Waiters and waitresses, chefs, bartenders and hotel workers are just some of the job roles where you’re required to be on your feet all day. This can take its toll on your body and it’s proven that standing for long periods of time can contribute to a variety of medical problems. Not sure what these are and how to protect yourself and your workers from them? Don’t worry. This post will outline everything that you need to know.
How Standing All Day Affects Your Body:
Aching Joints and Bones
The longer hours you work while standing, the more pressure you’re putting on your joints. Therefore, they’re likely to start aching and feel sore. This can be emphasised too if you’re not wearing the correct supportive footwear.
For example, a bartender at a busy service bar in a restaurant doesn’t have time to stop and take the weight off his/her feet. Instead, they have to carry on rushing around and inflicting more strain on their joints and bones.
When they eventually do get to stop when the bar closes or even when they get home after their shift, they’ll find that they have a backache and sore ankles. Especially at the end of the week having done the same for the previous four days.
Foot Problems
Your feet take the most stress when it comes to standing throughout your shift. That probably won’t surprise you, but the repercussions of being stood on them all day include:
- Corns and bunions can start to form, which can be sore to touch and look pretty nasty.
- Developing flat feet, heel spurs or weakened arches from lack of support.
These may seem like pretty innocuous issues, but they don’t go away lightly and may take a while before you stop feeling the symptoms.
Fatigue
Running back and forth from the kitchen with heavy plates or dashing around the hotel catering to your guests’ needs for the full duration of your shift can be tiring. So much so that towards the end of the shift or the following day, you may notice a drop in productivity due to employee fatigue.
Not only will you start to feel drained and physically tired but your muscles themselves will start to feel it too.
Leg Cramps
Being stood up all day, your legs are under an increased amount of pressure. Overworking them can lead to cramps and sharp pains in your calves, hamstrings and even your thighs. This will obviously hamper your performance and lead to a fall in productivity. Not only will it affect your performance at work but also it will no doubt cause some discomfort and sharp pain, which is obviously not ideal.
How Can I Prevent These Side Effects?
Take Regular Breaks
Short breaks throughout the day will give you chance to take the weight off your feet to release some stress. Even short 10-minute breaks will do the trick.
If there’s nowhere free to sit down and chill out, relief postures are a good way to shift your weight to another part of your body rather than your feet. Even if it means going into the cellar and leaning on the wall or standing in a split stance for a few moments.
But, be aware that if you sit down for too long, the likelihood is that you’re not going to want to get back up and be productive. People can show signs of fatigue after just 30 minutes of sitting down rest time, so be sure to avoid that if you want to carry on being productive throughout your shift.
Stand Differently Throughout Your Shift
By standing differently throughout your shift, you’re regularly changing your posture and shifting the strain from your feet to other parts of the body. This way, each different part of your body is getting a fair share of the stress caused by being on your feet all day, not just one body part is targeted. This should reduce the side effects and prevent any serious harm to one body part.
Wear the Right Footwear
Workers may choose to buy the high-street alternative rather than specialist industry shoes as the price tag is more attractive and they’re more fashionable. However, not wearing the correct footwear is one of the biggest contributing factors to harming your body.
One feature you should look for in shoes if you’re going to be on your feet all day is extra cushioning. This will provide the support you need to keep you comfortable and enable you to provide service with the biggest smile on your face, no matter how long the shift.
Our recommendation is Old School IV (left). The lightweight shoe with extra cushioning and slip-resistant outsole delivers everything you need to be comfortable on your feet all day. If you need a fully CE and S3 certified safety shoe, check out Dolce81 (right).
 |  |
Choose the Right Shoe For Your Role
You need shoes that are going to keep you comfortable and protect you from the various hazards that the workplace poses. Sure, the high street alternative may be cheaper, but are they suitable? Absolutely not.
Download our free Ultimate Guide to Buying Slip-Resistant Shoes today and find the shoes that are just right for you.