Inside this issue...

-    It’s all about stopping the knock-on effect!

Dear Reader,

I came across an article I wrote awhile back for Safety Concepts, about using yoga to make your workplace safer. You scoff? I know... the best ways to make your business safer are implementing policies and carrying out risk assessments. But yoga can assist you in making your workplace that much safer...

It’s all about stopping the knock-on effect!

One of the things that lead to illness and incidents at work is stress. Stress hits you in two main ways:

1. You feel sick

Enough stress can go beyond being a mental bother. It can start to manifest itself in physical illnesses, starting with fatigue, and then progressing to headaches and similar symptoms. Those who suffer from too much stress can reach the point where they can’t go to work and have to stay home, which leaves your business understaffed.

2. Poor performance increases

Stress can cause employees to be so out of focus with their job that they make mistakes. Think about the last time you were suffering from stress. How well were you focusing on every aspect of your job? That lack of focus means mistakes which lead to injuries, or worse, death!
For these reasons, many companies are now considering alternative methods to help their staff reduce stress. One of the most popular options is to offer yoga lessons at work.

4 ways yoga makes for a healthy and safe workforce

Yoga will help your employees in four ways...

1. Reduces stress

By teaching people how to focus on their breathing, yoga can help them remove the anxiety and stress controlling their mood and behaviour.

2. Increases flexibility

Those who practice yoga learn to stretch properly, and effectively use their muscles and tendons. This creates an awareness of strain in different parts of the body and will hopefully of any repetitive stress which may lead to injury.

3. Stimulates through exercise

Yoga helps people get in shape. As exercise releases endorphins into the system leading to a sense of well-being, it can create a better feeling and attitude towards the work environment.

4. Boosts morale

Believe it or not, one way to increase safety in the workplace is to boost your employees’ morale. Higher morale means more employees are happy with their jobs, which means they’re more committed to doing their part to keep things running smoothly.

Give it a try, it couldn’t hurt!

In the name of safety,

Christel Fouché