Work is having a negative impact on people’s health and wellbeing, with 1 in 5 workplaces being ‘bad for workers’ health’, a study has found.
The study of 2,000 full and part time UK workers conducted by One4All Rewards, highlights the importance of employers making a conscious effort to look after the welfare of their workers.
In the past year, 11 per cent of employees said that they had become ill as a direct result of their work. Twice that number said that they regularly suffer from high levels of stress due to work pressures. And 17 per cent admitted that they often had problems sleeping as a result of their jobs.
As a result, a significant proportion (23 per cent confessed that they were underperforming in their work. When asked to estimate what impact a more positive environment would have on their performance, 22 per cent estimated that their output would improve by over 10 per cent.
Worryingly, only 6 per cent of workers felt that work actually had a positive impact on their health and wellbeing, indicating how few UK employees find work a positive and enjoyable experience.
Declan Byrne, managing director of One4all Rewards, comments, “These are worrying findings for everyone. Not only are many workers feeling increasingly stretched and unhappy, but their employers are also losing out as stressed-out workers significantly underperform.
“Recent studies have shown how 80 per cent of white collar workers in the UK currently work over 40 hours per week and also that developments in technology mean that it is getting harder and harder to switch off when not in the office.
“This report indicates the importance employers should be placing on ‘Workplace Wellness’ – not only out of a sense of corporate responsibility, but also as a way to boost productivity and give them a competitive edge when recruiting and retaining the best staff.”
Workers in London are the worst affected according to the research, with 33 per cent admitting that their work is suffering as they are (compared to the national average of 23%).
Those workers most likely to be in relatively junior positions (those aged between 25 and 35), are also feeling the pressure, with 30% admitting their performance was below par.
Meanwhile the worst affected sectors are IT, PR and Marketing, with 37 per cent of workers reporting reduced productivity as a result of poor health or stress.
Byrne continues, “In order to create more positive working environments, businesses need to consider how they can incentivise better behaviours. Putting out the right messages about working habits and rewarding people with health-enhancing benefits, such as fitness activities, duvet days and creating the right facilities in the office can make commercial sense as well as being good corporate behaviour.”
Find the full report on Health in the Workplace at the One4all rewards website.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
