Work is good for mental health but a negative working environment can lead to physical and mental health problems.

“The Department of Health estimates that between 15% and 20% of employees will experience some form of mental health difficulty during their working lives, with depression representing the largest percentage of this problem.”

Absences relating to mental illness, including depression, impact on every workplace. Depression is characterised by symptoms including: sadness; loss of interest or pleasure; feelings of guilt or low self worth; disturbed sleep; and appetite changes.

Occupational Health has a key role in supporting people with depression in the workplace, collaborating with HR, line managers and primary care. Jodie Aldridge and Anne Harriss explore this area of OH’s public health role.

Burnout is defined as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stresses on the job. It manifests itself as exhaustion, cynicism, and diminished professional efficacy.

Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and ineffectiveness in the workplace, and by chronic negative responses to stressful workplace conditions. 

 Recognizing the signs of burnout before it's too late

 Burnout is one of those road hazards in life that high-achievers really should be keeping a close eye out for, but sadly—often because of their "I can do everything" personalities—they rarely see it coming. Because high-achievers are often so passionate about what they do,

Techniques for Dealing with Overwhelming Stress

 If constant stress has you feeling helpless, disillusioned, and completely exhausted, you may be on the road to burnout. When you’re burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything looks bleak, and it’s difficult to muster up the energy to care—let alone do something to help yourself.

A hearing conservation program is a written program that is designed to prevent hearing loss in employees that work in environments.

Exposure to noise at work can harm workers’ health. The most well-known effect of noise at work is loss of hearing, a problem observed among coppersmiths in 1731.

What is occupational noise exposure?

Noise, or unwanted sound, is one of the most pervasive occupational health problems.

Noise may be a problem in your workplace if:

When sound waves enter the outer ear, the vibrations impact the ear drum and are transmitted to the middle and inner ear.

Workers are faced with occupational noise hazards every day.

Working in a noisy job when you’re pregnant can affect your hearing and increase your stress levels. When the noise level is very high, like a jackhammer or at a rock concert, it may increase your chances of having a baby with hearing problems. Here, you can learn more about noise at work and what you can do to reduce your exposure for a healthier pregnancy.

Rhabdomyolysis is a medical condition associated with heat stress and prolonged physical exertion, resulting in the rapid breakdown, rupture, and death of muscle.

 Heat syncope is a fainting (syncope) episode or dizziness that usually occurs with prolonged standing or sudden rising from a sitting or lying position.

Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature: the body's temperature rises rapidly,

Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather.

Heat exhaustion is the body's response to an excessive loss of the water and salt, usually through excessive sweating.

Heat cramps usually affect workers who sweat a lot during strenuous activity. This sweating depletes the body's salt and moisture levels.

The Travel Risk Estimator for Business travelers (TREB) is a new online calculator. It is envisioned as a tool,

If your travel plans include outdoor activities, take these steps to stay safe and healthy during your trip.

Most animals avoid people, but they may attack if they feel threatened, are protecting their young or territory, or if they are injured or ill.

Motor vehicle crashes are the #1 killer of healthy citizens in foreign countries.

Follow these tips to avoid getting sick or spreading illness to others while traveling:

Bugs (including mosquitoes, ticks, and some flies) can spread diseases (including Zika, dengue, and Lyme disease), many of which cannot be prevented or treated with a vaccine or medicine.

Use the same common sense traveling overseas that you would at home, and always stay alert and aware of your surroundings.
Before you leave

Plan for how you will get health care during your trip, should the need arise:

Unclean food and water can cause travelers' diarrhea and other diseases. Reduce your risk by sticking to safe food and water habits.
Eat

Diseases such as HIV infection and hepatitis B, can be spread through body fluids, such as saliva, blood, vomit, and semen.
Protect yourself:

Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever. It was subsequently identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania.

Our biological clock is usually synchronised with local time so that we feel hungry in the morning and sleepy in the evening.

Jet lag is a common condition that sometimes occurs after long distance flights. It is the result of your body finding it difficult to adjust to a new time zone.

Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes in parts of Africa and South America. Vaccination is safe and effective and is a legal requirement for people travelling through infected areas. Avoiding mosquito bites is also recommended to reduce the risk of catching yellow fever or other mosquito-borne diseases.

KEY POINTS

•We don’t know a lot about the effects of caffeine during pregnancy on you and your baby. So it’s best to limit the amount you get each day.

•If you’re pregnant, limit caffeine to 200 milligrams each day. This is about the amount in 1½ 8-ounce cups of coffee or one 12-ounce cup of coffee.

Key Points about Caffeine and Migraines
•Caffeine affects pain.
•Acute treatment of headaches with caffeine is sometimes effective but should be limited to not more than two days per week.
•For people who experience migraine, caffeine taken three or more days per week, for whatever reason, may lead to dependency and increased migraine frequency.