As the information age pushes an increasing number of people into desk-bound jobs, sedentary workers are finding it difficult to avoid packing on extra pounds, which too often translate into extra healthcare costs for plan sponsors. An office equipment manufacturer and a Mayo Clinic doctor have come up with a solution to battle expanding waistlines: don’t let employees sit down.
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based manufacturer Details, a subsidiary of Steelcase, has introduced the Walkstation, an adjustable workstation with an attached treadmill instead of a chair. The machine is based on the research of Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, and focuses on non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), or the energy expended during everyday activity.
Levine’s research suggests that increased physical activity among desk-bound workers may increase the health, focus and productivity of a workforce. Instead of advocating activity breaks or company-sponsored gym memberships, Levine’s theory is based on having workers walk slowly while working, and he estimates that users of the Walkstation may increase energy expenditure by 100 calories per hour when walking at a rate of 1.6 km/h.
Details’ president Bud Klipa says his company has been designing ergonomic workstations for years, but he felt that more could be done to alleviate common office-related ailments. A well-timed call from Dr. Levine put the wheels in motion.
“The solutions we were putting out there in terms of supporting people’s computer use may have been somewhat effective, but you’re still seeing relatively high rates of repetitive stress, back pain, et cetera,” he says. “So we came to the conclusion that promoting more movement, as opposed to the static, perfect posture, was preferable. At the same time, Dr. Levine called us.” The collaborative effort that followed resulted in the Walkstation.
Klipa says employees who use the Walkstation experience weight loss and an increase of energy, especially in the mid-afternoon, when many office workers report feeling lethargic. However, there is no empirical data to suggest a decrease in health care costs for employers as of yet, partly because the product has only been on the market for six months.
“There is evidence that it helps reduce your body mass index and your overall weight,” he says. “Therefore you rely on other studies that say that reducing your employees’ overall weight should reduce costs from a healthcare perspective.”
Craig Dexheimer, director of operations and administration at SALO, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based staffing firm, says the Walkstation has helped to engender a new attitude towards health amongst his employees and clients. SALO recently took part in a six-month study to see if Dr. Levine’s NEAT theory would result in weight loss.
“I lost 25 pounds,” says Dexheimer. “To think that you can do this while you’re working is pretty powerful.”
While SALO has no firm numbers on the Walkstation’s effects on healthcare costs, the company expects to see a financial benefit. “We would anticipate that this will have a positive impact on our healthcare claims, based on the weight loss alone,” he says.
Dexheimer explains how SALO’s 16 Walkstations—eight individual units and two groups of four conference units, have transformed the company’s philosophy on health and surprised management with their popularity. “I never would have expected people to have engaged as much as they do in the walking meetings,” he says.
Employees are now taking the initiative and trading the confines of the office for the trails of a nearby park to conduct one-on-one meetings with clients, according to Dexheimer, and the company is currently incorporating the new philosophy into their health and wellness programs, including exporting the physical meetings to client sites wherever possible.
“What we’ve learned from this is that it’s not about walking on a treadmill,” he says. “It’s more about movement and activity while you’re working.”
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