The workplace as it is

The Green End...

These will be individuals, usually under 30 yrs old, who can, and do sit at their workstation all day, paying little attention to their environment and posture and do not experience any problems.

Most workers in the information age start out this way until, with the passage of time and long periods in poor working habits (breaks, pause exercises and posture) they start to develop aches and pains. This is a result of the cumulative effect of low grade strain and so the individual will start moving to the right of the spectrum.

The Yellow Middle...

The typical person in this category will be someone who has either been working in an office based environment for a number of years and the effects of low grade strain have started to be felt. Or this could be an individual with a workstation not suited to the task profile or someone with a history of musculo-skeletal problems.

Whatever the causative factors, these are people with intermittent pain and stiffness that may or may not have been brought to the attention of the company. Either way these problems tend to be somewhat persistent and lead to reduced efficiency/productivity and even episodes of sickness absence.

The Red End...

If there is not a surveillance system in place to detect problems and there is no proactive, early intervention, individuals in the middle of the spectrum tend to migrate further to the right of the spectrum. What were once minor aches and pains become ongoing problems worsening in severity, leading to increased periods of absence. This often has the effect of straining employee/employer relations and even, in some cases disability payouts and retirement on grounds of ill health.