Be healthy at work - it's your job!

Work - for most of us it's right up there with death and taxes as one of life's certainties. The work you do, as well as how you do it, can have a huge effect on your health, whether you work in an office, hospital, factory, building site, vehicle, or outdoors.

Fortunately, stringent occupational health and safety regulations mean policymakers and employers are always working to improve the safety of our workplaces. But if we want our work life to be truly healthy then we need to take responsibility for our own safety and workplace habits.

Avoid strains and sprains

You've been working on the same task all morning and now your back is aching. But you've got to finish the job before knock-off time, which is still three hours away. By the time you head home you're in agony. Sound familiar?

The reason your back is tired and sore is probably because your job involves repetitive movement or a sustained posture that has caused a muscle imbalance where one muscle is overworked and becomes tight, while the opposing muscle is unused and remains slack.

Over time, the overworked muscle becomes even tighter and more fatigued, while the opposing muscle weakens and no longer supports the joint effectively. This increases your risk of injury.

"With someone seated all day, their hips are constantly in a shortened position so it means the muscles in and around the hip joint and lower back become tight, and the buttock and stomach muscles become weak," says Ashley Gardner, exercise physiologist and director of Pace Exercise Physiology in Victoria.

Repetitive manual labour, such as digging, chopping vegetables, carting bricks, operating a computer mouse or even just sitting for long periods, can also cause muscle imbalances.

Chronic postural problems set in when the sustained, poor posture becomes the new 'norm' and you no longer realise you're carrying yourself incorrectly.

The best solution to these problems is to break the cycle of repetition.

And if you need another reason to take a break (especially if you spend most of your day in a chair), new research suggests that sitting for hours a day can increase your risk of death from heart disease and a range of other conditions.

Don't 'soldier on'

There are advertising campaigns built around the idea of 'soldiering on' when you are sick or injured. But soldiering on, otherwise known as presenteeism, is really not a good idea.

And even if you feel this is your only choice or the right thing to do, showing up for work when you're not capable of doing the job properly doesn't do you or anyone else any favours.

According to a Medibank Private report, the annual cost of presenteeism to the Australian economy is $25.7 billion, and another six working days per employee per year is lost through poor productivity.

The report also found that in a survey of call centre staff, 77 per cent attended work while suffering a health problem and 88 per cent admitted feeling less productive. They had difficulties concentrating and avoiding mistakes; couldn't work the expected hours; and took regular, unscheduled breaks.

Depression, allergies, hypertension (high blood pressure) and asthma were found to be the four main contributors to presenteeism. But what the report didn't show was how presenteeism can affect your health and wellbeing outside of work.

"Often people will push through the pain and get through their working day, but will get home and have to sleep, or they may have other problems such as relationship breakdown and difficulty in engaging in social and leisure activities because of the battle every day just to maintain their employment," says Gardner.

Swedish research published in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health found that presenteeism was also an independent risk factor for future poor health.

Gardner says presenteeism not only slows down physical healing, it can lead to increased stress, which can in turn further damage physical health.

"For example, when you are under stress constantly your adrenal glands fire consistently and it inhibits your ability to use your blood glucose, so it can have an impact on developing Type II diabetes," he says.

You need to take time off work when you are sick, to give yourself a chance to recover. 

Work safely outdoors

Many people prefer working in the outdoors, but it comes with its own hazards.

The number one issue for outdoor workers in Australia is sun exposure. One study of outdoor workers found they were more than twice as likely as most people to have a malignant melanoma.

But skin cancer is not the only danger that comes from working in the sun. People exposed to extreme temperatures are at an increased risk of developing heat stress and the more severe condition, heat stroke.

"The intensity of the sun, the ambient temperature, any chronic health problems... will have an impact [on heat stress]," says occupational physician and GP, Dr Tony Hochberg. Heat stress can also occur in industries such as mining where the conditions underground can be intensely hot.

If left untreated, heat stress can lead to heat stroke; a life-threatening condition where the body's internal systems shut down because of an increase in the body's core body temperature above 40 degrees.

You need to get out of the heat and drink some fluids if you start to get a headache, dizziness and nausea. You should always call an ambulance if someone has heat stroke, typified by high body temperature with the absence of sweat, a rapid pulse, confusion or loss of consciousness.

Working in the cold poses different health risks.

"It's like competing on a sporting field," explains Gardner. "It's important you stay warmed up and maintain blood flow to the joints."

