Workplace Health

So I had a bunch of things to write this time but I'm going to save them for later right now. I would like to talk about something that's been in the works for a while. Obviously it's not going to be the last chapter on this subject either. Health in the work place. Health in a call center. Quite frankly there is so much to this topic that I can't cover it in one post. Ultimately I'm going to start with myself and my experience since starting in the workforce altogether.

Now I've worked in a frozen food factory before, that was my first official job. That job I worked for 3 years, 3 seasons I should say and each time I found myself sick with a cold or flu or something of the sort simply because it's COLD. Freezing actually, however I always seemed to bounce back and work hard and during the summer I found myself less ill than during the colder seasons. And the more I worked the less sick I seemed to be though exhausted. Then I worked in customer service and was sicker than anything before, one summer and that's all it took and then I was back in college. My immune system however seemed to bounce back and that year though exhausted all the time I wasn't as ill, not with colds and flus anyway. That being said I strongly believe it's the environment, your surroundings, the people you're with  and right down to who you're living with. It's not just diet or rest etc. it's the air, the pollution, the smoking (my mother smoked and that's  who I lived with at that time) , pollen content, closed quarters etc that make a difference. And working in customer service, after working at Winners, I found myself actually not as ill after I moved out on my own, had my own place where I had control and though I worked with the public I still had more of an open environment where I could walk to and from work and eat better and breathe better.

However, since working at a call center, now going on four years, I have found myself in an enclosed environment with no windows, filled with germs where everyone touches everything from the computer to the headsets we end up sharing where they are growing with germs and bacteria. Not only do we breathe the same filtered and recycled air but we're breathing on and coughing, sneezing on the headset piece which usually have no covers, and we have a headset to our ears where not only volume affects our hearing but the fact that bacteria and wax build up causes plugged ears and ear infections. The headsets are not covered with new ear covers either so when sharing, well that's like sharing make up and toiletries almost. We also have florescent lighting while looking at screens all day which is horrible for eye sight. In fact when I had my eyes tested this summer I asked why my eyes were so dry and itchy all the time. As it turns out it is not because of my needing glasses but because I'm looking at a screen all day with said lighting and I'm not blinking as much as I should be to keep my eyes moist as they should. That's the downfall of electronics you see. And we've become so reliant on them that we don't notice or think about it.

The next horrible thing, that I've mentioned in past posts I'm sure, is weight gain and the "sitting disease". They wonder why people are obese? Why, I'll tell you, it's because we're immobile. We can try to be active, like myself where I walk every day to and from work, try to workout when I can and am not exhausted from listening to people (which will be my next subject on this matter) but none of it makes a difference. We are thrust into an environment full of temptations as well from the cafeteria, such as junk food, pop and even smoking. They say now that sitting is the new smoking. It's so bad that it causes more diseases especially for women than many other things. I can attest to this. Not only have I gained about 10 or 12 lbs since March til September when I last weighed myself but over the course of working at the call center and sitting I've gained a total of 83 or more pounds. I used to weight 98lbs. I want to weight 130 max. This has caused back problems, pinched nerves, leg strain, depression, self hate, being near diabetic  etc. All this from sitting. Yet I walk 80 min or more per day you say? That's right I do and my doctor was shocked when I said this and said I need to do MORE. How can I when my schedules are also random? Such is the life of the call center right? And one would like to just accept it and say well this can't be the issue but it is. Although I found out also that we apparently get a percentage off gym membership at Good Life Fitness gyms, I am not inclined to go because it's still costing me money and expenses and time that I don't have to get to and from. We need another action plan. I need another action plan.

This moves me to mental health. I'm one to definitely speak out about mental health because it's an increasing issue. We have teens and children committing suicide due to bullying and depression among other reasons and no one is listening or helping until it's too late. And this goes for call center or workplace as well. One of the good things I like about where I work is an employee assistance program with online councilors among other things. Certainly something I've used when it came to my mother and how I felt to help get me through just last year. However with the weight and also listening to cranky people all day, it can be very frustrating especially when you feel that all you do is fix people's issues that ultimately half the time, I'll admit we're all human and make mistakes but this many? I won't go into details of course because I could be fired for it, but I'm sure it happens in any inbound call center regarding billing services or adding and selling services to existing accounts. It can be very trying and angering. There are many days where admittedly I'm not happy. I pretend to be chipper and cheerful on the phone and to my colleague and I even had one colleague come over to me the other day and ask me if I was ok. I was so to speak, I was in my own world though just thinking and dreaming and talking to my sister. I have to. I have to shut the world out on some days especially at work on breaks and lunch. I don't want to think about it and I put too much effort into my job to be a good agent and try to meet my stressful never ending set of metrics. I meet everything but handle time, I could go on and on complaining but point being this handle time is affected again by trying to do my job right and be thorough and listening to these angry and frustrated , sometimes irate customers who in turn make you feel the same way because someone else didn't do their job right in the first place. It's a never ending cycle.

Mentally speaking and physically speaking, the call center job is not a great one. It can be. It has it's good times but not many at this particular one. I'm not happy. It's making me sick. My father continues to say "you need to find a new job", problem is in this market and times it's hard to come by a full time job of 40 hrs with benefits. Benefits right now is the only thing keeping me here as well as an ensured steady rate of pay. It's not the benefits, not the people , not the clients, not the job. I don't love it. I want to do something I love. I guess my ultimate point to close this post off is, don't do something you don't love if you can avoid it. If it makes you sick, try to find something else and if it's a desk job and you do love it make sure you get the right activity including setting up a standing computer work station, take your eyes of electronics periodically and try to have natural light where allowed. Currently I'll admit I'm looking for another job opportunity.

So that's my talk about that, for now. As I said I could expand on a great many things with this and I'm sure I will in the near future. Hope everyone has a good week! :)