary barrier and layer of comfort for feet that are subject to long hours of standing. 

Tips for employees 

Jemima Munro, a physiotherapist at FootActive, says there are things that workers can do to help alleviate the issues that come with long periods of standing but wants to be clear, that these are not long-term solutions. These steps include: 

Stretching throughout the day

Maybe it’s not something people would feel comfortable doing in front of their colleagues throughout the day, but the benefits of it cannot be underestimated.

Adding stretching as part of your daily routine for the lower half of your body - your calves, thighs, and knees - will help keep muscles flexible and will prevent them from tightening which, in itself, can be really painful.

Making sure your posture is right

When we’re standing in the same position for a long time it can be easy to begin slouching. Doing so, though, is adding unnecessary stress and strain to key muscles, joints, and ligaments.

There are five key areas to keep an eye on. These are: 

1. keeping your chin parallel to the floor
2. aligning shoulders and hips
3. ensuring your back is straight and has no arches
4. aligning hips with your ankles
5. equally distributing your body weight across both feet

Vary the way you stand

At first glance, this is an odd suggestion, right? Standing is just standing, surely? But actually by adapting the stance from time to time - just as we are advised to vary sitting and standing throughout the day - we are preventing your body from being stuck in a rigid posture.

Having the variety will also work out other core muscle groups, that otherwise do not get used when we repeatedly stand in the same stance.

This can be as simple as shifting your weight or practising active standing. The latter, again, can be as simple as using a floor mat to soften the ground your feet are standing on, which will engage other muscle groups.

Does more need to be done? 

While there still isn't exact data, what we know is that foot health issues are incredibly common, particularly in younger people. However, there is a stigma still that associates insoles with older people. 

That simply just isn’t the case. Data also shows that those people who invest in insoles sooner rather than later as a result of a foot problem have much fewer issues going forward, particularly in children. 

Unfortunately, there are still far too many people that will take pain relief, like Ibuprofen, and don’t deal with a foot issue until it becomes unbearable. However, the reality is that it could have been solved far sooner.

Final thoughts

The manufacturing and warehouse sectors are not alone in needing to deal with this issue. Indeed, workers in hospitality, construction, healthcare and farming industries are subject to long excessive hours on their feet, many without the correct footwear protection.

Left untreated, long periods of standing have a negative impact on our bodies, affecting our legs and lower backs, and eventually leading to thousands of workers being forced onto sick leave and having to seek help for issues that are avoidable. So, is it time to review the laws and regulations around standing in a workplace? The answer, in our mind, is absolutely.

Will Munro is director at FootActive

For more information: 

footactive.co.uk

Tel: 01963 33088