Whether you like your job or not, you need to know some ways your job may affect your health. Many of us face stress and pressures at work every single day, and we don’t know how it may damage our health. Check out a few ways your job may seriously affect your health.
Table of contents:
- Work long hours
- Working under intense pressure
- Control over your work
- Shift work
- No health insurance
- Sedentary jobs
- Passive smoke
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Losing your job
1. Work long hours
If you consistently work long hours, you seriously damage your health. Some researchers found that people working more than 11 hours had a 67% higher risk of heart disease, compared to those working less than 8 hours. The next time you decide to stay late in the office, think about what you are doing to your health.
2. Working under intense pressure
If you are working under intense pressure, it may seriously affect your health. It’s not about giving your speech or presentation in front of your boss or colleagues. It’s all about rescuing children from fires or dealing with an armed hostage situation. For instance, 45% of firefighters or 22% of police officers died from stress-related heart attacks.
3. Control over your work
Job demands and control over work may seriously damage your health. And if you really want to reduce work-related stress and stay healthier, move to a profession where you will have more control over your own work.
More: 6 Tips for Dealing with Negative Feedback at Work
4. Shift work
The body clock is very important, and people who work on a shift basis permanently damage their internal biological clock. In fact, shift work causes higher levels of tiredness and stress. Moreover, blood pressure changes and insulin levels fluctuate.
5. No health insurance
Having a job that doesn’t provide health insurance will not help your health. Every person sometimes needs to visit the doctor, even if it’s only for a check-up on the blood pressure and cholesterol. Without health insurance, you are at a higher risk for a range of health problems.
6. Sedentary jobs
Sitting at a desk all day is not good for you and it’s another way your job may seriously affect your health. Researchers have found that about 56% of bus drivers suffer from hypertension. People who have sedentary jobs are more likely to have higher cholesterol and heart disease, and be overweight!
7. Passive smoke
Smoking is one of the worst habits and it is very annoying and harmful to those who don’t smoke. Lung cancer, respiratory diseases, and an increased risk of heart attacks are only a few common results from inhaling secondhand smoke. That’s why stay away from people who smoke.
More: 7 Hazards of Passive Smoking
8. Carbon monoxide poisoning
If you’re working in dirty underground tunnels all day, don’t wonder that you have poor health. Many studies show that there’s a direct link between the workers having heart-related issues like heart disease and carbon monoxide exposure in tunnels.
9. Losing your job
Whether you are an office manager or a factory worker, you have the risk of losing your job. Harvard researchers found that people who had recently lost their jobs suffered from heart-related problems. So if you want to be sure that your work doesn’t damage your health, keep your job as secure as possible.
We all go to work every day probably without knowing that there are these ways a job may seriously affect our health. I’m not telling you to worry about your own job, but be aware of the risks and know how to cope with them. What do you think of these ways your job may affect your health? Share your thoughts, please!
