Safety In The Workplace: Prevent Fatigue-Related Injuries

9 February 2015
 Categories: Law, Blog

Share

Your safety at work is reduced when you feel tired. Fatigue can affect your ability to focus on tasks and may also diminish some cognitive functions, like your reflexes. The following guide will help keep you alert and safe to prevent fatigue-related injuries at work. 

A Few Tips To Help You Rest

The following are a few tips that will help you get proper rest before going to work:

  • Keep your bedroom temperature at around 60 to 67. Research has found that these temperatures can trigger your body to produce melatonin. Melatonin is your sleep hormone that helps you get sleepy and helps you sleep throughout the night. 
  • Take a warm shower before you go to sleep. This helps for the same reason mentioned above. Warming up your body raises your body temperature, but your body temperature will drop as soon as you get out of the shower. This will effectively lower your body temperature and help your body produce melatonin. 
  • Use light correctly to ensure a good night's sleep. Light or sunlight decreases the production of melatonin because your skin cells are telling your brain that it is morning. Darkness, on the other hand, increases your melatonin production. 

The aforementioned should help you rest before heading to work and keep you from having a fatigue-related accident at work. 

Natural Ways To Keep You Alert 

The following are a few tips that can help keep your energy levels up during work time:

  1. You want to make sure you eat enough manganese. Manganese is a mineral that helps your body produce energy from the proteins and carbohydrates you consume. You can get manganese from foods like brown rice, leafy greens, whole grains and nuts. 
  2. Fruits have natural glucose that should give you a burst of energy within 30 minutes; that is how long your body usually takes to metabolize glucose. Glucose speeds up the blood circulation, which is what gives you an energy boost.  
  3. Make sure you eat enough proteins for your body. One of the best protein sources are eggs. You can also eat beans, seeds, yogurt and meat.
  4. Your body also needs vitamin B6, niacin and riboflavin to help manganese produce all the energy your body needs. You can get all of these ingredients from foods like salmon, squid, mushroom and lamb. 
  5. Honey contains glucose and carbohydrates. As mentioned earlier, your body needs proteins and carbohydrates to product energy. All you have to do is eat some raw honey at work. Or mix a few teaspoons of honey (depending how sweet you want this water) and a bottle full of fresh water. Drink this mixture throughout your workday. 

The aforementioned tips should keep you alert and focused enough to observe all of your company's safety measures. If you are injured in the workplace, try this.