Blood pressure is something that we all need to monitor during our lives, and some more than others due to medical conditions and medications.
It’s incredibly important that we ‘know our numbers’ and in the workplace, monitoring blood pressure of employees and supporting those struggling with higher blood pressure is vital for safe and healthy businesses.
How can UKIM Occupational Health & Wellbeing help?
There are various ways in which we can help you in reducing absenteeism and supporting employees with their blood pressure. With our services like health surveillance and pre-placement assessments, they help as safety measures and ensure that employees can carry out their jobs safely without posing a risk to others, as well as making sure their tasks don’t exacerbate their blood pressure conditions.
General health promotion, healthy living strategies and workshops are available to support those experiencing high blood pressure or those who have to try and keep it down to healthy levels. They’re also useful in helping employees prevent high blood pressure. For instance, employees can learn how to better stress levels and improve diets to reduce risk of high blood pressure.
Why do employers and workplaces need to support employee’s blood pressure and health?
Monitoring blood pressure is incredibly important and blood pressure, through stress, diets, or medical conditions, can cause high levels of absenteeism. As employers, you can reduce the costly absences impacting your business by investing in occupational health support. Furthermore, supporting employee’s health and wellbeing means:
- Improved productivity
- Reduced presenteeism
- Better health and safety
- More returns-to-work
- Greater returns on investment
A healthy workforce means a healthy business.
Know your numbers- what you need to know about blood pressure:
After blood pressure readings, there’ll be 2 numbers, where the first number is higher than the second. The first number is known as systolic and the second is diastolic. Normal readings are less than 120 mm Hg (systolic) and less than 80 mm Hg (diastolic); whereas high blood pressure is 130 mm Hg/ 80 mm Hg. Anything higher than those readings means that a doctor must be contacted immediately.
UKIM Occupational Health Lead Advisor, Chris, shares why blood pressure is important and how occupational health helps...
"Small checks can make a big difference—especially when it comes to blood pressure. In Occupational Health, we use blood pressure monitoring across a range of assessments, from health surveillance to fitness-for-work assessments.
“It’s a simple but powerful tool. Regular checks help us spot potential issues early, guide people toward healthier lifestyle choices, and signpost to further support when needed. It’s also a great way to start conversations about heart health and overall wellbeing.
“High blood pressure often goes unnoticed but catching it early can reduce the risk of serious complications like heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems. That’s why we’ve built it into our routine assessments and is used as a key focus in health campaigns.”
