Our place of work is a huge part of your life. It is one of the places where you spend most of your time, and for some, it may even be the setting where you spend the majority of the hours of your day. This means it affects you in a variety of ways, from your lifestyle and relationships to your emotional wellbeing and, perhaps most of all, your health.
The environment you work in as well as your work practices can have huge impacts on your physical and mental health. Unfortunately, many of these impacts are adverse and they can be extreme, include severe and even life-threatening conditions.
However, the good news is that there are plenty of things you can do to keep healthy at work, whether you work in an office, medical retail or industrial environment. Let’s take a look at the top tips for staying healthy at work.
Have the Right Equipment
Safety equipment isn’t just for factory workers handling heavy equipment. In almost every profession, there are certain accessories, such as safety goggles, steel-cap boots and face masks, which protect you from the hazards which you may come across as you do your job. Work wear and uniforms are part of this picture too: it is important that you are kitted out with the appropriate safe work wear to protect your health and safety at all times, whether protective clothing, gloves or merely an appropriate pair of shoes.
Make sure to follow your supervisor or OH&S representative’s guidance and always wear the proper protective gear, 100% of the time when you are at work. Even if you take it off for just two minutes, this could be long enough to suffer an accident which could affect you for the rest of your life.
Avoid Unhealthy Eating Habits
For some reason the healthy eating habits we are so dedicated to sticking to during our outside of work hours can so easily slip while we’re at work. Whether the stress of the workplace environment, or the constant temptation from vending machines, snacks offered by co-workers and birthday cakes being offered around, these unnecessary extra calories can play havoc with your health, not to mention your waistline. This can particularly be an issue if you have a sedentary desk job (more on the problems of sitting later), so be vigilant and stick to your healthy eating plan, avoiding situations of temptation as much as possible.
It is always a good idea to stock your desk or locker with healthy snacks such as nuts or fruit, so you can reach for these instead when struck with a craving.
The same is true of drinking water: it is easy to get so caught up in a busy day of work that you forget to drink enough water, and can easily become dehydrated. Take care to drink enough water – experts recommend drinking at least 8 glasses a day, more if you are undertaking physical activity or are in hot or humid conditions. If you know this something that you are prone to forget to do, set hourly reminders on your phone to drink another glass.
Break the Sitting Curse
Sitting for long periods of time on a daily basis can be a big problem. Research has shown that sedentary lifestyles, particularly when a desk job is combined with spending most of your leisure time sitting watching TV or similar can mean a greater risk of diseases, and a shorter life expectancy. This is believed to be partly due to a lack of exercise and unhealthy weight gain, but there are also inherently negative consequences from sitting too much, even if you also exercise at other times.
If you have a job which involves sitting a lot, make sure to take regular breaks and go for a short walk, even if it is just around the office. Lunchtime activities such as a yoga class or a jogging club can be great to integrate some activity into your day. You could even suggest taking your meetings on a walk, rather than having them sitting around a table. Ideally, ask your boss for a standing desk so you are always on your feet!
Be Conscientious With Hygiene
Hygiene is important. In any environment where there are multiple people existing in the same place, there is a risk of passing infections from one to another. Consider how that risk increases when it comes to a workplace with perhaps hundreds of people sharing the same space, let alone a constant stream customers and visitors. It is your managers’ primary responsibility to provide you with a hygienic work environment, however, it is important that you play your role too.
Play your part by being conscious with your hygiene and stopping the spread of infection. Always be sure to wash your hands thoroughly when going to the bathroom (public bathrooms have been found to have 500,000 bacterial cells per square inch), and before eating or preparing food.
Speaking of eating, always eat in the designated food areas rather than at your workspace, as this can become a breeding ground for bacteria. Keeping a hand sanitizer on your desk or counter is also a good idea, particularly if you come into contact with people frequently.
