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Month: November 2021
How to Make the Work Place Adopt for Employees with Epilepsy?
What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a condition in which a person has a tendency to suffer epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is not often a chronic condition, and doctors may conclude that somebody no longer has epilepsy after a period of time without episodes.
What is a seizure?
Our brains are constantly buzzing with electrical activity. A seizure occurs when the brain experiences an extreme burst of electrical activity. Epileptic activity is a common term for this. Because epilepsy disrupts the regular functioning of the brain, the brain’s communications get jumbled. All of the body’s functions are coordinated by the brain. What happens during a seizure is determined by where the epileptic activity starts in the brain, as well as how far and fast it spreads. As a result, there are many distinct forms of seizures, and each person’s epilepsy will manifest itself in a different way.
Seizures and types of lodgings:
Some organizational adjustments are simple to implement. As an example,
- An auditor who suffers from complex partial seizures that result in falls was advised to work in a place with carpets to cushion the fall in the event of a seizure.
- An engineer who suffers from unusual complex partial seizures that induce roaming asked for a room away from the stairwell. Some jobs that are dangerous for persons who have seizures can be deemed safe by using protection systems or other modifications.
- Mahesh, who had been working as a pool cleaning for years and loved it, had suddenly started having stimulant seizures. He probably wore a lifejacket after the seizures begin to prevent dying if a seizure occurred when he was near the pool.
- Shanti has also always chosen to work at a deli counter after suffering from complex partial seizures as a result of a car accident. She talked with her colleagues to avoid using the meat slicer, and when creating sandwiches, she wore plastic gloves to protect her hands from cuts.
- People working at heights should wear helmets and waist straps, and people who operate around machines should utilize automatic shut-off systems or safety guards.
Epilepsy at Work Space:-
Risk evaluation for health and safety
An organization must do an employee health and safety risk assessment if a worker has epilepsy to ensure that they can safely perform their tasks.
Some of the questions that may arise during a risk assessment for health and safety include:
- While you have a seizure, what occurs to you?
- Are your seizures under control?
- How frequently do you experience seizures?
- Do they occur at a specific time of day?
- Do you have them when you’re awake, when you’re sleeping, or when you’re both?
- Do you ever get a heads-up before a seizure?
- What is the duration of your seizures?
- After that, how do you feel?
- How long does it take you to get back on your feet?
- Do you require any special care or first aid during or after a seizure?
Reasonable alterations:
Once the answers to these questions are known, an organization may need to make “specific changes” to allow the participants with epilepsy to begin or continue working in their current position, or to participate in training or a work placement. The Equality Act (England, Scotland, and Wales) and the Disability Discrimination Act (England, Scotland, and Wales) both mandate this (Northern Ireland). Access to Work may be able to provide financial assistance to fund appropriate changes.
There is no necessities to make any required adjustments:
Some people with epilepsy will not require any workplace modifications. This could include those who have never had a seizure before or who would not be harmed if they had one at work.
Making Workplaces Epilepsy-Free:
Many businesses feel they are not required to make any changes unless a worker discloses that they have epilepsy and asks for a change. However, before someone seeks it, an employer can undertake a number of changes to make the workplace more epilepsy-friendly. Check out the best health and safety management software that can manage all these things easily.
The following are some of the benefits of doing so:
- A company that is epilepsy-friendly is one that values diversity and, as a result, is a better place to work for everyone.
- The issue is treated as a collectively instead of an individual one, and worker’s unions are all about collective action.
- Individuals will be more likely to ask for and get modifications if they are specified in a corporate policy or agreement.
There may not even be a recognized person with epilepsy in the place of work, the federation may ask the manager for the following:
- A place to rest and relax, such as a quiet room;
- all changes to working practices to be negotiated with the confederation, and appropriately giving notice before they are implemented;
- all lights, fans, and machinery that flashes or flickers to be maintained and monitored, and attended to instantly if they malfunction, to ensure they do not flash or flicker; and
- The company’s welfare, occupational health service, and first responders must be prepared to help.
- Epilepsy awareness training for workers and managers.
- A variety of tools to aid personal job organization, such as visual timetables and organizer applications – all instructions and policies must be documented and presented clearly and precisely.
Safety Recommendations:
- Rather than taking the stairs, take the lift.
- Always travel to elevations that will not injure you if you have a seizure.
- Work with your organization to build a seizure first aid strategy that includes all necessary co-workers. Make sure you have a plan in place for when you’ll need to ask for help in an emergency. Also, read to know about Health and safety management software.
Work colleagues and companies must be flexible to the safety improvements required to create a safe and secure work environment for people with uncontrolled seizures. Companies and colleagues who are epilepsy-friendly do exist. If problems occur at work, the Individuals with Disabilities Education act, whose protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace, may be of assistance.
How Does Diabetes Affect Our Productivity At Work?
