Is Your Desk Job Killing You? This episode we are talking about being stationary and how that impacts your health with Bryan McWhorter of Safeopedia.
Podcast Transcript:
[00:08] All right. Again, welcome to Safety With Purpose. My name is Scott MacKenzie and of course you guys, everyone out there, your safety Sherpa’s, man. You’re caring at big old sack of safety knowledge climbing that mountain guiding us up to the mountain of success. How about that for a word? Picture #SafetySherpas. Okay. Our interview today is of course with Bryan McWhorter. We’re going to be talking a little bit at, is your desk job killing you? That’s ominous. How about that one? That’s ominous. We’re going to be talking about that. We’re going to be talking about a lot of others hangs on. Let’s get going because your time is precious. Helping us stay safe. Yeah, hope you guys are doing well out there.
[00:44] Stay cool. Of course, because it is summertime and it is hot as can be and we’ve been doing a lot on on he, but we’re going to be changing a little bit on that. So before we get going, once again, you know we’ve talked a little bit about t, uh, tailgate talks. So let’s get going. Tailgate talk number one. Okay. I go out to safeopedia. Once again, I go to the Q and A, I found a incredible topic called, uh, when should workers use polarized safety classes. Um, you know, I’ve been in work environments where you, you can’t wear, you know, the, the sunglasses, but I like to polarize element of it because, well that uh, really eliminates the glare. But in this particular case they talk specifically. This is uh, the, the uh, individual that provides insight. His name is uh, uh, Tim Wiener and uh, he’s got some mad skills of course, and he answers this particular question and I think that uh, it gets down to uh, individuals that work around water of course, right?
[01:39] A lot of glare there. Metal glass or large flat surfaces like automobile hoods and, and some examples of like construction workers. This is something that you might want to consider. Roofers, truck drivers, landscapers, all very important. I thought this was a very specific, now you know, we could do Q and A’s but they can get pretty lengthy. So this is a pretty straightforward one. The bottom line is that when you start using, looking at your heart hazard assessment, you go down that road, there’s an active link in this particular location. Is there a, is it subject to a lot of glare? And if there’s glare you can’t see. So if there can’t see, you got to safety related issue. So that is sort of the summary of when should I wear a wear polarized safety glasses. Number two, I thought this was pretty cool too.
[02:29] So I go out to Safeopedia. I, I’m just fascinated by the fact that they’ve got so many uh, webinars that are being taught by you know, leaders and of course in line with what we’re talking about. Is your desk job killing you. This was an interesting webinar and it’s on demand, our workplace hazards coming home with you. Wow. So it’s all about, and I’m going to just sort of read it. A workers can unknowingly unload, easily bring home hazardous substance on their clothes, shoes, skin tools and so on. Vehicles Interior all around. And I, I’m telling you right now, it is. I, I’ve been in trucks, I’ve been in offices, I’ve been in locations where it’s, it’s just dusty, it’s just a part of the business. And here is a, here’s a gentleman by the name of Damien Hammond and he’s a certified industrial hygienist and uh, he hits the nail on the head that is an on demand.
[03:23] That is a Webinar that is specific to that. And I’m, I’m just telling you, Eh, be, be very mindful of that because I’ve worked in environment, I brought it home and I, I guarantee you I had stuff on me that I shouldn’t have brought into the house, but I did nonetheless. And uh, so go out there on demand. Okay. We’re going to be talking about is your desk job killing you? This is Bryan McWhorter. And I, I’ve, you know, because I’m sitting in a studio all the time now and I’ve, I’ve always been in the office for some time now. I’m not doing line work like I used to where I would climb and be physical and I’m out. So doors and uh, on behind a desk. And it’s been that way for many years. And so I work out, but is it, is it killing you? So here’s Bryan McWhorter. He’s going to be talking a little bit about that and some of the things you can do to ensure that your desk jobs not killing you. So here’s Bryan McWhorter. All right, we’re talking with Bryan McWhorter and we’re talking today about is your desk job killing you? Bryan, am I sitting here and am I dying as I sit here talking to you over the mic?
