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Keven Moore: Sorry about this, salesmen, but exercise balls belong in a gym, not in the workplace


Yoga balls also known as Swiss balls or exercise balls were first invented by Aquilino Cosani an Italian manufacturer in 1963. Overtime physiotherapist and physical therapist began using them in clinical settings with their patients for their rehab programs.

Today athletic trainers, strength coaches, personal trainers, all around the world have incorporated them in to alternative exercises such as yoga and Pilates.

While they are common and usually durable, exercise balls can fail when not used properly according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Every year hundreds if not thousands of people are injured while using these exercise balls. While researching safety statistics for this article I was unable to uncover any real data to prove the exact number of injuries, but I have seen enough YouTube videos to know that they are still a real hazard.

With the new active workstation craze in the workplace the idea of sitting on these exercise balls instead of a traditional office chair has indeed crept into the workplace, leaving employers wondering if they should be approved.

In fact just last week I was asked by a client about the degree of risk that they present to employees in their workplace, as a substitute for the standard office chair, so I set out on make a judgment for my client.

Physical therapist will tell you that due to the instability of an exercise ball will require the user to increase trunk muscle activation and thus increase core strength, improve posture, improve balance, burn calories and decrease discomfort.

As a trained safety and risk management professional I do see the value that they can add from a physical fitness standpoint, but the question still remains — are they a risk to employees while working in the workplace?

Let me begin by saying, that I am very aware of the hazards of Dormant Butt Syndrome, as research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome — causing a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels which can lead to increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

With such knowledge this puts employers in a bit of a “Catch 22” situation as it relates to allowing exercise balls into the workplace, as many employers are actively promoting health and wellness programs to better control rising healthcare costs.

However research has overwhelmingly shown major drawbacks to using exercise balls at as chairs, and that a chair is a better option at least when you’re at work.

According to the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders, they claim that the use of stability balls as a chair may actually increase the risk of developing low back discomfort and may increase the risk of sustaining an injury due to the unstable nature of the balls.

So in short there is a greater chance that employees will experience more low back and neck discomfort without any benefit to their posture or core muscle strength.

In 2009 the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) had to recall nearly 3 million exercise balls after overinflated balls were reported to unexpectedly burst while in use, causing the user to fall, resulting in fractures and other injuries. As an employer it is easy to ascertain that these exercise balls are therefore potential recordable accidents waiting to happen. It is also difficult for employers to regulate their use and if in fact their employees are properly keeping these exercise balls inflated to the manufacture standards.

The instability of an exercise ball may excite a physical therapist, but there lies the problem: they are unstable. It is nearly impossible for a person to maintain stability and properly spinal alignment/posture sitting on a ball for any length of time and perform work tasks. There have even been studies that show that they cause more data entry errors from those who use exercise balls compared to those sitting on a task chair.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), OSHA, and other professional organizations have published guidelines about office chairs. From a safety compliance standpoint, I was unable to uncover any OSHA rulings or fines as it relates to exercise balls in the workplace, but OSHA does describes a chair as a component of a work station.

They say that a chair should be …. “well-designed and appropriately adjusted and is an essential element of a safe and productive computer workstation. A good chair provides necessary support to the back, legs, buttocks, and arms, while reducing exposures to awkward postures, contact stress, and forceful exertions. Increased adjustability ensures a better fit for the user, provides adequate support in a variety of sitting postures, and allows variability of sitting positions throughout the workday. This is particularly important if the chair has multiple users.

Therefore exercise balls do not have adjustable backrests, arms, and seat pans, nor are they made with recommended materials and therefore an employer could potentially be cited under the OSHA General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1). Highly unlikely I must admit, but if an employee was ever severely become injured as a result of an exercise ball being used as a chair, this is not out of the possibility because OSHA’s mission is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for all working men and women.

The fact is over an eight-hour work shift, employee’s muscles will fatigue, causing the body to compensate and assume non-neutral postures (slumping). Slumping will then places pressure on the spinal discs, contributing to back pain, this causing awkward postures that contribute to ergonomic injuries.

In conclusion as an employer it’s important to note that if an employee is injured at work while sitting on an exercise ball, the employer is completely liable even if the ball was over or under inflated or if horseplay was involved —and the injury will be compensatable under workers compensation.

As a disclaimer before passing a ruling on this debate, it’s important for me to say, that I am not an anti-active workstation or anti exercise ball activist, as a matter of fact my wife owns one and I often sometimes consider using it, but then decide against it for a variety of reason unrelated to these obvious safety concerns.

The bottom line is this — exercise balls belong in a gym and not in the office. They are not designed to be used for sitting for any prolonged periods at work. I would further suggest to employers that if employees are using them in their offices, to let them know that exercise balls are prohibited and they should take them home.

As for you active workstation vendors out there that will be emailing me by the end of the day in protest for this judgment, let me just say that your job is to sell, my job is to assess risks and we should both be judged by our intentions.

Be Safe My Friends.

Keven-Moore_10221

Keven Moore works in risk management services. He has a bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky, a master’s from Eastern Kentucky University and 25-plus years of experience in the safety and insurance profession. He lives in Lexington with his family and works out of both the Lexington and Northern Kentucky offices. Keven can be reached at kmoore@roeding.com.


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