CALL CENTER = CANCER : does the BPO company care?

[b|tcH_g0dd3sS]

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^it may very well be that, granting that they already knew about this study in the first place. but how about those who have never stumbled upon this news? knowing about it but doing nothing AND completely not knowing about the study are two different cats.

A well-rounded person must try to learn a little bit (or more) about the things concerning him/her. At this point, I want to say, it is the responsibility of the call center employee to know the health hazards of working in this industry. Even if they didn't completely know about the study, soon they will 'experience' the difficulties working in this industry and I believe they will, by then, know what to do with their lives.


yes, there are a lot of companies who have 24/7 / 3 shifts per day schedules ie SMB, Coca Cola, Pepsi and most companies over at MEPZ. but that is beside the point, which is, has the BPOs started the awareness campaign for it's employees to let them know about the study and thereby letting them decide on what to do with their careers? that's the main point of reference of this topic.

It could also be that the BPO company doesn't know or haven't heard of this study. I'll try to ask my CEO.

[yokam]

Title: CALL CENTER Health Hazards: does the BPO company really care?

A lot are saying that BPO companies do, but for CC agents, the question is, do you really care about your health? All the benefits of the company will be nothing if agents themselves are not taking good care of themselves. A lot of people these days doesn't really care that much about their health.

[chad_tukes]

bottom line is, there's not a whole lot of choice when it comes to that. a good majority of Filipinos are faced with this conclusion---do they have a choice? yes, we yank about thinking of the future rather than focusing on the present. PREVENTION is better than CURE as they say, but no matter how much CREDIBLE information is fed on CC's, chances are, they wouldn't give a rat's ass about it. why? again, they are presented with limited choice.

who wants to go hungry because he/she is thinking of the NOW? who wants to suffer working in a low-paying job because he/she has to sacrifice his/her call center job because there's a real threat---the oh so scary CANCER.

we shouldn't focus on just the CALL CENTER industry since there are numerous jobs out there that require workers to work graveyard shifts. i take credit on the amount of information presented since they are from RELIABLE SOURCES and it's hard to disprove something that has been proven.

IMO, it's not a matter of whether someone cares for their health or not. but then again, they're face with such limited choice. who wants to work in a call center anyway? i bet MAJORITY of Filipinos would rather work in a high paying job where they don't have to deal with ANGRY and ARROGANT customers.

[omad]

It's not only in Cebu or in the Philippines that people don't have a choice and are forced to do night shift jobs such as having to work in call centers. More than 20% of people in industrialized nations are also doing night shift jobs and also don't have any choice either as far as looking for jobs in different hours. They have to do night shift work for a whole lot of different reasons too.

Yeah, it's true that it's not only call center workers who are doing graveyard shifts in the Philippines and I already enumerated other types of jobs that do the same in my previous posts as well. The only reason why the title of this thread is such it's because I believe that call centers have the bulk of workers in our country doing graveyard shifts. But if we're talking about the bigger picture, night shift worker population in the Philippines is just a speck if we compare it to highly- industrialized countries in the world. But nonetheless those are still lives, Filipino lives we're talking about here. People with families and loved-ones. And they deserve all the information they can gather and that's what we're doing here. A campaign that their companies should have done as soon as these studies have been published. I can just imagine the lawsuits coming in when all hell breaks loose regarding this matter.

We're already past these reasons that "Filipinos don't have a choice", "there's no other better paying jobs than what a call center could offer" etc etc. We've already accepted that. Now it's time to research more on what steps should be taken by night shift workers to prevent them from acquiring cancer.

here's a video on some do's and don'ts:

Does Night Work Cause Cancer?

[omad]

some more info re health hazards for night shift workers... just some points to ponder if "the good pay" is well worth it in the long run.
[br]_________________________________________________
February 12, 2008
Research indicates night shift workers are at high risk for cancer and heart disease

(AHC Newsletters Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Research indicates night shift workers are at high risk for cancer and heart disease.

Many employees are chronically sleep-deprived.

If an employee complained about fatigue, insomnia, or difficulty concentrating, you would probably suspect their health problem was due to working the night shift. But what if that worker was diagnosed with cancer?

New evidence of increased cancer rates in night shift employees resulted in overnight shift work being added as a "probable carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer arm of the World Health Organization. According to 2001 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 15 million Americans work evening, night, rotating, or other irregular schedules.

