Mads got repetitive strain injuries after a few months in his first full-time job

‘I think that was a bit early at the age of 25. But I quickly found out that several of my colleagues were experiencing the same symptoms. That's why I started reading up on what we could do,’ says Mads Fidder Jørgensen, who is a software engineer at Develco.

A study from the National Research Center for the Working Environment shows that if all Danish workplaces introduce simple exercises during working hours, we can potentially prevent 13 percent of long sickness absence in Denmark, i.e. absences of more than 30 days.

Still, only 21 percent of companies offer simple exercise activities in everyday life, according to figures from the National Research Center for the Working Environment.

One of the companies that now offers exercise activities during working hours is the engineering company Develco, where Mads Fidder Jørgensen works. Precisely on the basis of the good research results.

Now the employees meet for a five-minute workout a day - always just before lunch, and this usually involves two strength exercises for the upper body with elastic and one strength exercise for the lower body.

Not everyone participates in exercise during working hours

The volunteer-based approach is a good starting point, but it can have a downside for certain groups, says Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup, who researches health and working environment at the National Research Center for Working Environment.

‘The offers that workplaces make in relation to training during working hours usually target a certain group of people – those who already work out. And that's good, but you rarely reach those who need it the most. Of course, I want to encourage workplaces to integrate training into working hours, for example elastic training. But what we see with these efforts is that because they are based on motivation and voluntariness, some people drop out and it becomes harder to retain employees in these exercise schemes,’ says Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup.

In this context, Ninna Guldager suggests working with Health Environment (Sundhedsmiljø), a holistic and proactive approach to workplace health. The advantages of working with Health Environment - as an alternative or supplement to more classic health promotion efforts - is that it becomes a more integrated part of the work. It reaches more people and is not dependent on the employees' motivation or skills, emphasizes Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup.

Not everyone participates in the exercise sessions at Mads Fidder Jørgensen's workplace either.
‘There are always people who are skeptical, and there are still people who have never participated. It can quickly become a bit exclusive, and it has also been a bit of “trial and error” in relation to some of the exercises that I thought we could easily do. It turned out that not everyone could do them,’ says Mads Fidder Jørgensen.

‘We often tend to hyper-fixate on everything we can't do, where the Health Environment approach entails accepting that there are things you can't change in your work. If your work depends on you sitting in front of a computer, then you can't just walk away from the computer. But there are always a few adjustments to be made,’ says Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup.

Specifically, she mentions that if you work in an office you can decide which meetings you can turn into a walk and talk. Or you can plan the working day so that there is a more even distribution between mentally demanding and easy tasks, immersion time and meetings as well as between screen work and outdoor meetings.

Management and employees must both get involved

A trend that Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup sees in her pilot projects is that management - especially middle managers - play a decisive role in successfully implementing Health Environment in the workplace.

‘If you have a leader who takes the lead and actively supports the effort, you will get further with the Health and Environment initiative,’ she explains. ‘You can't do it without temployee participation either. They know their work processes better than the manager, so involvement is just as important as the manager taking the lead. It's not just about launching an effort, but also about maintaining and strengthening it ,’ says Ninna Maria Guldager Wilstrup.

Mads Fidder Jørgensen agrees that the manager plays a central role when new initiatives are to be implemented.

‘Our boss has taken the lead to strengthen the initiative with training during working hours. He participates himself when he can. In this way, he shows that it is perfectly fine to take time out of the working day for exercise. It benefits all of us,’ says Mads Fidder Jørgensen.

Today, Mads Fidder Jørgensen no longer struggles with the same pain, thanks to five minutes of training during working hours.

‘I think it's important to be told that five minutes of training a day is much better than nothing. You don't need to set aside an hour to do something good for yourself,’ says Mads Fidder Jørgensen.

The simple exercises have also given him the opportunity to talk to colleagues he doesn't normally have much to do with in his day-to-day life.