On average, the amount of time you spend at work is way more than the amount of time you spend at home. If you are going in person to work every day or at least 4 days a week, then you spend most of your time in the office, at the warehouse, in the store, etc. With that being said, since most of your time is being spent at work, have you ever thought about the cleanliness of your job and its materials? How often are the surfaces wiped down? How clean are the bathrooms? Are the vents cleaned out regularly? These are all questions that you should want to know answers to because the same place that you spend most of your time at is the same place that might be making you sick.
On one hand, your workplace could be causing you major stress. If you work in a fast-paced environment where things change daily or hourly, then you could be undergoing a lot of stress throughout the day.
If you’re struggling to meet deadlines, having issues with overseas partners, or even dealing with an unfit boss, this can all cause added stress to your daily life. Stress can make you extremely sick or cause flare-ups to occur if you are living with a health condition. Stress can cause headaches, rashes, inflammation, joint problems, and even problems with your gut.
Dealing with loads of assignments, only having two days off a week, and still having to deal with issues in your personal life can also cause you to stress yourself out, which can make you sick or worsen symptoms.
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On the other hand, the job itself could be making you sick. Do you know how often your workplace is deep cleaned? Are you able to smell the cleaning solutions once you walk into a room? A dirty workplace could be the reason why you don’t feel well.
Touching surfaces that haven’t been cleaned and sanitized is a recipe for disaster. Using coffee machines and water fountains that haven’t been cleaned could also cause you to be subjected to germs, which can lead to a cold or whatever sickness is roaming free in the office this week.
The vents not being cleaned often is also a major way to make people sick due to dust and mites growing and causing problems that can lead to serious medical issues in the future.
Inhaling dust is an easy way to have your allergies triggered and can cause issues with your breathing. Dust mites can also cause a lot of damage to the body.
Being extremely small and unable to see with just the human eye, dust mites are actually insect-like pests that can cause you to have a reaction due to inhaling their feces, and or urine. They live in warm unclean climates as well as in carpets and furniture.
This can affect your health because inhaling dust and dust mite remnants can cause issues with your respiratory breathing. If you are someone living with asthma, then you can be subjected to flare-ups from inhaling dust that is floating around the workplace.
Inhaling dust often in your workplace can also lead to COPD. Constant exposure to irritants over time that can cause damage to your airways and lungs can lead to COPD. Dust and dust mite residue are irritants that can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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In order to stay safe, the easiest thing you can do first is to make sure to keep your work area clean. Wipe down your surfaces and wash your hands often after touching areas that receive high traffic (copy machines, door handles, vending machines, etc).
The next thing you can do is inquire with management or the custodial department on how often the vents and carpets get cleaned and give suggestions on why they should be cleaned frequently if it isn’t already.
With as much time as you spend at work, you want to make sure that you can keep it as clean as possible for the sake of you and your coworkers’ health. So don’t let your job make you sick anymore, it’s already making you work!
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