Office design and occupational health - has research been left behind?

Tens of millions of workers in Europe work in office environments. Such a physical environment might seem fairly harmless compared to the exposures of many other work environments. Yet, the office design is associated with important occupational health-related outcomes, as demonstrated by increased sickness absence and the risk of disability retirement in traditional open-plan offices. Unfortunately, modern office designs, such as activity-based offices, have received limited attention in the field of occupational and public health. Even in traditional offices, the mechanisms behind the associations with sickness absence and work ability are poorly understood and research on particular health outcomes, such as mental health and musculoskeletal disorders, is very limited. Here, Haapakangas et al examine the health implications of modern offices.