[04:23] Well, good question Scott. It’s, yeah, it’s Kinda funny. You might be thinking that you’re nice and safe and sound tech in your office behind your, no, your computer and that everything’s Nice and Hunky Dory. But, uh, it turns out studies have revealed that the average office worker maybe at a higher risk of early mortality due to prolonged periods of sitting. Um, there have been some studies that show that, that it can be a, again, depending on the amount of time that you do spend just sitting in front of the computer, not moving around, that can be almost as bad as smoking. Listen to these health, a risk that can be associated, that sedentary lifestyle at work. Uh, one thing is the diminish effectiveness of your immune system. The immune system as mainly activated by movement, a increase in depression, anxiety, stress, exhaustion, increased in high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, cause of loss of flexibility, loss of muscle mass for us guys. Lower testosterone cause of weight gain, increased change that increases the chance of diabetes. So yeah, it might be safer from the standpoint of, you know, the risk of injury, but when it comes to her health, um, yeah, there’s a lot of negative stuff that can happen with it.
[05:39] As I, uh, listening to you, I, um, uh, of course we’re on a video but we’re not recording on a video, but I am standing up and, uh, try to do exactly what you have a recommended because okay.
[05:52] It’s, it is difficult. Uh, Bryan and it’s, and I know it’s difficult that individuals out there, they work hard, the behind a computer, they’re thinking they’re constantly, you know, working that technology, but they’re sitting down and they’re not doing what they need to do to stay flexible or whatever it might be. That’s serious stuff.
[06:13] Yeah, absolutely. I, like you said, you’re concentrating, you’re using your mind. So it’s kind of worrying you out. You’re not getting the invigoration of like physical exercise, say doing construction work. So your brain’s working, kind of pulling you down, but your body’s not doing anything to help you. So it’s a recipe for, for health.
[06:29] Okay. So we’ve established that sitting behind a desk and not moving is not a good recipe for good health. So what do you recommend? What do you recommend? Uh, okay. People begin to do, I know that there’s stuff out there. What do you recommend?
[06:43] Well, here’s the good news is our bodies respond really easily, uh, and quickly to even small amounts of exercise and movement. So the, the turnaround or the, the fixes for this are really quite simple. Uh, one thing you can do is micro breaks. It’s highly recommended that every 30 minutes you get up and move. Even if you just stand up and stretch for two minutes, you know, walk across the room. But, uh, just getting up, uh, really does a lot to again get your body, uh, activated again, get your immune system going. Um, stretching, know, getting up and stretching a little bit. Uh, getting those muscles moving, going into that power pose where you stretch your arms out, given that lowers a cortisol in your body and increases testosterone. So again, your body responds quickly to very little movement isometrics,
[07:34] right? Isometrics. Let me ask you this. What constitutes a micro break? I mean, how often do I need in and hour? What do I need to do? Do I wait two hours? What do I do?
[07:45] At least every 30 minutes is west recommended. Wow. Yeah. Even if it’s just standing up, I’d say if you stood up for a minute, yeah. And just stretch you, that’s enough to get your, your uh, again, your, your blood going and uh, really stop the negative effects of just sitting there. Not doing anything.
[08:05] Well, I, I would imagine that there is also a recommendation not to go to that buffet.
[08:10] Yeah. I said hello. We’ll touch on that. Well actually since you just mentioned Scott. Yeah. When, when you look at the, say a sedentary work environment and then you add to that, say large amounts of coffee and junk food, now you’ve got a real recipe for, you know, uh, poor health.
[08:26] It’s true and it, and it, it, it does, it’s, it’s compounding. I know. I’ve lived there, I’ve done it. I’ve sat there behind a computer and boy, when that candy bar comes across a table and because I need to support some sort of fundraising event on buying it and I’m eating it and I’m enjoying it and I’m computering
[08:43] alright, last. Exactly right. And yeah, we go by the path of least resistance, you know, our, our motivation is low. We want to just grab whatever’s convenient and easy and we go for it
[08:53] right here in Louisiana. We’ve got plenty of buffets too. And so it’s easy to just sort of roll out of your chair and your office and then roll into your truck and then rural on down to that buffet and have the best fried food, no demand.
[09:05] Yeah, we make a way too easy. It’s constant
[09:08] in fact have to because you deserve it. And those are the, this is a fascinating and and uh, a topic for me personally because I know that there’s a alright ergonomically designed furniture that’s out there that also helps support this effort to try to, hey, okay,
[09:27] you’re, you’re sitting behind the desk, you need to be able to sort of the consider doing some other stuff. And I, well a big, big fan of that stuff.
