What Are The Key Factors Which Make A Healthy Workplace?

Prof Hew Gill, Associate Provost Sunway University

When creating a healthy, happy and productive workplace it’s important to think about a range of  physical and psychological factors which can have an impact on health in the immediate and longer-term.

Designing healthy and safe work spaces is well understood and covered by plenty of existing health and safety regulations, but there is a lot more that can be done to make surroundings comfortable and pleasant places to work.  Simple cleanliness and maintenance can make a big difference, and it’s also important to maintain a pleasant ambient temperature and a minimum of background noise or other distractions which can cause stress. The COVID pandemic has revealed the importance of good ventilation, and plenty of clean, fresh air has a range of benefits that can help to lift mood and productivity in the short term and protect people from illness.  Natural light also makes people feel happier and more energetic, though it’s also important to ensure sunlight is not too bright or hot.

Workspaces should be ergonomically designed to be efficient and comfortable. This means providing furniture and equipment that is well constructed and suitable for completing the required work tasks. At the very least, people should have comfortable seating, and there is abundant evidence that back and muscle problems arising from poor seating are one of the major contributory factors to poor well-being, long-term health challenges and increased work absences. However, there is also accumulating evidence that too much time sitting down can cause a range of health problems and this means giving people  opportunities to change position and to stand up during their work day.  Equipping staff with rising desks which enable people to work seated or standing and providing rooms with tall meeting tables without chairs will encourage people to stand so will be beneficial in terms of posture and reducing health risks.  Even better, stand-up meetings tend to be shorter and more efficient so they might even be good for busting stress.

Even small amounts of physical exercise can have substantial physical and mental health benefits, so anything that can encourage staff to move around at work is good.  At Sunway Education Group we have provided people with free fitness trackers and then given small rewards to individuals and teams who have walked the most steps, climbed the most stairs or shown the biggest improvements in weight, heart rates, etc.  This has made being active a fun, social activity which has helped many colleagues find ways to build healthy exercise into their regular work routines, and as an unexpected bonus it’s also been a great way to reduce pressure on the lifts at peak times !

Good diet and hydration are essential to maintaining physical health, but also help to regulate moods and support the resilience needed for good mental health.  Ideally, a workplace should have a separate kitchen, pantry or similar dedicated space in which staff are able to prepare drinks and simple meals for themselves – having a separate space is even more important during periods when some staff are fasting.  Access to healthy food is also very important, so many staff will want to work somewhere close to eateries or shops that can provide fully prepared meals or the fresh ingredients necessary to prepare their own quick meals.

From a psychological perspective, the quality of the social environment and interpersonal relationships at work are extremely important for health. Everybody wants to work in a friendly place so it’s important to promote trust and harmony between work colleagues. There need to be clear expectations around the ways in which people should deal with each other and it is very important for leaders to ensure that they always follow and apply those standards in their interactions with everybody to support a positive organizational culture.

Sustained work stress can lead to many serious health conditions, so the ways in which jobs are designed is very important.  Work overload may be about having too much to do, but sometimes it can also be a sign that people need training or equipment to carry out their roles.  Giving colleagues the freedom to redesign their job or work flow can also make a big difference.  Recent research suggests that the biggest stressor at work is not workload but control of work timing, which is having control over when work is done.  This means that being flexible about when and how colleagues tackle their work may reduce stress and have many benefits for their health and overall productivity.  This can also be the way to achieve a good work-life balance which is also key to good physical and mental health.  Setting clear work targets and then allowing workers the flexibility to organize themselves can be a great way to reduce many sources of stress, and also helps to make time and space for people to do more of the things that will make them happy and healthy. 

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