Staying healthy in the workplace

When we think of “hazardous” occupations we usually think of people who work with heavy machinery, technicians who handle toxic chemicals, race car drivers, medical professionals who treat infectious diseases, firemen and policemen. Office workers don’t usually come to mind, but they also face health risks even in the most secure and comfortable-looking work environments.

 Consider call center agents, especially those who make and take phone calls. Apart from the strain of staring at a computer screen for hours on end, and the stress of talking to furious customers who take out their rage at the manufacturer on the hapless telephone operator, there are the work hours. They go to work while the rest of us are having dinner, and they work while we are sleeping. Their circadian cycles  the physiological processes that recur naturally on a 24-hour cycle  are messed up. The human body needs to sleep at nighttime in order to do systems maintenance work and produce certain hormones, and in the daytime it needs to get sunlight. Not to mention that being out of doors very late at night exposes one to security risks.

 The fact is, even office employees who work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. are not entirely safe. Details such as the height of one’s table, the glare from the computer monitor and the food in the office cafeteria may seem innocuous compared to radiation levels in nuclear facilities, but they do have consequences on one’s health.

 Unbeknownst to many, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has an Occupational Safety and Health Standards manual, adapted from foreign regulations that employers have to follow. Occupational safety standards were first set for manufacturing companies where safety was the main issue. Today, they cover everything from the illumination and ventilation of establishments to electrical safety and elevator maintenance.

 For instance, occupational safety standards require access to medical attention on-site. “If a company has this number of employees, they have to have a nurse, dentist, doctor,” says Dr. Nicky Montoya. “For a specific number of employees there is a corresponding number of medical staff.” Montoya is president of the leading Health Maintenance Organization in the Philippines, MEDICard.

 “Compliance with these standards is mandated by law,” notes MEDICard’s medical administrator for Corporate Clinic Management and Occupational Health and Wellness Services Dr. Cerissa Lynne Cruz-Arroyo. “However, because of the lack of inspectors and monitors, DOLE admits they are finding it difficult to enforce the law. They engage employers to voluntarily comply with the laws. On the off-chance that inspectors go to your site and find violations, they can prescribe corrective actions. It’s so difficult to go to all companies, given that DOLE does not have enough inspectors to go around.”

 So apart from helping the government to fulfill their responsibility of providing health care to the citizenry, MEDICard aims to make employers more aware of occupational safety standards.

 “It’s frustrating for many companies,” says Dr. Arroyo, “because they buy the required safety equipment for their employees, but the employees don’t want to use them because they hamper productivity. They don’t want to use cumbersome gloves and so on. But these standards are required of every employer.”

 “And they have health implications,” Dr. Montoya adds.

 Asked to rate the level of health of urban Filipino office workers, the doctors agree that they are generally healthy. “That’s why they can work,” Dr. Arroyo says. The health and wellness trend has had an impact on people’s attitudes.

 “Office workers today are more into their health  they realize that getting sick drains their resources. Aside from being employed, they’re also more conscious of their health. A lot of them go to the gym or take up running or stick to healthy diets. The Internet helps because now there are patients who are more knowledgeable about their health than their doctors! They go to their doctors and request certain treatments.”

 We know that, thanks to the popular TV drama House, patients now ask their doctors about obscure, esoteric medical conditions. “Staying healthy has become part of popular culture,” Dr. Arroyo notes. “I can’t say that people are healthier, but they’re certainly more aware of the need to stay healthy.”

 Still, Dr. Montoya cites a distressing health trend: cardiac events in the young. “People are having heart attacks at an earlier age. Lifestyle, especially diet, is a major factor. When we were kids and our families went out, we would go to restaurants. Today, when you take your family out, you usually go to a fastfood. From an early age children acquire the habit of eating fastfood. French fries are what they call their vegetables.”

 One way to address this danger is to observe occupational safety and health standards. “MEDICard’s clinic services now extend to occupational health,” explains Dr. Montoya. “Since we’re working with companies who are already MEDICard members, it was natural for us to offer to run their clinics. And now we’re helping our members to implement workplace health standards. If we can, we encourage them to follow the programs recommended by DOLE.”

 “We don’t just provide doctors,” Dr. Arroyo points out. “We equip you and your employees with programs to help you better manage your health right from the office. As an HMO we could only manage your health through our hospitals and clinics, but with our clinic management services we can proactively manage your health in the workplace.”

 Dr. Montoya gives this example. At an office event, lechon is served. A couple of employees over-indulge, and they start feeling dizzy afterwards. They have high blood pressure. MEDICard’s on-site clinic sends a nurse to check these employees’ blood pressure twice a day. “You don’t know when your blood pressure is high,” Dr. Montoya says. “It could be high and you think, ‘I’m just tired.’ If you don’t have a blood pressure monitor, you’ll never know. Through regular monitoring we will know if you have hypertension and we can address the problem with diet, lifestyle changes, or when necessary, medication.”

 Dr. Arroyo reminds us that occupational health includes nutrition. Cafeterias are required to have registered dietitians. “We’ve had a company implement one of our recommendations: at 3 o’clock every day, everyone stops what they’re doing for an exercise break.” A proper diet and a healthier lifestyle go a long way in preventing health issues from cropping up.

 Unfortunately, Dr. Arroyo notes, anything preventive is difficult to sell. “With the wellness trend we’re now looking at ‘preventive maintenance’ for our bodies. However, it’s difficult to get people to buy into this. At the moment it’s still difficult to quantitatively measure the benefits of a healthy workplace on productivity.”

 So what’s in it for the employers? “If the employers follow the occupational health and safety standards, they have a very positive image among their employees,” Dr. Arroyo says. “The employees feel more appreciated and valued, and they feel better about their work. Therefore, they become more productive.”

 Compared to other countries the Philippines is way behind in terms of workplace safety and health. Countries such as the United Kingdom not only have large budgets for occupational safety, they’re also advanced in terms of policy and implementation. However, the Philippines is becoming more attuned to the needs of employees.

 “For instance, there are a lot of health hazards that go with working in a call center. The Department of Labor has drafted technical guidelines in occupational safety and health specifically for call centers. These include issues related to prolonged usage of telephones and computer screens, and shift work,” Dr. Arroyo explains.

 The sedentary nature of the work makes agents prone to certain illnesses, and so do the hours. Not surprisingly, call centers and BPOs are required by law to provide health care for their employees.

 Recently, there was a spate of newspaper articles reporting the rise in HIV cases among call center employees. While pundits are quick to make judgments about the lifestyles and sexual behavior of those who work at call centers, it should be noted that the reason these HIV cases are reported at all is because call center employees have health care coverage. They actually get tested while most people don’t, meaning this alarming statistic is an artificial one.

 In line with its efforts to promote compliance with occupational safety and health standards, MEDICard assists member companies by monitoring their workplace environments  from levels of illumination and noise to carbon dioxide and dust in the air, to ergonomics and nutrition. “You don’t need a very expensive chair,” Dr. Arroyo avers. “You just need to tilt down your monitor a bit.” Many office workers have taken up running to improve their health and fitness; she points out that walking fast may approximate the benefits of running.

 We asked the doctors if there is one simple thing that everyone can do to improve their health.

 “Eat better! Have healthier eating habits,” replies wellness advocate Dr. Arroyo.

 “Drink a lot of water,” says Dr. Montoya. “It helps with diet as well. You feel full so you eat less if you drink a lot of water.”

 It’s good to have a health card so you can get treatment when medical problems occur. It’s even better if your health card helps you keep those problems from occurring at all.