3 Easy Ways to Help Keep Your Workforce Healthy

The workplace can be fraught with hidden dangers.

Aside from the risk of boring Bob from accounts cornering you at the water cooler to yak about Game of Thrones, there are a surprising number of veiled threats to your safety as you quietly go about your nine to five.

Alarmingly, figures compiled by the Health and Safety Executive revealed an estimated 629, 000 workers had an accident at work last year, while an estimated 1.2 million people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused by or made worse by their employment.

So what can be done?

While illness is part and parcel of working life, and short of covering your employees in bubble wrap or installing their own protective pod, there are a number of steps you can take to make sure your workforce are as healthy as can be.

Here are three easy ways to get started …

Keep Your Washroom Up To Scratch

Research has found one in five people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet, which is contributing to illnesses in the workplace. Why? Because bacteria from unwashed hands can spread among unsuspecting employees and cause flu, food poisoning and other nasty ailments.

In an effort to avoid such a scenario, it’s vital your workplace advocates the importance of hand hygiene, offering employees a well equipped and hygienic washroom. This includes effective hand dryers to blow off excess water and antibacterial hand wash to keep germs at bay.

Promote a Healthy Lifestyle

We all know that a healthier lifestyle will make us feel better in the long run – so if your employees need a little encouragement to get up from behind their desks and work off some calories, try hooking up with a local gym to offer incentives for your workers.

Additionally, try to offer healthier options in the staff canteen. Far from being Orwellian in the food you offer, it avoids employees stocking up on lardier and sweeter options, which can see productivity wane when the inevitable sugar crash comes calling.

Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home

If Rita from payroll spends half her Monday coughing up a lung due to flu, it’s likely those in the immediate vicinity will be struck down at some point in the future. Consequently, encourage employees with contagious illnesses to stay at home.

As a precautionary measure, and even if they claim to feel better, advise them to work from home (if possible) for a further day, making sure the chances of passing on the illness to their colleagues are reduced.

What do you think?

Are there are any other ways to encourage a healthier workplace? Please let us know by leaving a comment below – we’d love to hear from you.