Stock photo via GIS
“Work is bad for your health”. A joke that has been said many, many, many times by countless people. Myself included.
After a bout of bronchitis this past week, and where I lost another planned outdoor weekend from my time bank, this joke has become quite literal for me.
Or at least the corporate environment I work in currently.
Ever since my company moved into a new building, there have been reoccurring bouts of dry eyes, colds, headaches and coughing among many people…obviously, myself included. No coincidence, a musty, almost maple syrup smell, will crop up every so often as well. As a “bonus”, many of us sit directly under the ventilation ducts that dissipates heat from a server room.
Dad, a retired sheet metal worker and someone who did HVAC work earlier in his career, confirmed..yeah, that duct work really should be checked. Many more details can about HVAC and associated illnesses may be read here.
I had a longer blog post about a need for a change when work is literally causing me to become ill. But change, growth and flexibility is always needed if someone wants to prosper. Something understood by any adult. No need to expound upon that concept.
In the mean time, I made some plans for trips in the very near future. Visiting Rhode Island again to see a new niece (and for backpacking in New Hampshire with one of my oldest friends), a couple of trips to New Mexico and a return to Colorado’s canyon country out by Grand Junction.
Assuming I don’t catch another respiratory illness…
The problem goes far beyond dirty ducts, of course. Virtually nothing about a modern office environment — and I’ve worked in my share — is natural, normal or conducive to human health. Thankfully, some employers are willing to work with employees on ergonomics — i.e. standing desks, better chairs — but doctors don’t say “sitting is the new smoking” for nada. And simple immobility is terrible for us. Likewise being crammed together in boxes with other disease-carrying animals, which goes to your first point. But I would argue the worst damage is psychological. Many of us are fortunate enough to… Read more »
Cubed by Nikil Saval goes into some of that very material. Of course, when my employer starts using terms such as “increasing employee engagement”, my Spidey sense starts tingling…