How To Create A Healthy Work Environment

Staff absence can be a significant drain on businesses, with lots of working hours lost to employee sickness and medical appointments. Finding ways to reduce staff absence is a priority for many HR managers, but is often taken from an approach of punishing persistent absence as means of a deterrent.

A more proactive approach for businesses to consider when trying to tackle the issue of staff absence is to create a workplace that enriches the health and wellbeing of their staff, which in turn reduces absence organically.

Creating a workplace that encourages such a positive approach to the wellbeing of employees can offer significant benefits, and is something that has been adopted by the most successful companies in the world right now, Google being a prime example.

While your business may not have the same kind of cash to splash on health and wellbeing as Google, for example, there are still plenty of changes that can be implemented to provide a workspace that nurtures the health and wellbeing of your employees. Here are some of the ways that this can be achieved:

Break Time Areas

If your employees are spending their lunch breaks hunched over their computer while munching on a sandwich, they aren’t getting the adequate time they need to rest. Many businesses have developed a culture where it is frowned upon to take a break, and seem as though they aren’t working hard enough if you take a full hour for lunch.

While working through lunch may be seen as an easy way to impress the boss, it probably is having very little impact on the amount of work that is getting done.

Taking a break from work offers many benefits, and that time away from the desk means that employees return refreshed and ready to work. 

You can encourage staff to take their breaks by providing areas in the workplace that are comfortable enough to relax in. Outside space for breaks is ideal too, so that staff can get some fresh air and be outside in the natural light while they relax.

Equipment

Ensuring that your staff has equipment that best suits their needs is vital for their wellbeing at work. Choosing desks and chairs that are ergonomically designed is a great way to make the working day as comfortable as possible. A popular item at the moment in offices is standing desks; this is because of the potential health benefits associated with reducing the amount of time spent each day sitting. Researching the best standing desk options on the market is essential in choosing the one that best suits the kind of work that your employees undertake. 

Height adjustable desks and chairs will enable your employees to adjust their workspace to best suit their needs and the task that they are working on, and could even make them more productive.

Investing in the right desks and chairs for your staff is a great way to help prevent niggling aches and pains, such as lower back pain.

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