FACT: Plants can improve the health of office workers.
Tina Bringslimark, Norway
According to a CBI report in 2010, sick leave cost employers £16.8 billion last year with over 180 million sick days being taken. A recent study found that potted plants could improve the health of office workers as well as reduce stress, thus potentially cutting the number of sick days taken.
Tina Bringslimark, expert in environmental psychology, analysed 305 office workers in three offices, each of which had differing amounts of greenery.
“We investigated the amount of self-reported sick leave and compared it with the amount of plants they could see from their desk. The more plants they could see, then the less self-reported sick leave there was.”
Tina Bringslimark – Performing the study at the Norwegian institution.
Results also showed that plants were able to lower fatigue, prevent dry throats, headaches, coughs and dry skin amongst the office workers.