Remote Monitoring of a Work-From-Home Employee to Identify Stress: A Case Report

How do you assess the mental wellness of your work-from-home employees? This case study reports on how an occupational health nurse used work-from-home employee's own phone and Fitbit™ smartwatch to obtain heart rate data to screen for high periods of stress. Telemedicine and telemetry allowed the occupational health nurses to screen an employee when the nurse could not assess the employee face-to-face. When the occupational health nurses identified an at-risk employee, the occupational health nurses referred the employee to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for counseling. Leveraging heart rate data on a smartwatch is a free intervention that is scalable and has a demonstrated outcome measure with a positive return on investment.

Promoting Health and Safety for Traveling and Commuting Employees

In a society that relies on a growing market economy and free enterprise, Americans spend inordinate time commuting and traveling for work. Aircraft and private vehicles are the two primary modes of work-related travel, with each having its own inherit risks and hazards. Although much has been written about international travel health, little has been published about protecting the health and safety of workers during domestic business travel. The intent of this article is to highlight the statistics associated with domestic business travel and present sound rationale for an inclusive and comprehensive domestic travel health and safety program for employees.