Guest Post: Overexertion Leads to 34% of Workplace Injuries: Top Tips to Keep Employee Exhaustion at Bay

Workplace injuries are jarringly common, and according to the National Safety Council, 34 percent of these injuries are connected to overexertion. While you do need your employees to complete tasks during the day, you also want to prevent exhaustion. Implementing some useful strategies into your workplace can combat this serious issue.

Provide Ample Sick Time

Some of your employees are likely overexerting themselves because they are fearful of calling in sick. In other words, they worry about the loss of pay that results when you don’t allow for sick days. While you need not permit an excessive amount of sick days per employee, you should establish a plan that does not penalize employees’ pay for calling out sick a reasonable amount of times per year. You should also establish a protocol for doing so. For example, make it clear whom employees should contact and when they should do so if they need to call out. Giving employees the time to recover allows them to recharge and come to work fully energized.

Create a Workplace of Wellness

Encouraging wellness is about more than having a sick-days policy. If the break room is loaded with sugary snacks, you probably have a number of employees who crash by middle of the afternoon. Offering healthy foods can give your employees the necessary boost to attend to their tasks and to fuel their bodies. Depending upon time constraints, considering allowing for wellness breaks at work. For example, you might encourage to relax and rejuvenate with a meditation session shortly before or after lunch.

Stagger Computer-Related Tasks

The American Optometric Association notes that Computer Vision Syndrome is an issue that can come with spending too much time on the computer. Some of the effects include headaches and blurry vision. Consider how tired a constant headache or blurry eyes can make you feel. By staggering computer-related tasks and getting your employees away from the screen, you can notice a more productive work environment.

Organize Yourself

Part of the problem might be that you don’t give employees enough time to complete their tasks because you’re behind yourself. Dedicate a day this weekend to getting caught up. Before you assign more work to your employees, ask how long you would realistically take to complete the task. Setting up reasonable deadlines means that you’re employees aren’t going to be working late into the night and early in the morning to meet your demands.

An aggressive problem with employee exhaustion at work could lead to injuries, consultations with lawyers, and requests for funds. Instead of creating more of these issues, work to fight against employee exhaustion.    

Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and mother of two from Sacramento, CA. She enjoys kayaking and reading books by the lake.