If you stopped going to work for a week, the company would tick over on its own. There would be some problems, of course, but the business would be able to get by without you for a bit. But if your employees, even just a few of them, stopped coming into work for a week you’d notice a huge dip in productivity. That’s why looking after the physical and mental health of your employees should be your number one concern.
You wouldn’t think that sitting at a desk all day working could be that harmful to their health, but there are so many things around the office that could be causing them problems. The intensity of their work schedule can also have a big impact on their health and wellbeing so you need to consider that as well.
These are the biggest health concerns for office workers and how you can protect your employees from them to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of time they take off work.
Sitting Down
The bad news is, as soon as they get into the office and sit at their desk, your employees are putting their health at risk. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but sitting down for long periods of time can have some pretty serious effects on the body. It increases your risk of muscle and skeletal problems and it has been linked to increased chances of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
There are some pretty simple solutions to that problem; first, just allow your employees time to take a short break and wander around the office every hour or so. Staying active, even in such a small way, will reduce the negative effects of sitting for long periods. It also helps with concentration if you’re taking a short break on a regular basis. If you really want to improve their health, you could consider putting standing desks in the office. Studies show that people working on a standing desk instead of sitting have reduced chances of the health problems associated with sitting for long periods and they have much better posture. Replacing all of the desks will take a little bit of investment but it’s worth it if you can improve the health and productivity of your staff.
Some people champion the walking treadmill desk because it allows employees to stay active all day long but it’s not as great as you might think. It’s pretty hard to type while you’re walking at the same time so productivity will take a hit. It also increases the chance of trips and falls in the office so it’s probably best to stick to a normal standing desk.
Repetitive Strain Injury
When you’re repeating the same tasks over and over, you’re putting the same joints and muscles under a lot of stress. Over a long period of time, this can lead to repetitive strain injury. In the office, it’s most common in the hands from excessive use of a computer but it’s a risk for anybody that’s doing repetitive work. The positioning of the hands and wrists when you’re typing is the biggest problem and you can reduce repetitive strain injury by making sure you’re in a comfortable position with enough support. If you fit out all of your desks with an adjustable height keyboard tray, your employees can find a comfortable typing position that reduces the stress on their joints and muscles. Good posture is also important here so having those standings desks will help, as will regular breaks from typing.
A Dirty Office
Illness spreads like wildfire in the office because you’ve got loads of people working in close proximity to each other all the time. It’s so important to do anything you can to reduce the chance of people in the office getting sick and that means keeping on top of bacteria. Obviously, you can’t do anything about any illnesses that your staff pick up outside the office but when they’re at work, you keep them healthy. A dirty office is the easiest way to make your employees sick so cleanliness is paramount. You should already have a cleaner coming in every day to take care of the office but you should also be stressing the importance of keeping desks and communal areas as clean as possible. The kitchen is a particular problem area because you’ve got loads of people using it all day. Make sure everybody is cleaning up after themselves and not leaving food lying around where it can go off and breed bacteria.
Recirculated Air
Most people assume that the air is dirtier outside than it is inside because of pollution but in large office buildings, the air is recycled over and over so it’s often filled with way more of the bad stuff than you realize. Breathing that air all day long can do some serious damage but there are things you can do to reduce the effects. In the summer when the weather is good, always keep the windows open and the doors propped open so the air is circulating naturally, rather than being recycled through the air conditioning. It’s a little harder in the winter because it’ll be freezing if all the windows are propped open. Open small windows where you can and try to encourage staff to get out of the office for a bit when they’re on their lunch break.
Stress
Stress is the biggest office danger and it’s been linked to a whole host of health problems. Work-life balance has been in the news a lot lately and it’s clear that long hours are harming our health. When your employees are overworked and they don’t have enough downtime, stress levels will increase. Studies show that employees actually get more work done when they do fewer hours because they’re less stressed and more productive. It might be worth cutting the work day and offering more holidays so your staff are happier and healthier.
The office is a far more dangerous place than you might realize and it’s up to you to make sure that your employees are protected from it.
No comments yet.