Are you sitting comfortably?

Back pain caused by uncomfortable car seats is causing UK employers more than £8.8bn a year through lost productivity.

Research by Volvo Car UK found that the UK has 22,032,000 motorists who use their car for commuting or work purposes and of these 35% of drivers admit to having taken at least one day off work in the past 12 months for back pain caused by poor quality car seats.

One-in-10 drivers admitted to taking a full working week off for back pain, while nearly one-in-three drivers have also had to visit their local GP or physiotherapist for back pain after a drive, costing the NHS £191.94m a year in GP appointments and hospital visits.

The research by Volvo Car UK found the average distance driven by commuters and company car drivers in the UK is 42 miles a day, though men were found to cover 60 miles on average per day, with women around 30.

Kristian Elvefors, Volvo Car UK’s managing director, said, ‘Back pain from poor quality car seats costs the UK economy billions in lost productivity, but also adds pressure on fleet providers to ensure their cars are comfortable for all drivers. Finding a replacement vehicle at short notice isn’t easy and costs money. Volvo is committed to ensuring that all of its customers, regardless of shape or size, find the seats in their car incredibly comfortable and pain-free.’

Tommy Apell, senior attribute leader for seat comfort, Volvo Cars, said, ‘At Volvo, we specifically opt to use softer foam compounds for our seats to ensure the fit is comfortable across all body shapes and sizes. We also specially tune our seat springs for improved comfort, with the ergonomics team working alongside designers to ensure things like seat stitching don’t create pressure points for drivers and passengers. Our lengthy development and testing programme means new seats take up to five years to move from concept to finished product.’