[09:35] Therefore for years, again, as a safety professional or you know, working in a corporate environment, if I knew I was going to be spending a lot of time at my desk, I had some of those perfect pushups and I would do pushups every 30 minutes, drop down and do 10 20 pushups and it would again get my heart rate gone. I found that invigorated me better than a cup of coffee.
[09:55] Let me ask you this, are there studies associated with productivity as associated with that too?
[10:00] Oh, great question. Uh, you got me. I would imagine so it’d be something to really look into. We might have to do that for a future podcast,
[10:08] no. To self productivity, thereby Bryan. Because I would imagine it does because I know that I’ll sit there and I’ll just sit there and, and start to slow down. My thought is just not as sharp as it might be that those signs.
[10:23] Yeah. And actually, yeah. Um, there have been some studies I’ve read, I just don’t remember exactly where I bought it, but yeah. Um, some show that actually it’s almost like getting a shot at Redland. There are two benefits that you get from exercise pretty much, uh, you get to a long term benefit from a, again, prolonged exercise. In other words, you would on a regular basis. But even if you’re a dropdown to do, say five pushups and never do anymore, there’s immediate benefit to those five. But what is oxygenating your blood? Getting your heart rate up and releasing dopamine. Yeah. Endorphins. So that’s one of those things where it’s a definite win win.
[10:59] Once again, it’s a no-brainer and you don’t have to, once again, we’re talking eating this, uh, uh, elephant one bite at a time or shooting at one duck at a time. Just start with something. Just, just,
[11:10] just, yeah, one half hour, just stand up,
[11:13] stretch a little bit, and then you sit back down. You don’t have to conquer the world right off the bat. Is that a no, that’s pretty good. Yeah.
[11:20] Oh yeah. Absolutely. And another great thing is if you’ve got coworkers round, if you can just walk over and say hi or hello,
[11:26] help a coworker get that shot of Oxytocin, serotonin. If you probably, you probably had this experience, have you ever been really tired to work? And then you talked, someone start laughing. All of a sudden you got tons of energy.
[11:38] Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. Don’t go to that. A friend who is trying to sell candy bars as a fundraiser, that’s there’s always one. Here’s all these water. Definitely Bryan, fantastic brand. Fantastic subject. Is your desk job killing you? Which is just a fascinating subject matter for me. Thank you very much as that’s Bryan McWhorter. I got it again, man. I’m nailing your name down like nobody’s business. Thank you very much for joining safety with purpose podcast. We’re going to be coming right back with some more safety gems, so stick to
[12:12] safety with purpose. As an industrial professional myself, I was always passionate about sales, marketing, branding, expanding the marketplace for my company. That’s what Ian Dust, real talk platform is all about. It’s about you, the industrial company, the industrial professional and your legacy, increasing sales, gaining greater exposure on what you do and how you and your company changes the world. Go out to industrialtalk.com that’s industrialtalk.com contact me. Let’s have a conversation to see how we can work with you on improving your bottom line and that you can be a part of an ever growing network of industrial companies focused on expanding and growing and leaving a legacy. I hope to hear from you soon and be safe out there.
[13:20] All right. Thank you again. Thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts. For joining safety with purpose. It’s all about knowledge. This platform is all about you, the safety Sherpas, uh, carrying the and creating that knowledge to keep us safe, bringing us home day in, day out. Thank you very much. That’s what this platform is all about. And thank you to Bryan McWhorter talking a little bit about his short desk job killing you. Thank you for that topic. Uh, know bottom line, we’ve just got to move more. Recognize that we’re behind the computer and then polarized glasses. Go out to save a pdf. Find that particular Q and a. Figure out whether polarized sunglasses are for you. And then finally, are you bringing home some hazardous materials on your clothes inadvertently into your house. So once again, if you have any interest in safety whatsoever, go to Safeopedia.com if you want a topic to talk about it, your office boom. Here you go. Out on the field, boom. Here you go. To safer beauty is the place for you. And if you want to expand your business, grow your market. And from an industrial point of view, not everything you know is this is industrial specific and that is industrialtalk.com there’s a program for you. Once again, thank you very much. Thank you for being a part of safety with purpose. Thank you for the purpose that you serve and keeping people safe. Have a great day. Stay safe as always, and we will talk again later.
Supporting Documentation:
Originally published by Safeopedia.com:
https://www.safeopedia.com/2/3995/health-and-safety-programs/is-your-desk-job-killing-you