Movement at work: A comparison of real time location system, accelerometer and observational data from an office work environment

• Published in: Applied ergonomics 2021-04, Vol.92, p.103341, Article 103341
• Main Authors: Pollard, Brett, Engelen, Lina, Held, Fabian, de Dear, Richard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerometer; Free-living behaviour; Office; Physical inactivity; Real time location system; Stationary behaviour
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103341

Office workers can spend significant periods of time being stationary whilst at work, with potentially serious health consequences. The development of effective health interventions could be aided by a greater understanding of the location and environmental context in which this stationary behaviour occurs. Real time location systems (RTLS) potentially offer the opportunity to gather this much needed information, but they have not been extensively trialled in office workplaces, nor rigorously compared against more familiar devices such as accelerometers. The aim of this paper was to determine whether an RTLS can measure and spatially locate the non-stationary and stationary behaviours of adults working in an office work environment. Data collected from a series of comparison studies undertaken in a commercial office building suggests that RTLS can measure the velocity at which people are moving and locate them, when stationary, with an accuracy of 0.668 m (SD 0.389). This opens up significant opportunities to further understand how people move within buildings, the indoor physical environmental influences on that movement, and the development of effective interventions to help people to move more whilst at work. •Presents a comparison of accelerometer and high-resolution occupant location data.•Visualises the location of study participants when stationary and walking.•Reports on the differences in stationary and non-stationary behaviour estimated from occupant location data.•Suggests research opportunities using occupant location data to study physical inactivity in office workplaces.