How to Build Workplaces That Protect Employee Health

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

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4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Macomber, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and a veteran of the real estate industry, was studying ways to make workplaces safer for employees long before the Covid-19 crisis hit. Now that issues like air and water quality are top of mind, he is encouraging organizations to think more holistically about the buildings in which they operate, balancing cost efficiency and even eco-friendliness with investments in improvements that boost health. Studies show this will not only stop workers from getting sick; it will also enhance productivity, which ultimately helps the bottom line. Macomber is the author of the book “Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity”.

Transcript

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0:00.0	How do you navigate gender in your workplace?
0:04.0	HBR's fan favorite podcast Women at Work is back with personal stories, the newest research,
0:09.6	and practical advice on navigating divorce, disability, and career failures.
0:14.0	Listen for free to H.B.
0:16.0	Women at Work wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the H- Ideacast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard.
0:37.0	When you become much more aware of the places you go and the people you see
0:50.0	because COVID-19 spreads through the aerosols and droplets that come out of the mouths and
0:54.9	noses of those who are affected, we're told to wear masks, stay outside, and avoid crowds.
1:00.4	Some of us have been lucky enough to work from home since the outbreak began wherever we live
1:04.6	But many others doctors and nurses grocery store clerks mailmen
1:09.3	Continued to go into work physically every day.
1:13.0	As lockdown's loosened, we saw employees in the manufacturing, retail,
1:16.0	and hospitality sectors start doing the same,
1:18.6	and now in many places even knowledge workers
1:20.8	are heading back into the office. But how do we make sure these workplaces are safe? knowledge workers'
1:25.0	going forward.
1:26.0	What changes can we make to better protect workers' health
1:28.6	and the broader environment?
1:30.3	John Mac Homer is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and veteran of the real estate and construction industries and he's been thinking about these issues for a long time
1:38.3	well before this year's pandemic. He's the co-author of the book Healthy Buildings,
1:43.0	How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity.
1:46.0	John, welcome to the show.
	...

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