Recent research has warned of the health detriments associated with sitting for long stretches of time at the office, but what about the nearly half of all employees worldwide who are required to stand for more than 75% of their workdays? Prolonged standing is associated with short-term adverse health issues, including reports of fatigue, leg cramps, and backaches, which can affect job performance and cause significant discomfort. A new study published in Human Factors suggests that, over time, this type of sustained muscle fatigue can result in serious health consequences.

“The work-related musculoskeletal implications that can be caused by prolonged standing are a burden not only for workers but also for companies and society,” notes Mar铆a Gabriela Garc铆a, a PhD candidate in the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Z眉rich. “Long-term muscle fatigue caused by standing for long epochs of time has not received much attention.”

In “Long-Term Muscle Fatigue After Standing Work,” Garc铆a and fellow human factors/ergonomics researchers Bernard Martin and Thomas L盲ubli asked participants of two age groups to simulate standing work for five-hour epochs. Participants could take brief seated rest breaks and a 30-minute lunch.

The authors found evidence of significant long-term fatigue following the five-hour workday, even when it included regular breaks, and that adverse symptoms persisted for at least 30 minutes following a seated recovery epoch. Moreover, young adults ages 18 to 30 were just as likely to experience long-term fatigue as were workers over the age of 50.

“Long-term fatigue after prolonged standing work may be present without being perceived,” continued Garc铆a. “Current work schedules for standing work may not be adequate for preventing fatigue accumulation, and this long-lasting muscle fatigue may contribute to musculoskeletal disorders and back pain.”