If you’ve ever experienced a migraine, you know they hinder every aspect of your daily life. There are various triggers that can cause migraines, most of which exist in the workplace. If you want your employees to perform at their full capacity, then removing these triggers is vital to workplace productivity. Here are ten ways to accommodate your employees with migraines.
1. Removing Light Triggers
Photophobia is the most common symptom of a migraine. Bright lights create a stronger pain, which makes removing these light triggers an essential accommodation. You can replace fluorescent bulbs or diffuse their rays with tube sleeves, relocate an employee’s workspace to an area with more natural lighting, and purchase anti-glare covers for their monitor.
2. Create a Dark Room
In some cases, simply removing light triggers isn’t enough. A disability attorney in the Bay Area recommends creating a “darkroom” with low lighting. This room should contain all the necessary items an employee needs to perform their job without any triggers in sight.
3. The Hat Trick
Most workspaces do not include a hat as part of work-appropriate attire. However, the rim on a hat provides an excellent way to block out light triggers. Consider letting your employees wear a ball cap or similarly brimmed hat during the workday.
4. Removing Scent Triggers
For many individuals, a specific scent can trigger an intense migraine. Anything with “fragrance” listed as an ingredient is usually the culprit. Removing these is only half the battle, though. With so many scents that can trigger a migraine, adding an air purifier to an employee’s work environment is highly recommended.
5. Get Rid of the Chemicals
Another top scent trigger is the chemicals found in common cleaners. Cleaning companies often use chemical-heavy solutions when cleaning a business. So, ask them to use natural cleaners instead. Believe it or not, vinegar works just as well if not better than commercial brands.
6. Give Them a Break
In some cases, triggers are simply unavoidable. Scents, for instance, might come on strong at first but dissipate over time. Allowing your employees to take a short break when a migraine comes on is one of the best things you can do to alleviate their pain and keep them productive. Any pregnancy discrimination attorney will tell you the same about their field of work.
7. Remove Sound Triggers
Some work environments are noisier than others, leaving room for migraines triggered by sound. Stress caused by noise is something that affects all of your employees, making this step a highly beneficial one. Allow your employees to use noise-canceling headphones, then let employees migraines work in an area that reduces incoming noise levels.
8. The White Noise Machine
If you can, consider purchasing a white noise machine. This nifty device helps reduce triggers, wherever they exist, while creating a calm environment for all of your employees. You might consider placing one in a room designated for your employees with migraines.
9. The Work from Home Solution
Employees that suffer from migraines are more likely to call off than others. Some days, they know that their migraines will leave them unproductive and ultimately useless at work with the various triggers in their environment. So, give them the option to work from home and use remote employee tracking software.
10. Flexible Hours
If you’re not keen on the work from home scene, the alternative is creating flexible hours. If an employee has to miss work because of a migraine, could they come in at another time to make up the work they have missed?
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