Workplace safety is a crucial part of personal wellness in general and corporate wellness in particular. The way someone manages a building has a direct effect on the health of hundreds or thousands of employees, because protecting these individuals from contaminated water and filthy air, in addition to compromised means of evacuation (in the event of a fire, for example) and routine inspection drills -- all of these things can make an office a model of proper maintenance or a warning of what not to do, and where not to work, because of a property manager's ability to handle these issues with speed and reliability.
The physical wellness of a building is, therefore, a priority for a healthy and productive workforce. By treating a building like a living organism, by treating it like an exclusive entity unto itself, by ensuring the ventilation system circulates air that is fit to breathe and the pipes provide water that is suitable to drink, by enabling tenants and managers to communicate freely - with real-time alerts and notifications - we can broaden the conversation about what constitutes corporate wellness.
For that conversation is both necessary and just, because no worker should have to do his job in an environment that is toxic, chemically, and too treacherous, period. The good news is that technology makes superior safety possible, thanks to mobilization, automation, and communication. I refer, specifically, to a solution like GreenApps.com, which allows owners and managers to customize applications for the properties they operate or oversee.
In this way, relaying information about a building - that there is a mold outbreak on a certain floor, to cite one of several possibilities - involves nothing more than a tap or touch on a mobile device, or any device for that matter; that automation eliminates the use and submission of paper forms; that communication is interactive and immediate, thereby giving workers the peace of mind they deserve and managers the material they need to help everyone.
The sooner we have this discussion the sooner we can enhance safety nationwide. We must think of buildings in more than a utilitarian manner as if they have one (and only one) use, independent of the larger concern of safety. That technology affords us the chance to have this discussion - to literally tap, type or talk through matters both major and minor - is something we should seize.
We would be remiss, perhaps morally negligent, to do otherwise; because workers have a right to know the buildings they enter have managers who can assure us that there is no reason not to enter such places. This standard makes wellness more inclusive -- and more important to millions of men and women throughout the United States.
This definition of wellness is one we should embrace since it furthers a series of goals that benefit everyone and safeguards what is of the highest importance.Let us elevate property management to a topic of conversation, which is too significant to dismiss and too valuable to deny.
About the Author
Lewis Fein writes about a variety of health and wellness issues, in addition to pieces about technology, business, and management. Based in Southern California, you may email him at feinlewis@gmail.com
