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Healthy Work Now
News from the Healthy Work Campaign
Healthy Work Now Newsletter No. 4 Like Healthy Work Campaign Newsletter No. 4 on Facebook

 
A note from HWC Co-Directors Marnie Dobson & Peter Schnall 

Today as we celebrate Labor Day in the U.S., a day that honors the social and economic contributions that American workers have made since the 1800s, we wish to also honor labor rights and health and safety advocates in this country who work to increase the safety and standard of living of American workers. 

The American labor movement has been under siege for some time now, with membership declining to some of the lowest rates of any high-income country, the right to organize severely curtailed, and working conditions deteriorating (work stressors growing), contributing to the declining health of American workers. Wages have stagnated, work is becoming more precarious, and health and safety continues to need improvement in many industries. Psychosocial hazards also continue to be ignored with workload demands intensifying, job control deteriorating, and reports of toxic workplace cultures becoming increasingly disrespectful, contributing to burnout, low morale and turnover.

On August 19th, a coalition of CEOs known as the “Business Roundtable” representing over 200 companies (including Apple, American Airlines, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, etc.) issued a surprising statement saying that the “purpose of a corporation” should no longer be primarily to advance the interests of stockholders, but that companies should “invest in their employees," "deliver value to customers," and "deal fairly and ethically with suppliers.” While short on details, they promised to compensate employees fairly, provide important “benefits” and “foster diversity and inclusion, dignity and respect.”

While we greet this statement with some skepticism, and acknowledge that these new words from the Business Roundtable may be little more than propaganda, it is a departure from the conservative economic practices of the past 30 years and the flawed idea that a “rising tide floats all boats.” As we reflect on Labor Day, we urge these corporate leaders to put some “teeth” behind these statements by supporting new legislation that will protect workers, as well as working with labor to implement fair pay and healthier working conditions.

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Project Updates

July 2nd-4th, Dr. Marnie Dobson attended the 19th Congress of the International Stress Management Association-Brazil in Porto Alegre, where she presented the opening keynote talk and participated in a fascinating panel discussion about the barriers and constraints to the prevention of work stress. In her keynote, Marnie was delighted to present about the Healthy Work Campaign as part of the “Living Better: Work, Stress, Health” theme of the meeting. Some highlights of the panel discussion included the importance of ethics in management, the need to treat workers with dignity and respect, and the current intensification of work. Throughout the meeting, Marnie was struck by how similar, despite all the economic and social differences, the issues of work stress and health are between the U.S. and Brazil.

Marnie presenting the keynote speech at ISMA-BR 2019 (Brazil)

July 30th-August 1st, Dr. Peter Schnall attended the annual NIOSH Total Worker Health® (TWH) Affiliate Colloquium in Washington D.C., representing the Center for Social Epidemiology, the founding nonprofit of the Healthy Work Campaign. There was an excellent turnout with more than 40 affiliates presenting summaries of activities promoting TWH across the country. Dr. Schnall, like all the affiliate representatives, was given five minutes to present—in his case, an overview of our HWC strategy and tools development, which was well received. The second day of the conference featured presentations by representatives of the six NIOSH-funded Centers of Excellence, which focus on evaluations of organizational change efforts. We will describe these efforts further in a future newsletter.

NIOSH TWH Affiliate Colloquium 2019 group photo (Washington, D.C.)

As of August 8th, the first draft of our Healthy Work Survey, led by Dr. BongKyoo Choi, was completed, and we are moving onto the online survey stage. Before taking the survey public, we will share the questionnaire with colleagues and request feedback on the survey.

The intervention toolkit, developed by Dr. Paul Landsbergis with the help of SUNY Downstate public health graduate students, has expanded to include case studies, which will be featured on our Healthy Work Tools pages. The case studies summarize work organizational research studies, legislation, and collective bargaining efforts which offer solutions to work stress in various occupational groups.

Lastly, on July 1st, we started a social media series called “Occupation of the Week,” highlighting stories, work stressors, health outcomes and interventions specific to single occupations/industries. During July, we tripled our new Twitter followers (compared to the previous month) and doubled our Twitter profile page visits, possibly attributable to this targeted outreach. While this series is a work in progress, we ultimately hope to feature the case studies just mentioned, to provide evidence of successful interventions and solutions.

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Ask the Experts

In addition to sending feedback through social media and our contact page, we also encourage our readership to reply to this email and “Ask the Experts” about any work stress-related questions that come to mind. From the questions we receive in this way, we will try to answer one question directly in the next newsletter. It gives you a reason to come back and gives voice to the concerns about which you care most.

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Today’s Question

“My blood pressure spiked after a particularly stressful incident at the hospital I work at as a nurse—after already being diagnosed with hypertension. Without changing careers, what, if anything, can I do or should I know so I don't exacerbate my condition further, if not turn it around? I'm otherwise a very healthy, active female in my 40's.”

Answer

First, we are sorry to hear about what you’re going through. That being said, we can only give a general answer for the time being, as the specifics of the situation are not known (e.g., how long you have had  high blood pressure (HBP), been taking medications for HBP, had other risk factors, etc.). 

Second, what is the context of the stressful incident? Is it one time only, or a recurrent problem? And are their other work stressors present as well?  And how can we characterize the stressful incident--was it triggered by a supervisor or coworker or by a patient or by the demands of a work situation? 

Third, it is not surprising to hear a stressful event resulted in an increase in blood pressure (BP) as, after all, this is the function of our autonomic nervous system--to respond to acute stressors with a rise in blood pressure and heart rate (the fight or flight response).  If the event resulted in a rise in BP of limited duration and severity, then probably there is no harm done. But if this event is recurrent, if the BP elevation is severe and of unusual duration, then there is some reason for concern and avoidance of similar incidents may be warranted. 

Now, what can you do, if anything? For starters, take a free, anonymous work stress assessment survey (while we develop our own). When you complete this survey, StressAssess will provide you with a free, online report that documents your work stressors and suggests  solutions based on the specific challenges and stressors you face at work.

Please also visit Healthy Work Tools for Individuals, where you will find:

As individuals, we are often told to work hard and not complain. We are grateful to have work and many of us may believe in the idea of “just be glad you have a job.” What other choice do we have? But we also have a right to a safe and healthy workplace. And what’s more? Healthy work solutions benefit workers, as well as businesses. Whatever your situation, just remember that you are not alone.

New to the Healthy Work Campaign?   

1) LEARN about healthy & unhealthy work.
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If we want healthy people, we need healthy work.

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© 2019 Healthy Work Campaign, All rights reserved.
Newsletter drafted and produced by Maria Doctor, Project Manager.
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