High Blood Pressure and its Effect on Workplace Productivity
Monday, August 29, 2016
Blood pressure is a measure of how well the blood is able to flow through arteries. It's important that blood can flow freely, because it carries vital oxygen and nutrients to your heart. It's normal for blood pressure to increase when a person does hard physical exercise, feels stressed or anxious.
But if your blood pressure is higher than the healthy level when you're resting, you have high blood pressure (hypertension).
Healthy blood flow can be affected by these circumstances:
- Stress – Causes arteries to narrow
- High fat diet - Artery walls get blocked and brittle through hard cholesterol deposits
- Smoking - Arteries narrowed by chemicals in cigarette smoke
- Anxiety - Heart is pumping too fast or pounding
How Hypertension Impacts Health
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, kidney failure and impaired vision. The risk of disease increases as the level of blood pressure rises and it's very important to get it checked regularly to prevent serious medical conditions developing. People over 40 should have their blood pressure checked at least once a year because preventative medicine is very effective.
Work Related Injuries
Most people with high blood pressure don't have any symptoms and don't get the treatment they need until they have a heart attack or stroke. However, those who do continue to attend work - whilst suffering from the headaches and impaired vision HBP can cause - work less efficiently than healthier co-workers. HBP is more common in men - and as men are notoriously bad at consulting their doctor - it makes a lot of sense to bring in an ergonomics medical team to test your personnel at work. Workers with hypertension can then see their own doctor and receive one of the many available treatment medications.
Without treatment, the condition progresses to include the risk of black-outs making undiagnosed HBP sufferers a danger on the factory floor. Machine operators with undiagnosed hypertension can cause serious work-related injuries to themselves and others. This fact alone is a very convincing argument in favour of employer-led health screening, which can be arranged by an ergonomics consultancy and include essential pre-employment health checks.
Job Stress
Work-related stress is one of the major causes of high blood pressure and lost productivity in Australia and costs employers $10.11 billion a year. An ergonomics assessment of all aspects of your business from office design, work stations and the layout of machinery - including the opinions of your employees - allows the causes of workplace stress to be removed. This greatly enhances morale and job performance and leads to high staff retention rates. Furthermore, an Injury Prevention Programme can be tailor-made to train workers in essential safety procedures, which also improves job satisfaction and productivity.
Health advice
In-house health screening days can also identify other common risk factors for heart disease/stroke such as high cholesterol, chest pain and obesity. An ergonomics health team can educate your personnel about the small life-style changes they can make to prevent illness - such as healthy eating and how to fit more physical activity into a busy daily routine.
When employers demonstrate the importance of staff welfare, it creates a positive attitude in workers towards all aspects of their health. Job satisfaction is also enhanced through the feeling of being valued. This translates into enhanced performance, high staff retention and a significant reduction in sick leave.
Therefore, employers who invest in the long term health of their workforce receive an outstanding financial return - both in the short and the long term.