Is your job ruining your life?

Circle of Wellness
Physical—Environment—Workplace

Are you safe? You have probably asked yourself this question countless times throughout your life with regards to your home, your commute, when walking across a dark parking lot, when choosing a lunch option, or when analyzing a bad relationship.

But, have you ever considered if you were safe at work? According to current statistics, the average Canadian spends 31.6 hours per week working. With over one fifth of your time spent at your job, maybe it’s time to consider its influence on your health. When many people hear the words ‘workplace health and safety’, they automatically think of industrial environments: employees loosing limbs in production lines, construction workers falling from scaffolding, and the inhalation of toxic fumes in a laboratory.

Today, employers, individuals and regulatory bodies are taking a more integrated approach to the concept of workplace health and safety. Traditionally, employers focused exclusively on the immediate and obvious possibility of bodily harm. Health Canada, through its Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme, is now encouraging employers to take employees’ overall physical and emotional health into account. This shift is in large part a product of today’s acceptance of the idea that one’s environment impacts one’s health. Health Canada now counts “occupational health and safety” among its list of basic environmental influences on health. Also on this list are multiple varieties of pollution, climate change and radiation, among others. It is clear that the Canadian health community is finally embracing what many of us have long recognized, that the quality of one’s workplace has an immense impact on the quality and health of one’s overall life.

Now, look at your own workplace... Can its health and safety be improved? Do you feel like it contributes to or detracts from the quality of your life? You have probably already compiled a litany of complaints: your back hurts from sitting at ill-designed work stations; you feel bullied by colleagues; you worry you are developing “secretary spread” from sitting all day and eating the unhealthy, but convenient food choices available at the cafeteria, vending machine or office lounge. No doubt you can also come up with a long list of potential solutions: improvements such as ergonomically designed desks and chairs, better lighting or higher air quality, for example.

Your office could also participate in team building events, such as retreats or volunteer opportunities, work hours could be made more flexible to allow for increased personal and quality time, or your employer could offer subsidized gym memberships. Chances are, you know exactly what your office needs to make you happier and healthier.

Opportunities may present themselves for you to encourage your employer to implement healthier and safer choices at your workplace. Fostering change is easier than you might imagine. As with anything in the business world, the best way to seize an opportunity is to prove that your initiative will increase revenues to the organization. Fortunately for you, there is a clear link between workplace health and workplace efficiency. It may seem self-evident that healthy employees are more efficient, energetic, alert and able to handle stress, and are less prone to injury and sickness. Still, your boss may be interested to learn that these causal relationships have been confirmed by Health Canada. Numerous studies, executed in both Canada and abroad, have reaffirmed that by improving workplace health, organizations can achieve cost savings, greater efficiencies and an improvement in overall corporate performance through the reduction of medical costs, employee absenteeism, employee turnover and on-the-job accident rates. Clearly, it is in everyone’s best interests to optimize workplace health and safety.