I work in a warehouse for the last five months, on my feet 7.5 hours. There are no chairs in the building apart from HR office, managers offices and canteen.
My (cheap Chinese step counter from eBay) registers an average of 34 thousand steps a day which equates to 17 miles (according to conversion thing I just googled). Sounds about right as one of the security staff said they walk 12 miles a day on their Apple step counter which is probably more reliable than mine !
My first day there, my back pinged out from lifting a pallet too eagerly. The first couple of days I had to slowly and gingerly creep up the stairs on hands and knees to bed, I could barely move.
The first few weeks I started developing repetitive strain in my wrists and ankles. First few months the joint pain in my knees, shoulders and ankles was enough to need painkillers every shift for many people I should imagine.
After about 3 months my body adjusted, and I now just have wrist and shoulder pain depending how busy we are. I’ve developed veiny stuff on areas of my calf (forgot what they’re called!)
The warehouse is the size of 5 football fields over 5 floors, and we have to walk from one side to the other every time we need the loo or for our one half hour break of the day, plus up and down 5 flights of stairs. If we’re picking items we have to almost run with the 20kg trolley up and down shelving aisles the width of a football field in order to reach our items picked target.
Other tasks like packing are extremely repetitive so that strains occur that way in your neck too looking from computer screen to desk to packing etc.
You can’t sit down for a second on a pallet or a box, as a manager will clock you and book you if they see you doing it often enough.
Bear in mind I’m 53 in a couple of weeks whilst most of the workforce are early 20s, and I came straight into this from years of sit down part time jobs and a year on retail furlough. I kayak and swim, and I’m health conscious in that I’ve never smoked, am veggie, and am not hugely overweight for my height, but not enough to say I’m super active in general.
Supportive shoes make all the difference, I wear support if a joint is giving me gip, and I’m conscious of how I move during a shift.
Thanks goodness for the pay rate and the friendly work environment because warehouse work is horrendous. And that’s not even starting with the electronic wand body search every time you leave the floor, having to stand star shaped, whilst a man wafts the beeper wand up your crutch and across your boobs, millimetres distance, then turn round and do the same.
We don’t even sell expensive items, not that you could walk out with anyway, they’re giant top end frou frou frocks (and admittedly tiny cringey outfits too from the other brands) but again, nothing that can be concealed between your legs or in your bra, as the security men seem to think 