From a poorly designed chair to unhealthy air, there are plenty of opportunities for you to come home from work feeling worse than when you got there in the morning. Office spaces are breeding grounds for injuries and shared illnesses and we won’t even mention the junk food you can find in every workplace vending machine ready to poison you. Along with this, more than 25% of employees see their job as the number one stressor in their life. So, if your job is making you sick, what can you do?
THROW HEALTHIER PARTIES
Whether it’s donuts in the morning, deli platters at lunch or birthday cake in the afternoon, sometimes work gatherings can wreak havoc on your eating habits. Try organizing a salad potluck lunch where everyone brings one healthy ingredient to share, bring fruit salad in the morning instead of sugary snacks and order up veggie platters with great tasting dips for staff meetings.
GREEN UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Spruce up your work area with a plant. Placing small potted plants in work areas can improve air quality and restore moisture to air that’s dry. According to www.care2.com (a green living website), the best plants to use are the areca palm, reed palm dwarf date palm, Boston fern, Janet Craig dracaena, English ivy, Australian sword fern, peace lily, rubber plant and the weeping fig.
DON’T GO TO WORK SICK
In just one recent survey, 98% of workers said they’ve gone to work sick. We all worry that if we stay home, our boss will be annoyed, our work won’t get done and we’ll just get further behind. But workers who do go to work sick have trouble concentrating; often make bad decisions, not to mention getting other people sick. Just stay home.
KEEP YOUR AREA CLEAN
Work areas can be breeding grounds for the bacteria and dust that lead to allergies, colds & flu and other illnesses. Wash your hands regularly and make sure your work area stays clean. Try not to eat where you work to minimize mold and bacterial growth. Once a week, dust and clean up your area – encourage others to join in to make the whole place healthier.
It’s no fun being sick at work!
Contact me at Im@bizpain.com
My office has silk plants that haven’t been dusted in ten years.
I work with a bunch of women and their perfumes all mix together to form some truly nasty toxicity! Maybe I should throw in a little Old Spice and a garlic burp to really make us vomit.
I don’t know about all the plants and stuff, but what makes me sick is watching what people eat when they’re at work and they drop on their keyboards, desks and everywhere else. Why can’t people stop eating all day?