Health and Safety in Remote and Travel-Intensive Jobs: Physically Safe, Well, and on the Move.

 

Introduction

With growing numbers of employees working remotely and traveling at an increasing rate on the job, health and safety have become top priorities. The usual Sri Lankan company workforce, including sales and marketing personnel, is on the road to serve clients, attend trade shows, and travel for business development purposes. However, physically staying safe and well while out on the road can be an overwhelming experience. This blog looks at some key things an organization could do to care for a traveling workforce and ensure their health and safety when working in all sorts of different environments.

Understanding the Risks

 

Jobs requiring much travel can present a whole host of risks to health and safety, ranging from physical injuries while traveling to stress-related illnesses related to erratic schedules. The Health Belief Model is useful in explaining just how employees perceive these risks and choose to engage or not engage in various health behaviors. According to the HBM, people will behave healthily when they feel highly susceptible to health threats but also highly believe in the benefits of the actions taken to prevent health threats (M.Rosenstock, 1974). Therefore, it should be the role of the organization to raise employee awareness of risk and the need to practice safety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBP3w_Am4S0

 

Examples and Strategies

 

Organizations such as Salesforce and IBM have taken an inclusive approach in ensuring that employees' travels are safe. Salesforce provides its employees with resources to help them understand safety while traveling and wellness concerns. While on business travel, employees can reach out for professional health support and resources for mental well-being (Salesforce, 2021). Sri Lankan Companies can also create policies and procedures to ensure time off, provide ergonomic assessments for virtual workspaces, and allow mental health days to reduce stress and fatigue.

Technology also can do a better role in safety. Providing accurate and timely information about the health risks at the destinations of travel, contacts for emergency purposes, and telehealth services through mobile applications can empower employees by making proper decisions (A.Bendau et al., 2021).

 

Now, reflect on your experiences with travel-intensive jobs. What methods have you found successful to manage your health and safety on the move? What organizational support or policy changes would better enable organizations to protect their traveling employees in Sri Lanka? The reflection of these two questions may lead to some useful discussion ideas for remote work health and safety practice improvement.

 

Conclusion

Putting health and safety first in remote and travel-intensive roles goes hand-in-hand with having a healthy, productive workforce. Based on the Health Belief Model, there are a number of proactive strategies that can be applied in ensuring that the safety and well-being of the traveling employees are guaranteed. Please feel free to comment and share experiences-what does your organization do to support staff working either remotely or in travel-intensive roles in Sri Lanka?

 

References

A.Bendau, J.Plag, & F.Wenzel. (2021). The impact of workplace health promotion on employee engagement: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12239. https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12239

 

M.Rosenstock, I. (1974). Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 2(4), 328-335. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817400200403

 

Salesforce. (2021). The Ultimate Guide to Employee Wellness: Building a Healthy Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/blogs/2021/02/ultimate-guide-to-employee-wellness.html