Mind matters

Spring means an explosion of production activity in greenhouses, but it also means an increase in physical labor. For workers who might have been sedentary through the winter months, that sudden increase could lead to injury. But protection from injuries is more than simply providing training and support. It’s also about understanding employees have unique physical, mental and social needs that aid in their everyday health, safety and well-being.

“There’s a biopsychosocial aspect to injury prevention,” explains Robert Townsend, head of research and education at Bardavon Health Innovations, an organization that provides physical therapy and occupational therapy for worker recovery in numerous industries. He notes that taking care of biopsychosocial needs was once called “wellness” and simply means “taking into account an individual’s psychological state,” as well as their physical state.

That doesn’t mean that employers need to provide yoga breaks and offer free massages during the day (although who wouldn’t want that?). But it does mean providing support for key aspects of an employee’s life — both at work and outside of it.

“It’s something that doesn’t take a lot of effort,” Townsend says. “But it takes a lot of organization.”

The importance of sleep

The core factors of improving employee health and safety during the spring, according to Townsend, largely occur outside of work. That’s because an employee works best and safest when they are properly rested, drinking enough water and eating right. And while some of those areas are harder to influence than others, making sure they are supported goes a long way toward keeping workers healthy.

Of those three factors, sleep should be at the top of the considerations, Townsend says. “People take it for granted, but if there’s one thing that’s going to put you at risk of injury or accidents at work, it’s (lack of sleep),” he says. “That’s regardless of your activity level.”

A lack of adequate sleep is one of the biggest factors in workplace safety. An employee who is tired and run-down may literally stumble into trouble.

A 2014 study published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews analyzed 27 previously published observational studies on sleep and workplace injury to quantify how sleep problems are related to being hurt on the job. After a statistical analysis, the researchers found that workers with sleep problems like lack of sufficient sleep, use of sleeping aids and apnea had 1.62 times more risk of workplace injury. The researchers concluded that 13% of workplace injuries could be linked to sleep problems.

The reason is likely because a lack of sleep can lead to poor reaction times and tracking abilities. For those who take sleep aids, it’s possible that lingering narcotic effects of the drugs can also be a detriment to job performance.

Managing nutrition and hydration

Nutrition and workplace safety are linked, as well. This makes sense when you consider poor nutrition can lead to a variety of health outcomes like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular complications that decrease strength and stamina while increasing the demands on the heart, lungs, bones, joints and immune system.

“Your body is your mechanism for making money or generating revenue, so there is a responsibility to making sure it has good upkeep,” Townsend says. He likes to use the metaphor of the body as an expensive vehicle. “Are you going to put junk fuel into a $70,000 automobile? Probably not, because it’s going to eventually wreck how the car works.”

Townsend does not promote any kind of specific diet. But he does advocate for people to eat fewer processed foods. He suggests the guiding question should be, “Does this look like something my grandparents would recognize as food?”

The last of the top three factors of workplace injury prevention is proper hydration, which isn’t simply about thirst or heat-related injuries. Good hydration will help keep employees alert and moving. In older employees, Townsend notes that hydration “keeps joints pliable.” He also encourages water above hydration products like sports drinks.

“Water is a great source for plants, and it’s a great source for humans,” Townsend says. Besides, sports drinks have specific intended users: high-performance athletes.

Stress: Where the mind goes, the body follows

Intuitively, most managers will understand that their employees will be most productive when they are in a mindset that is balanced between ease and focus. Some call this a “flow state,” when time seems to slip by as work starts to feel simple, intuitive and pleasurable.

But that state of flow is difficult to achieve if a person’s thoughts are unfocused and distracted by life disruptions. More than that, Townsend says, those disruptions and the associated stress can hurt physical performance as well. And it all comes down to cortisol.

“Cortisol is a hormone that’s meant to mobilize things for a fight-or-flight response,” he explains. He notes that in emergency circumstances, the ability for cortisol to release extra bodily resources, like glucose and adrenaline to charge up the circulatory system, is necessary for survival. But it’s not as great in non-emergency situations. “You just loaded up a bunch of fuel into your system that’s not being used. The high blood glucose and high triglycerides are not being burned. They just collect and can start leading to diabetes and high blood pressure, for example.”

Additionally, life stresses outside of work (like a failing marriage, struggling children or money issues) that release cortisol can rob the body of those important resources necessary for recovery from the strains of physical labor. An inability to recover can eventually compound and potentially lead to injury on the job.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult for a manager to identify that an employee is suffering from stressors outside of work, much less attempt to address them. Townsend notes that this is where Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can come into play.

EAPs are employer-provided programs that allow employees to access mental health resources that may not be covered by conventional health insurance. They act as a safety net in times of crisis and help employees with issues ranging from marriage counseling to recovery from substance abuse.

“But also,” Townsend says, “developing a workplace culture that’s truly caring, truly inclusive is very key.”

Patrick Alan Coleman is editor of Greenhouse Management magazine. Contact him at pcoleman@gie.net.