Smoking and dental health

When a person smokes, they will increase their risk of developing oral cancer. Throat and lung cancer are also likely problems they can expect if they smoke. People that are addicted to tobacco often turn to chewing tobacco as a replacement for smoking. Chewing tobacco is just as bad, if not worse for your dental health. People that smoke or use chewing tobacco are 4 times as likely to develop oral cancer. Smoking causes a lot of problems for your oral health including the following:

Smokers and employer health insurance costs

The consequences for lighting up a cigarette far outreach just the physical outcomes. In the business world smoking is becoming a focal point when it comes to the finances of the company too. In short, smokers pay more for health insurance and by some accounts, cost the economy over $97 billion a year in lost productivity.

Setting rules about smoking

When it comes to smoking, employers need to be aggressive to get their employees to quit smoking. Smoking causes problems for practically everyone, especially people that are exposed to second-hand smoke. Normally people that smoke are likely to die prematurely because smoking leads to heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and several other medical problems. In the United States, almost every state has rules and regulations on smoking. Most states do not allow smoking in public buildings and people must be at least 20 feet away from a building if they are going to smoke.

Reducing workplace illnesses

Once the flu or a common cold hits the office, it is only a matter of time before you lose half of your staff for several weeks or days. Employers are always trying to reduce workplace illness to keep their employees healthy and at work. When an employee uses their sick leave, employers are automatically going to lose money because they need to pay them for their sick leave benefit and they also need to pay for the lost production costs. So what can you do to reduce the spread of workplace illness? Here are some tips that may help:

Reducing the total wellness costs at your office

Since the late 1980's studies have been done to show the costs that overweight employees cost their employers. The results of these studies have been overwhelming, putting overweight employees in the same category as smokers and other high-risk employees. The reason for this is because obesity is causing several health complications like high blood pressure, heart disease, heart failure, cancer, strokes, and several other problems. Overweight employees are more likely to take more time off work and they are less-productive at the office.

To combat obesity, companies have turned to wellness programs. For every $1 invested in a wellness program, employers have seen a $24 return. With such impressive results, it makes sense why several companies have turned to wellness programs to help their employees get healthy. Once you have an established wellness program at your firm, it is up to you to keep it going. If you don't constantly monitor it and motivate your employees, you will be throwing away money.

Reducing obesity in the office

Obese employees are costing their employers millions of dollars a year. This excess amount in medical costs, lost production expenses, and sick leave are forcing many employers to take action against obesity. Some employers have started charging their employees money for being overweight because they are causing the healthcare costs to rise. Other employers are using incentives to encourage their employees to lose weight. There are several different programs out there you can try, but in the end you need to do something about the obesity problem in your office. Wellness programs are the perfect way to help reduce obesity in the office. Wellness programs do more than just encourage employees to lose weight; they also help people strengthen their physical and mental health.

If you aren't sure which employees are causing your health care costs to spike, here is a quick guide:

Reducing employee absenteeism

Sick leave doesn't cost an employer a lot of money when you look at how much money you could lose if one sick employee came into work and infected 10 other employees. Staff absence directly related to sickness does provide a problem for employers, especially if you are being forced to cover for this person when they are out of the office. Another bad aspect of employee absenteeism is that a lot of people take advantage of it and don't use it for its intended purpose.

Positive ways to get your employees to quit smoking

Companies like Sysco, Inc., have found a positive way to get their employees to quit smoking. Since 2006, they have started offering their employees an extra $25 a year if they remain smoke-free and remain this way for at least 6 months. To encourage this new non-smoking environment, the company gave their employees 1 year to sign-up for the program and start making steps toward living a smoke-free lifestyle. There is also an additional bonus if the employees remain smoke-free for a year or longer.

Paying for unhealthy employees

Obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, and other lifestyle choices are costing employers billions of dollars in medical expenses. Obesity may be a daily struggle for some people, but there is no excuse when it comes to the additional costs they are forcing their employer to absorb. When it comes to medical costs, there is about $2.30 lost on productivity for every dollar spent on employee medical costs. Mental illness problems cost their employer even more money, about $20 in lost productivity for every dollar spent on medical care.

Some of the common medical conditions that are causing health care costs to spike include the following:

Office back pain and how it impacts your company

Eighty percent of Americans experience low back pain at least once in their life, and the majorities resolve this pain in less than two months. Chronic back pain is defined as pain that persists for more than six months and results in the need for long-term treatment. A total of 1% to 2% of low back pain is caused by disc herniation. Postural and muscular low back pain accounts for 80% to 90% of all complaints. Chronic low back pain imposes not only the physical impact of the pain but also the emotional and occupational effects as well. With numbers like this, it is not hard to see that low back pain will impact a work environment in one way or another, thus it is important for employers' to understand the impact that low back pain can have on one's workplace.

Office Anxiety

Many employers are now recognizing that mental health illnesses are just as devastating to the workplace as those of physical illnesses. Mental health illnesses lead to decreased work productivity, which in turn raises costs for employers. By acknowledging mental health illnesses and offering employees help with mental health illnesses, employers are in turn helping increasing the productivity within their workplaces.

Obesity in the office

Companies looking to cut back on excess spending have probably noticed that their healthcare costs are one of their largest expenses. If you are looking to cut down the cost of healthcare, you need to take a look at your high-risk employees. Smokers are not the only reason why you may be paying higher health insurance premiums; you can also get nailed with higher premiums because of your overweight employees.

Long-term view of health care costs for employers

With nearly half of all companies showing that employee health care costs are reducing their overall profit, employers are beginning to do their homework when it comes to caring for their employees through health benefits.

Kicking the smoking habit

The truth about smoking is that it is dangerous for your health, your family member's health, and it is expensive. If you smoke one pack of cigarettes a day and it costs you about $3.50 a pack, you will spend $1,277.50 a year on cigarettes. This money should go toward other things like a vacation, or even as a small investment in your children's education. Almost every smoker knows the health consequences of smoking, but somehow they simply cannot seem to quit their smoking habit. Most people know that smoking is bad for their health, sets a poor example for their children, causes them to lose friends, and decreases the value of their assets. If you are tired of throwing away money and your health to the cancer stick, here are some tips to help you kick the smoking habit.

Inspiring employees to participate in wellness programs

Since smoking and obesity lead to higher health insurance costs for employers, some employers have started offering wellness programs. Wellness programs encourage employees to start living an active, healthier lifestyle and to give up their personal choices that are impacting the company. Employers lose about $13 billion dollars on employees that are overweight and cause the health insurance costs to rise along with the cost to pay for their time off and lost production costs. Smokers are no different from obese workers because they tend to take about 7 more sick days a year and have weakened immune systems due the carbon monoxide they breathe in. Some of the common health problems smokers and obese individuals face include the following: