Dehydration is more prevalent in the workplace than many of us like to believe. Between frequent meetings, chats with coworkers, and a continuously stacking mountain of work to complete, stopping to drink water is about the furthest thing from employee minds. Because of this, it’s not out of the ordinary to see workers losing focus throughout the day, developing headaches, and even needing to go home early. Though the condition itself may initially seem minor, dehydration is a serious physical ailment that can quickly become dangerous if not properly identified. So, as a business owner, it’s partially your responsibility to look after your workforce by knowing the signs and symptoms of dehydration in your employees.
The Importance of Raising Dehydration Awareness
As mentioned, dehydration is incredibly common, especially among those working full-time each day. In fact, it doesn’t even matter what type of work is being done. Whether your workers are constantly exposed to the elements or perform their duties indoors at a desk, no one is immune to developing this condition. Additionally, once a person becomes dehydrated, they’re no longer able to perform their job to the fullest. For these reasons, it’s important that employers take the initiative to educate their employees on the dangers of dehydration so that they can look out for their health. Healthier employees make for a more productive, happier workplace environment where everyone can thrive. Furthermore, taking this step to look out for your employees’ well-being is a wonderful way to show them that you care and wish to improve company culture. These are some of the signs and symptoms of dehydration in your employees so that you can take proper action.
Signs of Dehydration to Look Out For
When it comes to looking after the health of your employees, it’s vital that you are able to recognize signs that they are not be feeling well. In the fast-paced, hectic world we live in, it’s more common for workers to ignore their own ailments in order to get their work done. As an employer, encouraging them to take care of themselves first and foremost is key to not only keeping them healthy but to also promote employee productivity while on the clock. Therefore, be sure to ask if they’re alright should you notice any of these following signs.
Flushed Skin and Extreme Sweating
When our bodies have a lowered supply of water to cool us off, it’s incredibly easy for our core body temperatures to rise beyond our limits. This can cause the surface of a person’s skin to become red and can make them generally uncomfortable. In a desperate attempt to cool the person off, their body may also start to sweat excessively. Should these things happen, it’s obvious to the average onlooker that the person isn’t feeling well.
Irritability
Dehydration can also change a person’s temperament and make them more excitable or easier to agitate. While this isn’t as blatant of a sign as others, it’s still an important one to be aware of if the person in question is usually in a good mood. Significant behavior changes like these could mean anything from having a bad day to legitimately feeling unwell. So, asking them what’s wrong is a great way to foster communication and get to the root of the problem.
Confusion
If allowed to persist, dehydration can also cause workers to become increasingly confused the more they try to focus. Once-engaged employees may now seem a bit distant, withdrawn, and generally lost when it comes to doing their jobs. This is because the less water we have in our systems, the harder the rest of the body needs to work to perform basic functions. This can take its toll on the brain and leave a person struggling to focus and think clearly about specific things.
Sunken Eyes
Particularly severe dehydration can even begin affecting a person’s overall appearance. Specifically, sunken-looking eyes are a sign that there isn’t enough moisture in your system to help your skin bounce back from trauma. When eyes appear sunken, the skin around them is often a lot darker than the person’s normal complexion. They’ll also have bags under their eyes, some sagging of the eyelids, and even a few prevalent wrinkles to show that the skin has lost its elasticity.
Noteworthy Dehydration Symptoms
However, as much as you may want to eliminate dehydration in your workplace, it’s ultimately up to your employees to notice their condition and take action. The increasing commonality of workplace dehydration is mainly due to the lack of understanding around it. So, as an employer, you can take major strides in reducing the frequency of dehydration by simply educating your employees on what the condition is and how to know if they have it. These are a few of the key symptoms of dehydration to bring up during training.
Feeling Thirsty
Though many might dismiss this as an exaggeration, it’s true that by the time you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already mildly dehydrated. As such, ignoring this sensation on an account of being busy can only cause your condition to worsen. Because of this, you should be taking drink breaks frequently throughout the day—especially when you realize you’re thirsty.
Fatigue
To reiterate, dehydration prevents your blood from flowing as efficiently as needed throughout your body. This keeps much-need nutrients from reaching certain parts of your body and makes it difficult to perform basic bodily functions. Eventually, this can begin affecting your brain and making you feel fatigued and unfocused. When in this state, it’s increasingly difficult to look after your job responsibilities as you lack the energy and mental awareness to solve problems. This can also later evolve into dizziness if you’re still dehydrated.
Less-Frequent Urination
The urination process is what allows our bodies to flush unnecessary or toxic materials from our system, and water is the main component that assists in this process. Without water, there’s no means to remove these toxins, and naturally, you won’t need to go to the bathroom as much. This alone can eventually cause you to feel unwell, as urinating less-often allows the harmful materials to build up in your system.
Maintaining employee health while on the job is important to us at Drink Meta. We understand that no matter the industry you make your living in or the type of work that you do, dehydration is a very real possibility. Because of this, we seek to supply as many work environments as possible with access to quality water, keeping all employees hydrated. Our water cooler rentals in New York City contain the latest water filtration technology to ensure that each drop of water is thoroughly cleaned. But this isn’t all—our additional water optimization methods also infuse your drinking water with nutrients so that you’re also staying healthy while you’re keeping yourself hydrated.