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical disorder in which people’s bodies can’t create enough insulin or can’t properly use the insulin which they produce. Insulin is a hormone that regulates the glucose level, a type of sugar, into your cells and so controls its amount in the bloodstream. Insulin is required since glucose is the body’s primary source of energy. Glucose can be produced by the human body or obtained through food.
Diabetes is of different types that can be seen below:-
Type 1 diabetes:
The pancreas does not manufacture insulin in type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune illness. Type 1 diabetes cannot be avoided. Insulin is required for patients suffering from type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes:
Develops when the pancreas quits making enough insulin or the body’s use of the insulin generated becomes ineffective. Many people with type 2 diabetes may control their disease by diet and exercise, but others may require medication.
Gestational diabetes:
During pregnancy, a woman’s body stops generating or utilizing insulin properly, resulting in gestational diabetes.
Diabetes is one of the country’s most challenging public health issues. Diabetes is also linked to higher economic expenditures due to lost working days, as diabetics have a 2–3 times higher rate of sickness absence than the general population. Workplaces can help or impede diabetes self-management, but there has been little research in India on the topic. Check out the best occupational health software.
By examining the perspectives and experiences of employees with diabetes, this paper hopes to contribute to closing this gap.
A total of 43 people with diabetes were purposefully recruited to see how they dealt with their diabetes at work.
Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed in a semi-structured fashion. A continual comparison technique was used in the analysis.
Despite the fact that respondents had told their managers of their diabetes, they believed their supervisors had little understanding of the impact of the workplace on their capacity to control their disease. They didn’t anticipate their bosses to be supportive, and they were worried about being stigmatized or treated unfairly. The demands of the job came first. Many had to adjust their illness management to meet their profession, and they reported having blood glucose levels that were higher than optimum, putting them at risk for long-term problems.
The way employees with diabetes handle their disease at work has received little attention.
This study reveals that managers need to be more aware of the short and long-term financial benefits of assisting employees with diabetes in efficiently managing their disease at work.
In order to manage their sickness properly, employees may require individually assessed and adapted workplace help.
Diabetes can induce symptoms like stress and fatigue, as well as chronic diseases like hypertension and neuropathy, even if it is well-managed. For people living with and treating diabetes, stress, in particular, can be a big impact. For those with diabetes, checking blood sugar, taking medications, keeping a healthy diet and exercise routine, and worrying about long-term health implications can all be stressful. Physical stress and poor glucose management are also linked, which can make recovery from illness even more difficult.
Diabetes-related chronic health difficulties can result in frequent, unscheduled absences, costing organizations significant amounts of money in lost productivity.
Diabetes, if not properly controlled, can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease or kidney failure, as well as disability leave, which means less money for the individual and reduced productivity for the company. Covering an employee’s medical claims adds to the burden if the firm is self-funded. Hundreds of thousands of claims can result from these serious illnesses. Health and Safety management software will help you as it provides comprehensive functionality on the market.
Workplace health and wellness has improved in recent years as more people strive to live better lives and seek out companies who would assist them. Employers are focusing on workplace health in a variety of ways, including on-site exercise and medical facilities, employee engagement events, and improved dietary options in cafeterias and vending machines. Employers who can provide these services and nurture a healthier staff will experience their benefits, according to the benefits study. Employees are happier and more productive when they are healthy, and absences are reduced. However, chronic health disorders such as diabetes and its complications are as common as ever, and the consequences for businesses’ bottom lines can be disastrous. Employers should proactively focus on employee health, especially diabetes and related illnesses, to address health-care expenditures, costs of absence, and even the length of disability leave.
Conclusion:
Diabetes’ consequences on employment and productivity are projected to become more pressing as the population grows more diabetic. Our findings are consistent with cross-sectional studies’ findings, and they add to the growing body of evidence that diabetes reduces the likelihood of later employment. We discovered that diabetes lowered the absolute likelihood of working by 4.1 percentage points for women and 7.5 percentage points for men, even after controlling for other factors assumed to be significant to the decision to work, such as other chronic health problems and job characteristics.
The way employees with diabetes handle their disease at work has received little attention. This study reveals that managers need to be more aware of the short and long-term financial benefits of assisting employees with diabetes in efficiently managing their disease at work. To manage their sickness properly, employees may require individually assessed and adapted workplace help.
The ability to work appears to be harmed by Diabetes mellitus. When compared to the hypertensive group, patients with Diabetes mellitus had more difficulty doing work. Setting up diabetes preventive programmes, as well as developing and implementing effective targeted interventions to assist workers in better managing their disease, are all necessary. Otherwise, the burden of diabetes in the working-age population may worsen. Employer-implemented intervention programmes to promote the physical health and well-being of their diabetic employees could be a smart way to keep productivity under control. As a result, treating diabetes and its complications with medicine, food, and exercise is expected to save money while also improving the health and quality of life of those who are at risk of getting diabetes or who already have diabetes.