Authored by Phil Cohen
It goes without saying that workers are far less effective if they are sickly or experiencing some sort of malady. A healthy office is a happy office, though it can often times be challenging to keep your workforce in tip-top shape when they spend eight hours or more of everyday stationed at a desk. Here are five strategies that you can implement to keep your employees as healthy as possible.
1. Watch what you eat.
Okay, so this is an obvious one. Anybody and everybody knows that, aside from exercise, a healthy diet is the most important factor that leads to a healthy body. Despite its obviousness, though, it is essential to reiterate and discuss when it comes to the subject of workplace eating and snacking. While everybody appreciates it when a coworker brings candy or doughnuts in to the office, it really is important to remember that those calories quickly add up and will lead to undesired weight gain. The unnaturally high level of national obesity is one of the United States’ greatest dilemmas, as WebMD reports that 3/5 Americans are overweight. Encouraging the distribution of healthy, low-fat workplace snacks can go a long way in the health of your office, and more broadly, will slowly contribute to the diminishing of the national obesity (which, in turn, will mean a healthier society).
2. Challenge your staff to drink water.
Do you know how much water you are supposed to drink every single day? Don’t feel bad if you do not—hardly anybody does. The figure may surprise you. WebMD reports that the optimal amount of daily water intake is between eight and ten glasses every single day. Odds are, you are only consuming about half of that level. Create an office-wide challenge, encouraging your staff to meet that eight-to-ten goal. Hydration is the key to health, as it appears!
3. Get up!
Nobody can stay completely healthy if they are sitting around for eight hours straight, Monday through Friday. Even if your employees’ job descriptions require the bulk of their time to be spent stationary or at a desk, let them know that it is okay to get up and walk around from time to time. Getting some fresh air, taking breaks to walk around, choosing to take the stairs (instead of the elevator) and walking to work, if possible, are great ways to promote cardiovascular health and ward-off those unwanted pounds.
4. Back the screen up.
A leading cause of health-related grievances that come from the workplace stems from the proximity of a worker’s face to their computer screen. Sitting too close to screens causes headaches and eyestrain, which can compound over time and end up being a pretty significant problem. Avoid the issue altogether by making sure that there are a few feet of space separating your staff from their machinery.
5. Relax.
80% of Americans self-report that they undergo stress at their jobs, says Fox News. This is not good, as stress is a resounding detriment to overall health, raising blood pressure, causing headaches, and the like. Create a stress-free environment at your office and your staff will thank you.
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