While offices don’t strike us as particularly dangerous, they come with a lot of health hazards that we rarely think about. The fact that we spend so many hours there almost every day of the week makes it a lot riskier than your local grocery shop; as a leader, it’s your responsibility to look after the employees. Use these eye-opening facts to make the office a safe and reliable place to be, where no employee need to fear those aggravated file cabinets or out-of-control office chairs that are clearly out to get us.
It may seem like a joke, but many of the injuries an office worker suffer are caused by items like these and every accident could have been prevented. Make it a safer place today and start by getting your office under control.
Slips and Falls
If you thought slips and falls belonged to a frosty road in the early winter mornings, you’re sadly mistaken. It is actually the most common form of office injury, where workers are more than twice as likely to suffer a disabling fall than anywhere else. The worst of it all is that an accident like this could have been avoided by simply keeping it a bit neater around the office.
Sure, we’re all in a hurry, but you need to look around and make sure the floor is cleared of boxes and clutter. The same goes for those cords we sometimes stretch to the other side of the room, making an unfortunate someone fall on their nose.
Consider a carpet in your office or other skid-resistant surfacing so that your team can rush off to the next meeting without sliding along the tile floor. Clean it yourself or hire a contract office cleaning service to take care of all the clutter for you; it is, after all, about ensuring your employees’ health.
A solid floor to walk on, a clear pathway, and no hidden cords will make their days at work a lot safer. Which again, means fewer accidents and a healthy employee showing up for work the next day without holding a single grudge.
Back Problems
No matter how expensive and ergonomically correct your office chairs are, our bodies are not made for sitting all day. Try to make yourself as comfortable as you please; within a short hour, your body wants to move. Make sure your employees have an opportunity for standing instead of sitting if they want to, encourage activities during the day by giving them access to a gym, and preach good sitting habits as much as you can.
Everyone needs to adjust their chair and desk to fit their individual physique, so make sure they know how to take advantage of the ergonomic equipment you’ve invested in – which you, obviously, have.
When you want to care for your employees’ health as proper as possible, you’re going to have to keep your eyes open. Check that the file cabinets are not overstacked, tidy up any clutter during the day, and encourage a healthy sitting posture. They will bear with your parental care but appreciate it in secret; at the end of the day, they’ll feel that their boss cares about their health and will pay you back with increased motivation and happier work days.
