Working in the sun can be enjoyable and do wonders for our mood; however, too much sun can be harmful to health in the short term and long term. A suntan may give us a ‘healthy glow’ but it is actually a sign of damaged skin, caused by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. If you or your employees earn a living...
Everyone will go through periods of good and poor mental health, the same as we do physical health. With 1 in 5 employees currently experiencing mental health problems, it should be an essential business concern for all organisations. Supporting mental health in the workplace is vital as staff who have positive mental health are more productive and businesses who promote...
There are two types of conditions commonly associated with vibration exposure. Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) This is the medical term for symptoms caused by vibration damage that can occur in the fingers, hands and arms when working with vibrating tools or machinery. HAVS is divided into three subgroups: neurological disorders, vascular and musculoskeletal. 1. Neurological injuries Early symptoms are usually tingling and/or numbness in...
COPD is an umbrella term for a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties. This is due to the narrowing of airways making it difficult to empty air out of the lungs. Shortness of breath, cough and the production of small amounts of phlegm every day are the most common symptoms. What causes COPD? COPD usually develops because of long-term damage...
Mental Health and the Workplace Mental ill health affects 1 in 4 people in Northern Ireland and can present itself in many forms, from stress and anxiety to depression and bipolar disorder. Poor mental health is one of the biggest issues in the workplace today where between 10% and 25% of fulltime employees may be experiencing mental ill health. Workplace factors such as...
Greater Newry Business Awards 2017 On Thursday 28th September, the Health Matters team attended the Greater Newry Business Awards 2017. The event was held at the Canal Court Hotel, Newry and was attended by over 500 guests from a large number of businesses in the Newry area. Mark Simpson from the BBC was our host for the evening where awards were...
We are delighted that Health Matters’ brand new premises in Belfast city centre officially opened for business last week. Over the course of our opening week we carried out almost 30 occupational health clinic appointments as well as 9 Health and Safety training courses! Our building is 3000 sq. ft. based in the centre of Belfast and consists of occupational health clinics...
Federation of Occupational Health Nurses of the European Union - FOHNEU Health Matters’ Managing Director Mary Doran recently attended the 45th board meeting of the Federation of Occupational Health Nurses of the European Union (FOHNEU) in Stockholm, Sweden last week. Mary is the representative for Ireland within this organisation. Current President of the FOHNEU Dr. Henriett HIRDI (Hungary) chaired this event. Attendees were from...
Occupational health is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the relationship and interaction between health and work; namely how an individual’s health affects their ability to work and how the work affects their health. Effects of health on work Fitness for Task: assessing an individual’s fitness for the role they will be performing. This may be to standards that...
In any organisation stress and musculoskeletal issues are the common causes of absence and offices are no different. Often office work can cause stress that may not be as easy to see as in other environments. In the target driven organisations of today offices, staff have just as much pressure on their performance as those in more traditionally target driven...