Call center health issues

Although working in a call center is a blessing to some, it is a curse for many. I remember I covered in this column why many do not last in call centers one of which is the “unpredictable” nature of the job. A worker has to face the fact that he doesn’t “own” his time while employed in a call center. His company determines for him the time in which he should report, his rest days and the holidays that he has to forgo. And because call centers are serving customers in western timezones, they are active during the night to take or make calls to or from customers in their business hours.   

The periodic changes in work schedules do not only mean the seeming lack of control over a worker’s time, it is also a health risk at the same time. Just very recently, reports came out that women are likely to develop breast cancer due to nighttime sleep deprivation.

"Nighttime sleep deprivation or exposure to light at night somehow interrupts melatonin production, which in turn stimulates the ovaries to kick out extra estrogen, a known hormonal promoter of breast cancer.” According to Noel Colina, executive director at the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development. Citing a study by US-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Colina said that a number of women were taking up work in the graveyard shift - usually from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The study also showed that the risk of developing the cancer increased by as much as 60 percent.

Furthermore, if two-thirds of UK call centers fail to protect their workers against hearing damage or “acoustic shock”, my hunch is that the stats here may be higher in light of our inferior health standards. BBC reports that a health conference was purposely held sometime three years ago in Glasgow to address the increasing number of acoustic shock and noise-related hazards in call centers. Chris Atwell, operations director for the Acoustic Safety Programme (ASP) in the UK, said: "It can be a debilitating occurrence for a call center worker and can develop permanent damage to their hearing."

Acoustic shocks are defined as "any temporary or permanent disturbance of the functioning of the ear, or of the nervous system, which may be caused to the user of a telephone earphone by a sudden sharp rise in the acoustic pressure produced by it". What’s disturbing is that, there are many people who suffer from it but do not realize it. ASP warns that “some organizations are acting to safeguard the hearing of their staff, the vast majority are not.”

Last year, the Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) study reveals that call centers have an attrition rate of 19 percent, with an employee acceptance rate of just 5 percent. Although the study does not say what really caused this abnormally high attrition but my best guess again is the stress and strain that come with the job that contribute largely to these numbers.

Dr. Rico Sebastian, an expert in occupational health and safety advocates the need for a health care organization to address the risks involved working in a call center. In his more than ten years with the BPO sector, “I have come to understand the special needs of the industry. The medical profession, the call center companies, human resource organizations and the Department of Labor must come together to understand and design a comprehensive health care program that is attuned to the nature and lifestyle of call center agents.”  

In other words, the health needs of the BPO industry are quite unique and must be seen and addressed down to its core. Dr. Sebastian explains that if a call center suffers from migraine, a pain relief prescription will never solve the problem in the long term. We need to understand why migraine is prevalent in call centers. “The problem could be more than just lack of sleep. I’ve seen other issues that cause them.”

One of his suggestions is to encourage the specialization of BPO Medicine. “There are not enough doctors who are familiar with the hazards that call center agents are exposed to everyday." The disease that a call center agent suffers is often cumulative and sometimes unnoticed. It is often psycho-emotional and physical. Over time, he or she develops a disease "which could have been prevented and handled by a more competent professional in this field.” Sebastian adds.

Now that we have overtaken India as a BPO destination, it's about time that we further reinforce our competitive edge by strengthening the health and wellness side of our human capital.

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