The layout of a typical office is conducive to creating health challenges for workers. Most office spaces are poorly designed cubicle labyrinths the cram as many workers into an area as possible.

Because of constricted office space design, the number one health challenge involved with office work is stress. Constant interruptions and distractions breed anxiety which begets animosity that creates a stressful reaction in the body. Most of the people I've spoken with about office work say their stress levels are directly related to frustration. The frustration is the result of being unable to concentrate on their work assignments.

Stress raises blood pressure and puts a strain on the heart. It attacks the immune system, making a person more susceptible to illness and disease. Constant exposure to stress can lead to life altering events like heart attacks and strokes.

The only way for stress to be managed is to find a way to release tension. Office work precludes exercise, unless the company has an on site fitness facility. Lunch breaks are too short to enjoy the recuperative powers of a long, moderately paced walk.

Poor ventilation either causes or exacerbates respiratory ailments. The air in many offices is stagnant, which is particularly hard on someone who has asthma. Allergy causing substances like mold and mites thrive in offices where meticulous attention to cleaning means a nightly once over with a vacuum.

Management is a health challenge. Their refusal to give someone the day off because of illness is a germ recipe ready to invade the immune system of every other co-worker. Once a worker shows up to work sick, it's only a short time before cold and flu symptoms rapidly spread throughout the office.

There isn't a more potent brew of contamination than in bathrooms. Food service workers are trained to wash their hands after using the bathroom. The rest of America, however, washes their hands about twenty-five percent of the time. This means three out of four co-workers carry germs that can have debilitating consequences.

Food borne illnesses are also not confined to restaurants. Inside of every office refrigerator lurks a food item that is capable of transmitting a serious illness. Besides the unsanitary condition of the refrigerator, many food items stored in office refrigerators are past their due date, have been exposed to improper temperatures, or have tainted other food item by cross contamination. Food safety in office work is non-existent.

It's amazing there aren't more serious outbreaks of illness or disease in offices.

Learn more about this author, Keith Bailey.
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