Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees
OBJECTIVES: This aim of this study was to (i) examine differences in risk of subsequent disability retirement between employees working in cellular, shared, and open-plan offices and (ii) determine the contribution of gender, skill-level, work ability, medically certified sickness absence, leadershi...
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Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)
2021-01-01
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doaj-42816b99895f4592848e6fae3613199a2021-04-20T12:41:40ZengNordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health0355-31401795-990X2021-01-01471223210.5271/sjweh.39073907Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employeesMorten Birkeland Nielsen0Jan Shahid EmberlandStein KnardahlNational Institute of Occupational Health, Pb 5330 Majorstuen, N-0304 Oslo, Norway.OBJECTIVES: This aim of this study was to (i) examine differences in risk of subsequent disability retirement between employees working in cellular, shared, and open-plan offices and (ii) determine the contribution of gender, skill-level, work ability, medically certified sickness absence, leadership position, and personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) as confounders. METHODS: Survey data on predictor variables combined with official objective registry data on disability retirement and sickness absence were extracted from a large Norwegian occupational cohort of office workers (N=6779, 53.5% women). Questionnaire data included the respondents’ office designs, comparing cellular, shared, and open-plan offices, demographic characteristics, workability, and personality factors. Objective data on disability retirement and medically certified sickness absence were extracted from the sickness and disability benefit register of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration. RESULTS: In the final fully adjusted model, employees working in shared [hazard rato (HR) 1.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–2.16] and open-plan (HR 1.95, 95% CI 1.31–2.90) offices had significantly higher risk of subsequent disability retirement compared to employees in cellular offices. Gender, work ability, medically certified sickness absence, and conscientiousness had independent direct effects on risk of disability retirement. CONCLUSION: This study shows that open and shared workspace designs have detrimental effects by increasing risk of disability retirement among office workers, even when taking other known predictive factors into account. https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3907 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Morten Birkeland Nielsen Jan Shahid Emberland Stein Knardahl |
spellingShingle |
Morten Birkeland Nielsen Jan Shahid Emberland Stein Knardahl Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
author_facet |
Morten Birkeland Nielsen Jan Shahid Emberland Stein Knardahl |
author_sort |
Morten Birkeland Nielsen |
title |
Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees |
title_short |
Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees |
title_full |
Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees |
title_fullStr |
Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees |
title_full_unstemmed |
Office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: A prospective registry study of Norwegian employees |
title_sort |
office design as a risk factor for disability retirement: a prospective registry study of norwegian employees |
publisher |
Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) |
series |
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
issn |
0355-3140 1795-990X |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
OBJECTIVES: This aim of this study was to (i) examine differences in risk of subsequent disability retirement between employees working in cellular, shared, and open-plan offices and (ii) determine the contribution of gender, skill-level, work ability, medically certified sickness absence, leadership position, and personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) as confounders. METHODS: Survey data on predictor variables combined with official objective registry data on disability retirement and sickness absence were extracted from a large Norwegian occupational cohort of office workers (N=6779, 53.5% women). Questionnaire data included the respondents’ office designs, comparing cellular, shared, and open-plan offices, demographic characteristics, workability, and personality factors. Objective data on disability retirement and medically certified sickness absence were extracted from the sickness and disability benefit register of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration. RESULTS: In the final fully adjusted model, employees working in shared [hazard rato (HR) 1.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–2.16] and open-plan (HR 1.95, 95% CI 1.31–2.90) offices had significantly higher risk of subsequent disability retirement compared to employees in cellular offices. Gender, work ability, medically certified sickness absence, and conscientiousness had independent direct effects on risk of disability retirement. CONCLUSION: This study shows that open and shared workspace designs have detrimental effects by increasing risk of disability retirement among office workers, even when taking other known predictive factors into account. |
url |
https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3907
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