Could my office chair be deadly?

It’s hard to imagine, but sitting could actually be deadly. Workers who spend a large part of their days sitting in a chair may not want to hear this statistic, but according to researchers, people who sit for over 11 hours a day have a 40 percent higher chance of death within the next three years. Surprisingly, most office workers easily sit for this amount of time each day.

Think about it: If you arrive at the office at 8 a.m. and work until your lunch break at 12 p.m., you just spent four hours sitting. Then you’ll spend another four or five hours of sitting in the afternoon. Next, you’ll go home, sit down to eat dinner and watch a couple hours of television. Easily, this is 11 hours of sitting per day for the average office worker.

If sitting is so dangerous, then, what should office workers do? Most would consider turning to exercise to balance themselves out and get healthy again, but even five hours of exercise a week isn’t enough to offset the damaging effects of sitting in the office all day. One of the best “cures” is to create a “get up and walk” break each 15 to 30 minutes. Others recommend that office workers consider getting a standing desk. Indeed, many workers swear by them.

If you’ve suffered a work-related injury because you’ve spent too much time sitting at an office desk and computer, you might be able to receive compensation to pay for your medical care by filing a workers’ compensation claim.