When it comes to illness and injury, we all have rights around our health and wellbeing while we’re at work, and it’s important to know what you can (or can’t) do while you’re feeling down and out on a business day.
In this post, we’ll be taking a look at health and wellbeing in the workplace, including illness and injury as well as working conditions.
What is the difference between health and wellbeing in the workplace?
According to the World Health Organization, wellbeing is an individual’s overall experience of life. There’s also a comparison between life circumstances with social norms and values that get added to the equation. This means that your well-being consists of more than just your physical health and safety, but also focuses on your lifestyle and how your work-life-balance fits in with your social life, and essentially, how you feel about it all. Our wellbeing is directly affected by our jobs since we spend so much time there, and how we feel about it can mean the difference between OK and amazing wellbeing.
Employers are urged to take certain steps in order to support the health and well-being of their employees, as advised by The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). These measures are set to help improve productivity, lower turnover and reduce absence in the workplace due to illness. Initiatives the IOSH recommends for regular use include:
- Providing employees with flexible working hours, especially if they have medical conditions
- Providing staff with educational programs to help keep everyone within the organisation up to date with health and safety issues
- Provide rehabilitation programs for staff members returning to work after an injury or health problem
- Creating an ergonomically designed workspace and promoting healthier lifestyles within the office environment
How employees can improve their wellbeing within the workplace
Finding an ideal balance between your social and work life can help you take better care of your health and wellbeing as a whole. Here are some ways in which you can improve your wellbeing in the office space:
- Instead of working harder, focus on working smarter. Make sure you’re taking plenty of breaks throughout the day in order to stay focused on the task at hand. You might even want to try productivity tricks such as the Pomodoro method to help increase your productivity at work.
- To help cut down on constant interruptions at the office (as well as at home), make sure you set and stick to dedicated times for reading emails and responding to messages.
- Lunchtime is there for a reason, so use it to your advantage. Make some plans for lunch and then get away from your PC for a while so that you can head back to the office focused and refreshed after your break.