"We know that there are very definite problems that have long been associated with shift work, including hypertension, obesity, and heart disease," says Michael Smolensky, PhD, professor of environmental physiology at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. "These types of complaints haven't usually been linked to night shift work, but this is coming to the attention of a lot of people right now."

Previous research found links between night shift work and breast and prostate cancer. Scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, disturbs the body's biological clock, and may result in lower melatonin levels, which can increase cancer risks, says Mark Rea, director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. "The employee's biological clock is being negatively affected," Rea says. "Each cell in the body has a time to perform a particular function, and if you upset that, it is not a healthy thing."

This research is the first strong evidence for a cancer risk for night shift workers, notes Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. "More research must be done to further specify the magnitude of that risk and what can be done to lower it," Stevens says.

Sleep deprivation could be a factor in increased cancer risk. If employees are not getting enough sleep, their immune system is vulnerable to attack, and they are less able to fight off potentially cancerous cells, says Rea. Many night shift workers only get four to five hours sleep a night, so they are chronically sleep-deprived, says Smolensky. "A lot of people who work the night shift eventually have problems sleeping. Often, they resort to using alcohol or over-the-counter medications, which causes more problems."

source

[jjhen]

hala..kuyawa gud ani?? bag-o ra ko na-night shift..i'm adjusting pretty well..bsan day off na nako d na sad ko katug ug normal hours..like 1 am la p jud ko g-duka..saonz...

we have anual general chekup sa office pro wla mn mi g inform about us being more prone to breast cancer..huhu...

[omad]

hala..kuyawa gud ani?? bag-o ra ko na-night shift..i'm adjusting pretty well..bsan day off na nako d na sad ko katug ug normal hours..like 1 am la p jud ko g-duka..saonz...

we have anual general chekup sa office pro wla mn mi g inform about us being more prone to breast cancer..huhu... [br]_________________________________________________

almost all call center companies are very consistent in giving HMO's, annual medical check-ups and other important health benefits to their workers. that's well and good but sharing this information to their workers would at least give those affected some other options. probably they'll wait until companies in first world countries would include "reducing cancer risk in graveyard shifts" in their seminars before they'll follow suit.

now that you've read about this, it's time for you to do some research on your own. don't wait for your company to initiate it, find ways and means to get yourself protected. like sleeping in a darkened room as what those professors in this study advised and taking melatonin supplements is a NO NO.

watch and find positive inputs in this video:

Does Night Work Cause Cancer?

if you come across some other techniques that reduce the risk of acquiring cancer, don't hesitate to post it here. thank you.

[josephdc]

Hmmm... I haven't read all the articles posted here about call-center workers at risk for developing cancer and heart disease. I've read about this some time ago... Kuyawa no...

I think BPO workers are also at risk for developing other illnesses. My gf works in one BPO company, and she's developed tonsilitis several times since she started work. Maybe it's because their work involes a lot of talking? Also, she's had UTI. Probably because they sit for long periods of time and bathroom breaks are limited? I'm also worried that she might develop hearing problems later on because they're constantly using headsets; she said that sometimes they crank up the volume of ther headsets because they sometimes have difficulty hearing the customer from the other end. There's also the risk of developing problems that result from poor body posture...

I don't know if BPO companies are already doing this, but it's just of paramount importance that they ensure safety in their workplace. They should do continuous research and address the actual and potential health problems of their workers.

[omad]

I don't know if BPO companies are already doing this, but it's just of paramount importance that they ensure safety in their workplace. They should do continuous research and address the actual and potential health problems of their workers. [br]_________________________________________________

I guess we'll have to wait and see what call center workers here would share regarding their company's HR policy regarding this matter. So far, all we hear are annual check-ups, health care benefits and other basic benefits that all workers are entitled to anyway and not only enjoyed by call center employees. what's needed is the BPO company policy with regards to this issue: "cancer prevention" because of the uniqueness of the situation in which call center employees are facing. this is the segment of the working populace that is greatly affected by this study and that's why the focus is on them.

bank workers, monthly wage laborers, factory workers and all other workers have health care and medical benefits as mandated by law. the reason why they are not affected by this study is because they work during business hours from 7am to 7pm. whereas, majority of call center employees work the graveyard shift: 7pm - 7am and that is the point of the study and the point of this topic.

[DEStRucto]

i work 4am-1pm tues - sat

and 11pm - 7am sunday shift (sat night)

3am - 11am mondays.

i hate this sked.