The key is to maintain gentle movements and stretches throughout the day to keep the muscles, ligaments and joints warm. If they get too cold, they can tighten and the risk of injury increases.

Take care of your eyes and ears

It'd be rare to find a busy office worker who doesn't complain of sore eyes at the end of a work day.

Staring at a computer screen all day not only strains the muscles of the eye, it can also dry them out and cause fatigue.

Fortunately, preventing eye strain and discomfort in an office environment is relatively simple.

In manual labour, construction, mining and outdoor occupations, the most common eye injuries are foreign bodies in the eye and being hit by objects. Naturally, the best prevention is protective eyewear such as goggles and glasses.

Meanwhile, damage to the ears at work is often preventable, but once it occurs it can be irreversible.

According to Safe Work Australia, deafness represents 2.8 per cent of all serious injury-related workers compensation claims, and up to one million people are potentially exposed to dangerous noise levels at work.

Noise-induced hearing loss, or industrial deafness, is caused by the intensity of sound levels and the length of exposure, and is common in manufacturing and construction.

While employers take responsibility for preventing workers' exposure to unsafe noise levels, and providing safety equipment and appropriate training, employees can take additional steps.

Diet and exercise matter at work too

Multiple morning coffees, fast food for lunch, a slice of birthday cake for afternoon tea and no time to exercise: sound like a typical work day?

These and other work habits can help contribute to an expanding waistline. And with the increasing incidence of overweight and obesity in Australia, many of us need to be aware of how our work life affects our weight.

Health experts regularly tell us that poor eating habits and reduced physical activity increase our risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which in turn affect workplace productivity.

What is less known is that obesity has been directly linked to reduced productivity. US research published in the Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine found extremely or moderately obese workers were significantly less productive than mildly obese workers.

There's no question that managing your weight requires a whole-of-lifestyle approach, but there are some tactics that can make your workday part of a healthy lifestyle:

Avoid work travel hazards

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one-third of workers (34 per cent) travel for their work each week.

While this is great for generating frequent flyer points, it can be bad for your health in that it can prompt premature ageing.

Dr Toby Ford, a GP who works in the area of corporate health and workplace performance, has been collating data for more than five years and has come up with a picture of the travelling worker.

Anyone who spends more than 100 nights a year away from home, commutes long-haul distances more than 40 hours per month, works more than 55 hours per week and takes less than three weeks holiday per year is at risk of premature ageing and decreased productivity.

In Ford's view, travelling makes you 'deregulate' good healthy habits, leading to premature ageing.

This 'deregulating' of your habits affects your diet, sleep, exercise, alcohol consumption and even your water consumption. In short, travelling makes it more difficult to make healthy lifestyle choices. These disruptions can affect your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels - among other things – leading to an increased risk of chronic disease and premature ageing.

Ford adds that an accumulation of fatigue from excess travel also has an 'incremental impact on decision-making efficiency'.

"Travellers tell us that because of exhaustion, they have to work longer hours to make the same sorts of decisions," he says.

The best solution, therefore, is stick to your normal routines as much as possible. 

Source: ABC Health & Wellbeing

Motivation: The Drive to Change

According to the research of Dr. Anders Ericsson, motivation is the most significant predictor of success. In simple terms, Dr. Ericsson found that experts in many walks of life, whether sport, music, chess, dance, or business, had put in the most hours at their craft. He coined the phrase, "It takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to become an expert." Other research has shown that the longer someone is in a career, the less important innate ability (i.e., intelligence) is and the more important motivation becomes. In other words, the most successful people just keep plugging away longer than others. Why is the relationship between motivation and success so robust? Because high motivation will ensure total preparation which will, in turn, ensure maximum performance and results.

This same concept of motivation applies to making changes in your life. The reality is that change is difficult because, in all likelihood, you have been the way you currently are for a long time and your habits are deeply ingrained. Your ability to find and maintain your motivation for meaningful and long-lasting change will ultimately determine whether you're able to break long-standing habits and patterns.

