Creating workplaces with an emphasis on fitness
Print Edition
MANY of us spend most our days sitting at a desk, staring at a blinking screen. For us inveterate desk jockeys, what we see online is not what should be grabbing our attention.
Rather, it’s the fact of us sitting there for hours in the first place that should be of concern. It’s bad for our health.
The modern generation, weighed down by workplace pressures and irregular diet, gets tired and falls ill frequently. Some of us develop chronic ailments.
About 36 percent of office workers suffer from at least two health problems, according to a recent survey by Shanghai Tuoxin Health Improvement Center, backed by the Shanghai Disease Control and Prevention Center. Its findings were based on interviews of more than 10,000 office workers in 2,000 firms in China.
The three worst risks, according to the report, are sleep disorders, high blood pressure and arthritis of the neck.
Fortunately, some employers are taking steps to get jockeys away from their desks, at least some of the time.
Shanghai Fengyuzhu Exhibition Co, for example, has a fitness club and indoor basketball court for employees. To soothe stress, its walls are embellished with plants.
The switch to a healthier workplace started in 2014, when Chief Executive Li Hui, a super marathon fan, instructed his department managers to go for daily morning runs. Gradually, running became part of the office culture.
Since 2015, 800 workers at the company have participated in marathons around the nation. Tags attesting to their feats line a wall on the sixth floor.
For office buildings that hold a number of different firms, sports and recreation rooms for workers are becoming more common.
In 2011, the Kaidike Building built a rooftop recreation area for its more than 4,000 workers, the first of its kind in Shanghai.
Office workers there who once disdained moving from their desks have found that exercise does indeed improve their lives and their work performance. Instead of taking elevators, many walk up flights of stairs. Instead of paying costly fees to go to outside fitness clubs, they simply book time on the building’s badminton court, said Xiao Suhua, chairman of the building’s labor union federation.
The recreation room is open from 8am to 6pm every Monday through Friday. It has four walking tracks, a badminton court, a table tennis table, and some exercise equipment.
“It’s great because workers from different companies get to know each other there, and that improves their emotional well-being,” Xiao said.
In 2015, LL Land Holding Building, which has about 2,000 workers, became the first in Shanghai to convert an emergency shelter area into a fitness club that can be used when there’s no fire or other emergency requiring the space.
The Jing’an Sports Bureau funded the program, and the fitness club operator Kalaer charges only 365 yuan (US$53) a year for membership.
“We now have about 200 members, and every day 20 to 30 members show up,” said Chen Zhijian, the club’s general coach.
Garden Square opened a similar facility this month.
Shibei High Technology Park has gone a step further in promoting a healthy workplace environment.
Over the years, the park has morphed from an environment of smelly rivers and smokestack industries into a technology hub resplendent with green landscaping. Swans swim in clean waters nearby, and a botanical garden has been planted.
In 2012, the park opened a healthcare center, described as the first of its kind in an industrial park in China. The facility operates like a community clinic.
China is now trying to reform its medical system to promote the use of primary care physicians as the entry point to healthcare.
“Industrial parks aren’t covered by this new family doctor system,” said Shao Jun, a former doctor who heads up the Shibei Park clinic. “But workers in parks still have health risks due to work pressure and irregular schedules.”
The community clinic has a full range of diagnostic equipment to examine workers.
“It’s so important to monitor and take care of your health,” Shao said. “The World Health Organization said in a 2000 report that every yuan spent on prevention can save 8 yuan in medical costs.”
The power of the Internet has not gone ignored in that effort.
About a year ago, ARCPLUS Group, a large design company, introduced a mobile application that allows employees to monitor their daily health and seek medical advice if they have worries.
“We now have about 2,800 users, with more than 500 of them active users,” said Wang Ling, chairman of the group’s labor union.
She said the app was built in cooperation with a professional medical platform that includes more than 300 doctors. Users can consult a doctor by phone.
“Confidentiality is guaranteed, so workers — especially those with psychological problems — need not worry that their consultations will leak out,” she said.
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