1. Many dentists don't see the risks in using silver / mercury amalgam and continue to use it.
2. Dental plans don't pay for anything other than silver / mercury amalgam fillings - are they really trying to keep us healthy?
3. Working in seemingly benign environments can still lead to toxic exposures.
4. The health care system doesn't take care of health - it only helps if you are already sick. I had to pay for all of the treatment myself (and it wasn't cheap).
5. The health care system is really a "sick care" system. It's entirely reactive.
6. Most of the medical profession, as well meaning as it is, is also entirely reactive.
7. We are generally not educated in ways to take care of ourselves - so we get unhealthy and sick.

So why tell you this? When I found out that I had a condition that would lead to a debilitating condition in my senior years I did something about it - no expenses spared. I was being proactive - just what I suggest to my industrial clients. Take care of the health of your equipment and it will serve you well. Don't abuse it, don't overwork it, watch for early signs of trouble and deal with them before you have a big problem on your hand.

The health care system, like many companies, takes care of things after the fact - there's already a problem to deal with and until then we'll take our chances. No wonder I have a hard time convincing companies to become more proactive - it's engrained in our thinking and enshrined in one of the most important public institutions we have - health care!

But it doesn't need to be that way. Once we know we have a problem we have a motivation to change and we often do. All is not lost. Survival instincts kick in. The big problem that remains however is that most of us have no idea how healthy we are. In industry it's similar - they have no idea what the state of health of their equipment is.

I had a really interesting meeting yesterday with a lady who offers a health assessment service. It's like the assessment services we offer to clients about the health of their physical assets and their management of them. If you got a report (like the ones your doctor has) that told you about your health and the various risk factors you personally are living with, then your survival instincts would have some motivation to drive you to act on those risk factors.

Imagine being told that your cholesterol levels were elevated, your blood pressure was high, your stress levels were high, etc. Then you learn that you are within a few years of becoming a diabetic and your risk of heart attack puts you in the top 5% of those at risk. You'd probably do something about it. This service provides that sort of information. Wow - I'm signing up.

Now if your company really (and I mean truly) cared about you and didn't just say "our people are our most important asset" they might want to help you too. I've heard those words many times and then seen those same people who say that lay off their most senior workers and "cut costs" as if people are just a cost. Just a bit of hypocracy there. Anyway, if there was really something in it ($) for your company to help you be healthy they might help you.

Now imagine that the company gets a report on the aggregate state of its workforce health. They find that 30% of their workers over age 45 are at high risk of heart attack because of obesity and other life style factors and that 55% of their workforce has lower back pain and neck problems. Those are all health (sick) care claims waiting to happen. So - get rid of the sickies? Not a chance - for starters they don't know just who is at risk, they only know general trends. Also, they can't replace them. These are their oldest and most skilled workers. The younger people they can hire have different skill sets and there simply aren't enough of them. What do they do? The best option is to help the workforce get healthy.

Bring a chiropractor on site once a week to help with the back and neck problems. Institute an education program about diet and exercise. Put a gym in and staff it with trainers who can help develop specific exercise programs. And more...

The costs - lower than living with the health care claims, the increased insurance premiums, the absenteeism, the reactive approach to dealing with attrition as unhealthy workers get sick and leave the workforce for good.

The benefits - in addition to reversing the above, healthier workers last longer. We know that older workers are working longer than they used to. Many do it by choice - they want the additional income. Keeping them healthy helps them do that and it forestalls the attrition problems. Eventually they need to be replaced but the rate of attrition falls so recruiting costs go down along with training costs associated with the new workers coming in. The company is also going to be seen as an employer that really cares making it easier to attract that young talent.

This is win-win for everyone. Become more aware of your health and you can benefit. Do the same with your plant, fleet or other equipment - become aware of its health, manage it proactively, not reactively and benefit.