Defining Motivation

Let's first consider what motivation is in very practical terms. Motivation can be defined in the following ways:

• An internal or external drive that prompts a person to action
• The ability to initiate and persist toward a chosen objective
• Putting 100 percent of your time, effort, energy and focus into your goal attainment
• Being able to pursue change in the face of obstacles, boredom, fatigue, stress and the desire to do other things
• The determination to resist ingrained and unhealthy patterns and habits
• Doing everything you can to make the changes you want in your life

Impact of Motivation

But it's one thing to say you are motivated to make changes and achieve your goals; it's another entirely different thing to have that motivation translate into actual action toward those goals. Motivation is so important because it impacts every aspect of your efforts at change:

• Preparation to make the changes
• Patience in giving yourself time for the changes to occur
• Persistence when old habits and patterns resist your efforts
• Perseverance in overcoming obstacles and setbacks
• Lifestyle that supports the changes
• Ultimate achievement of the desired changes

Motivation Matrix

For every person, there is a different motivation that drives them toward their change goals. The "motivation matrix" breaks down motivation along two dimensions: internal vs. external and positive vs. negative. The resulting four quadrants can each provide motivation but will produce different experiences and outcomes.

• Internal-positive: Challenge, desire, passion, satisfaction, self-validation. (Likely outcome: successful change, fulfillment).
• External-positive: Recognition and appreciation from others, financial rewards. (Likely outcome: some change, partial fulfillment, dependent on others for continued change and good feelings).
• Internal-negative: Threat, fear of failure, inadequacy, insecurity. (Likely outcome: some change, possible relapse).
• External-negative: Fear of loss of job or relationship, insufficient respect from others, financial or social pressures, pressure from significant others, unstable life. (Likely outcome: some success, high risk of relapse).

Obviously, the ideal type of motivation is internal-positive because the motivation is coming from a place of strength and security. At the same time, research that has shown that many successful people are driven to achieve their goals by insecurity, suggesting that an internal-negative or external-negative motivation can lead to change (though rarely happiness). Which quadrant do you think you belong to? If you are not in the internal-positive quadrant, you might want to reevaluate your motivations and work toward that place in the matrix.

Effort vs. Goals

All else being equal, whatever you put into your change efforts is what you will get out of them. A problem I see among many people who say they want to change is a disconnect between their efforts and their goals. People say they really want to change, but their efforts don't reflect that stated motivation. What this tells me is that there is often a gap between the goals many people have and the effort they are putting into those goals. It's easy to say that you want to change. It is much more difficult to actually make that happen. If you have this kind of disconnect, you have two choices. You can either lower your change goals to match your efforts or you can raise your efforts to match your goals. There is no right choice. But if you're truly motivated to change, you better make sure you're doing the work necessary to achieve your goals.

The Grind

The difficult nature of making changes means that you will likely be putting in effort that will take you far beyond the point at which it is inspiring or fun. This junction is what I call "the grind," which starts when actions necessary to produce meaningful change become stressful, tiring and tedious. The grind is also the point at which your efforts toward change really count. The grind is what separates those who are able to change from those who are not. Many people who reach this point in the process of change either ease up or give up because change is just too darned hard. But truly motivated people reach the grind and keep on going.

Many self-help gurus will say that you have to love the grind. I say that, except for a very few hyper-motivated people, love isn't in the cards because there's not much to love in the grind. But how you respond to the grind lies along a continuum. Loving the grind is rare. At the other end of the continuum is "I hate the grind." If you feel this way, you are not likely to stay motivated to change. I suggest that you neither love nor hate the grind; simply accept it as part of the deal in striving toward a better you. The grind may not feel very good, but what does feel good is seeing your efforts pay off with the changes you want.

Finding the Motivation

Finding the motivation to change means maintaining your efforts consistently when it would be easy to give up. It involves doing everything possible to achieve your change goals.

Motivation to change begins with what I call the three Ds. The first D stands for direction. Before you can begin the process of change, you must first consider the different directions you can go in your life. You could continue your life as it is now, make immediate and dramatic changes or take a slower route to change.

The second D represents decision. With these three choices of direction, you must decide on one direction in which to go. None of these directions is necessarily right or wrong, better or worse, they're simply your options. Your choice will dictate whether you make changes in your life and the amount of time and effort you put into those changes.

The third D stands for dedication. Once you've made your decision, you must dedicate yourself to it. If your decision is to makes significant changes in your life, whether quickly or slowly, then this last step will determine whether those changes are realized. Your decision to change will then become a top priority in your life. Only by being completely dedicated to your direction and decision will you ensure that you have the motivation you will need to achieve your change goals.

Source: Huffington Post - Healthy Living Article by Dr Jim Taylor (Ph.D. Psych), clinical associate professor at the University of Denver