WELL BEING ASSESSMENT

Well Being Assessment



Well Being Assessment

Introduction

Health and well-being of workers at the workplace is one of the critical issues that are confronted by many employers in today's business world. Because of this, employers and organizations are doing all they can to improve workers health and minimize high risk at the workplace. Several sicknesses and illnesses have been reported as related to work environment and or working conditions. This paper deals with the importance of the workers' health and its effects on productivity. It also discusses the types of injures and illnesses that are common at the workplace. In addition, it examines the measures employers are taking to improve working conditions in attempt to reduce work related issues.

Importance of Workers' Health to Productivity

The health and wellbeing of employees are very important in determining their output level. When workers are healthy, their morale goes high and this results in high productivity. On the other hand, a sick work force means low productivity. Work place related heath issues is the number one cause of absenteeism. Due to illness, workers use valuable productive time to attend hospitals or go on sick leave.

The main cause of workplace related illnesses and sicknesses is working conditions and lack of flexible work schedules. In addition to the negative impact ill-health at work place has on productivity, it also undermines the image of employers, and for that matter, organizations. The reputation of organizations is tarnished if they neglect to take care of employees' health issues.

Health and Wellness Related Issues at the Workplace

Within the workplace many employees can get injured or ill, due to the nature of the work environment or from the job itself. These injuries and illnesses can result in time away from work for the employee and a loss of productivity for the employer. A major factor of physical injury is the type of work performed, be it Goods Producing or Service Providing. For within the Goods Producing Sector; transportation and material moving had the highest rate of incidence (BLS 2003 Labor Survey,) and within the service providing sector; the transportation and utilities ranked the highest in non-fatal injuries and illnesses. Looking at the survey itself, one finds a thorough assessment of all occupations with recorded accidents, injuries, or sickness. One could then infer that with an occupation in any field there are some risks involved with the job itself, or while performing the duties of that job. Safety with the workplace does seem to be on the rise, and overall numbers indicate that there is a decrease in physical injuries and illness. What contradicts this trend however is the rise of two other afflictions: mental health and emotional health.

Mental health and emotional well-being are becoming familiar topics in organizations lately. Although the severity of these health issues is still being considered by medicine practitioners, occupational health is very serious on these matters.

According to an article in the Journal of Management on emotional well-being and mental health (Danna, ...