Overtime Or Heart Attack - You Decide

Who knew that working overtime could kill you? An 11-year study of 6,000 British civil servants doesn't provide absolute proof that overtime causes heart attacks but it does show a clear link - likely due to stress.

According to the report, "In all, there were 369 cases of death due to heart disease, non-fatal heart attacks and angina among the London-based study group -- and the risk of having an adverse event was 60 percent higher for those who worked three to four hours overtime. Working an extra one to two hours beyond a normal seven-hour day was not associated with increased risk."

Work/Life Balance is a key to health in the workplace. Giving every waking moment to your job is a lousy way of maintaining your physical and mental health. In fact, long hours creates other issues: poor diet choices leading to weight gain, improper sleep patterns leading to burnout and increased alcohol consumption in an attempt to wind down. And if you're a smoker, well it gets even worse.

As a manager, asking your employees to work an additional four hours of overtime is creating a health risk. Instead, perhaps offer some telecommuting time (a couple of days working from home where the boundaries between work and home are blurred giving a better sense of not feeling as much like work) or offering your people a chance to come in for a few hours on a weekend during the day so it's not a marathon time stretch.

Oh, and I suppose you might consider one more option instead of overtime: hire more people so you're not so short-staffed.

Feel free to show the news story to your bosses to get a budget bump for more people. Think about what could happen if an Injury Lawyer reads this story and can show that you worked your people too much overtime. It's going to cost you either way. Right now, you decide though.

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Kevin Burns - Corporate Safety Attitude/Culture Strategist
www.safety.kevburns.com
Toll Free 1-877-287-6711
Creator of the 90-Day System To Improve Safety Culture!

Courage Is Not Hiding Fears

I met Larry this week. Larry has a very powerful story of being an alcoholic on the job. We shared the stage three times this week as he helped his fellow co-workers step up and admit it when they have a problem with substance or alcohol abuse. At the end of each of Larry's three speeches this week, he received a standing ovation.

Larry admits it is hard for him to accept a standing ovation. He is uncomfortable with it. That was, until I helped him see that the ovations were for his courage. It wasn't the speech they were applauding, it was his courage to take the stage and openly admit that he had a drinking problem.

In every audience, the numbers would dictate that there were one or two others struggling with a substance abuse problem, but in the mind of a man, reaching for help is the same as being weak.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Your admission is courageous. Your willingness to deal with a problem is courageous. Your wanting a better life is courageous. Trying to numb your pain, fear and stress with alcohol or drugs is the weak thing. A man who won't face his fears head-on is not a tower of strength. He is a potential reportable incident on the job.

SAFETY ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Do you really think people will laugh at you if you sought help for a drinking problem? Are you afraid your friends wouldn't want anything to do with you if you admitted you had a problem? Well then they're not really your friends - they're just your drinking buddies.

Dealing with your demons takes courage. I admire those who are willing to change their ways. I look up to them not down at them. I applaud the man who admits he has a problem. The man who wakes each morning to face another day without drugs or alcohol has far more courage than the man who hides behind bottle.

My own father stayed sober for the last thirteen years of his life - even in the face of inoperable cancer. The cancer killed him but the bottle never beat him. That took courage.

What kind of courage are you made of? Will you continue to keep your fears a secret and put your life and the lives of your co-workers at risk or will you show us real courage?