The Working from Home Illnesses – and the Solutions

An employer is responsible for the care and safety of their employee during the hours they're working. This concept applies even when the employee is working from home.

It’s fairly common to be attacked by the symptoms of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but when it comes to the health of your employees, it’s critical that an employer remembers that their employees are not a machine. Your employees need to be treated with care, just like any other human.

And if they are not, then you may find that your employees are hit with some of the various working from home illnesses.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Blood clots are always something to fear, and the risk of getting them greatly increases if you sit down for long periods of time.

When you’re working from home, it’s not uncommon for people to sit in the same seat all day long. This lack of movement can lead to pain and swelling in the leg. For long periods of inactivity, this can lead to blood clots or deep vein thrombosis.

Solution: encourage your staff to walk around during the day. Whether it’s a synchronised five-minute walk away from your desk or you invest in standing desks, implementing fixes will be greatly appreciated by your employees and their health.

Backache

Also known as ‘tech neck’, backache has become a mainstream concern for the health-conscious in the technological world.

With the constant looking down at phones, and humans being hunched over computer screens, our neck, back, and shoulders have all gained aches, pains, and in some cases, formed lumps.

These lumps in our backs are a result of not keeping our backs straight as we live our daily lives.

Solution: there are modern-day solutions to our modern-day issues, such as ergonomic office chairs, back braces and stands for our laptops. But it’s also important that as an employer, you encourage proper posture and supply your employees with solutions to this potentially dangerous issue.

Weight Gain

While weight gain in itself is nothing to be afraid of, when it is radically gained in a short space of time it can cause alarm bells for your employees.

When one is inactive, plagued by the piles of work, then they may feel immobilised by the concept of moving.

It can be difficult to set aside time for oneself when work emails and work tasks are pending and the phone keeps ringing.

But when weight gain leads to obesity, diabetes, heart strain, and other major ailments, it can become a life-threatening problem.

Solution: encourage your staff to eat healthily and to step away from their screens. It may be that you implement yoga or joint walks over Zoom, but make it interactive. Remind them the work will still be there even if your staff walk away for a moment.

And if you ever need further help and advice with matters of health in the workplace, head to our website.