Health & Wellbeing

I came across a study recently stating that the people most likely to smoke are those who work in the food-service industry. What's amazing to me is how anyone can either afford to smoke or find a place to legally enjoy a cigarette in that sort of environment.

The story of a woman who was fired from her job from for refusing a flu vaccination raises some important issues about individual freedom and employment rights.

People lacking stable long-term employment and engaged only on a series of temporary, contract, casual or fixed-term positions are more likely to suffer mental health issues, new research suggests.

Managers should get a good rest over the summer because, if swine flu really takes hold from the autumn, it could extend the recession by a further two years.

What is the most disgusting place in your office? Or, rather, what part of your office most reminds you of home? If I had to answer either question, the answer would be the same - the kitchen.

I've been following the healthcare reform debate in the United States from afar with great interest. Of all the arguments for and against, one voice has been particularly silent: that of management, such as CEOs, HR, CFOs, etc.

In the US, where health care access is tied to your ability to stay employed in troubles times, life for many people is looking more and more like the TV show Survivor.

"Weisure" is a term coined by sociologists to describe the blurring the line between work and leisure. What a con! Taking real time out from work a non-negotiable necessity if we're to to maintain a healthy mind, body and soul.

American companies are realizing the importance of keeping the brain running by working with wellness institutes and technology to introduce brain games in the workplace.

Managing too many redundancies can leave managers emotionally numb and distanced from their teams. So it is vital that organisations do more to ensure that managers don't lose their humanity.

You can always count on Fox News to argue the inarguable or to make unreasonable extrapolations. For instance, last week they tried to compare the link between obesity and global warming to a rampage against fat people in the workplace.

One of the things that I find more common in European offices than in the United States is the concept of a canteen. Not to mention canteens that actually offer decent food.

People who work in offices with low morale or high tension much more likely to be diagnosed with a depressive disorder than those who work in open, laidback office environments.

Here's a thought. Could the economy and how it affects your job actually be killing you? There's considerable evidence to suggest that it could.

As the crumbling economy piles pressure on the bottom line, more and more US employers are considering scrapping their employee healthcare and insurance programmes.

According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rise in workplace homicides is directly proportionate to spikes in unemployment.

Designers of office materials in Australia are taking notice that what is currently being produced today for the realities of today's workplace is not at all adapted to the rapidly increasingly problem of obesity.

When things get tough, people tend to show up more than usual. Not wanting to be perceived as the weak link, people take fewer days off, work longer hours and put up the strong silent type image. This is not good.

Here's a radical suggestion. If you're sick, don't struggle into work so that you can pass whatever you've got onto everybody else. Just stay at home.

Smokers, it seems, feel like they're once again getting the short end of the stick. And Massachusetts is one place where it is fine to not hire people who smoke.

Growing up in the US, there are many, many aspects of the American workplace that I assumed to be normal.But when I started to travel abroad, I realized that my countrymen are all too often getting screwed at work.

Some naïve part of me wants to believe that some things – such as workplace safety – are never subject to economic trends. Job safety is always priority #1.But not in North Carolina.

Spousal abuse - I mean husbands tracking their wives down at their place of business - is now rearing its ugly head at the office.

A recent health conference in New Zealand revealed that methamphetamine is becoming a real problem in Kiwi workplaces.

Have you ever been to Philadelphia? If you're thinking about going there to work, you may want to think again when you learn that a third of workplace deaths in the city in 2007 were actually homicides.

If you're like me, you spend far too much time sitting in front of a screen, ask yourself whether spending 8-10+ hours per day in an uncomfortable chair is really such a good idea.

It may still be two months before he is sworn in, but President-elect Barack Obama could prove a transformational leader when it comes to reform of the American workplace.

When it comes to another day at the office, stable is the place to be. No, I'm not talking about working around horses (which might not be such a bad life), but in routine.

I came across an interesting article this morning about alcoholics in the workplace; frankly, it made me re-think the issue and even change my point of view.

These days, it seems that many business meetings take place over lunch. But mixing eating and working can be a risky affair that, at the very least, can destroy your diet.

More and more articles are appearing in newspapers across America focusing on the deterioration of workplace safety. With good reason.

Got a pretty unpleasant surprise in the mail the other day; this is one that I'm sure that many people in the US receive on a daily basis. Let me explain...

There are pretty sound business reasons for employers to help staff get cigarettes out of their lives. But in many organizations, the attitude seems to be, "don't smoke here, do what you like afterwards".

Let's ponder for a moment about what exactly constitutes a workplace, shall we? Before you start to wax poetically for too long, it seems that perhaps the Welsh authorities have come up with a rather far reaching answer.

One of Toyota's senior car engineers died from working too many hours, a Japanese labour bureau has found.

It's official. Endless meetings and the constant deluge of emails really do drain most of us of the will to live, let alone work effectively.

Would it surprise you to know that Scotland has an obesity problem second only to the United States?

Working in a safe, healthy environment is hardly a luxury - it's a right. And when our health and well-being are not being looked after, it's time to let the company know.

India is set to become the anti-party people in the workplace state, and that's not cool. Yep, it seems that the government is asking big business to help establish a policy of a drug and alcohol free workplace.

If you spend eight hour a day or more chained to your desk, beware. Because a study has found that people who sit at their desks for more than three hours at a time without stretching double their risk of developing potentially-fatal deep vein thrombosis.

Now, I've done some crazy stuff in my day, but apparently I'm pretty lame because something I cannot lay claim to doing is going to work high on drugs.

The key to a good night's sleep is leaving the office at the office. As a recent study from the University of Michigan has found, problems in the workplace can have a big impact on how you sleep.

Obesity rates have doubled in the U.S in the past 30 years, with overweight workers now costing a staggering $45bn a year in extra healthcare spending and lost working days.

It seems that it never takes long to find the bad in a good idea; just ask the Washington Post who in a recent article seemingly went on an expedition to find negatives with respect to workplace gyms.

I never thought I'd see the day where sleeping on the job was not only a non-firing offense, but also actually encouraged.

One thing everyone seems to agree on is the fact that the world has gotten more hectic and that surviving in the world of modern business is getting more and more difficult.

Thinking back to childhood, I would safely bet that most of us can recall a time when a frustrated parent told us to "do as I say, not as I do". If so, you'll appreciate the parallel between that memory and British managers

A single large U.S. employer dropping healthcare benefits for its employees could create a domino effect that brings the entire system to its knees.

Feeling overwhelmed? Running just to stand still? What you need is not more hours in the day, it's just 15 minutes of contemplative down time that's reserved for you and you alone.

It isn't only older people who are at risk of heart attacks. Academics have found that those under 50 in highly stressful jobs may be two thirds more likely to suffer from heart disease.

As China claims its stake in the modern world and tries to improve its standing on the world business stage, it has one tiny problem that it's going to need to correct before anyone takes it seriously.

They've been accused of taking more time off, crippling the healthcare system and being less likely to land a decent job. Now overweight Americans are being told they work too slowly.

For most people the word meditation conjures up images of shaven-headed monks and nuns sitting in mountain retreats high in the Himalayas. Very few people would associate it with their office or place of work.

Any idea how much anguish and mental distress is costing the UK economy? Probably not, but if you did, you'd likely start to feel anguished, too.

Burnout is a slow burn – a process, not an event. That's why it can be so difficult to acknowledge that it is affecting you. But when people are viewed simply as functions, burnout can be built into the very structure of an organization.

A billboard erected as part of the WorkSafe campaign in Australia resulted in a number of phone calls reporting unsafe work practices with respect to the billboard itself.

Rising rates of heart disease, cancer and stress are making the promotion of good health a core priority, not just a nice-to-have, for American managers.

Your life, even your life at work, is like a piece of music. Any passer-by or co-worker can quickly gauge whether you're in harmony or not ­ even if you aren't sure yourself.

The next time you think you're having a bad day and hate your job, take a look at some sobering statistics about work-related depression.

Let it never be said that life in these United States is boring. Take, for example, that almost uniquely American phenomenon – guns and the workplace.