Lifestyle

Six Ways Construction Workers Can Stay Healthy

Published

3 years ago

May 23, 2023

Construction workers are integral to building and upscaling our societies and ensuring we keep up with proper development. Construction workers are required to be incredibly diligent in whatever they do. Although this fairly stable industry has room for career growth, it is also demanding. In particular, construction work can get physically challenging to a great extent if you don’t take the right precautions. You must maintain your health to perform your best and ensure overall well-being. This guide can help you determine how to maintain your health and keep fit to work to the best of your ability.

Make Sure You Get the Right Safety Equipment

As a construction worker, you might consider being periodically exposed to harsh and dangerous environments as part of your job description. Besides encountering common hazards such as dust, heights, and more, construction workers face more critical challenges. Sometimes, you may have to work in an environment that may seem harmless but hosts some incredibly harmful particles. Asbestos particles are commonly found on construction sites, and if you don’t have access to the proper safety gear, you may contract mesothelioma, a fatal cancer. Treatment can be expensive and impossible to afford without access to compensation and funds from employers. Suppose you or someone you know has worked in the construction industry and, due to asbestos exposure, has been diagnosed with mesothelioma. In that case, you should check your eligibility to see if you qualify for a trust fund. This fund can help pay for the treatment, tests, and medicines.

However, although being in the environment may be unavoidable, having access to all the essential safety gear isn’t. Your employer should provide you with the best safety gear to mitigate any risks you encounter on the site.

Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a critical safety measure in construction work. From hard hats and safety goggles to high-visibility vests and steel-toed boots, PPE acts as a personal safeguard against onsite hazards. However, more than owning PPE is needed; knowing how to use and maintain it is vital. Proper usage ensures maximum protection, while regular maintenance ensures longevity and effectiveness.

Mental Health Awareness

Mental health is an often overlooked yet crucial aspect of well-being for construction workers. The industry’s high-pressure environment can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression. It’s essential to acknowledge these challenges and equip workers with techniques to manage stress, such as mindfulness exercises or regular breaks.

Moreover, employers should provide resources for mental health support, promoting an environment where seeking help is encouraged, not stigmatized. Remember, a healthy mind contributes to a healthy body and a safer workspace.

Stay Active

Although staying fit and active is a prerequisite for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it applies even more to construction workers. A normal day on the job can involve tons of physically challenging work, and it may become difficult to keep up if you’re not physically active. Declining performance at work can cause further demotivation. Moreover, other than a decline in performance, if you aren’t active, you risk injuring yourself as you move around heavy items.

Since construction work can be challenging, strength training is the best way to keep yourself in shape. Lifting weights that target all your muscle groups can help you build overall strength, which can be immensely helpful on the job. You can also build endurance and stamina through cardio and HIIT workouts. Making a routine comprising all these different aspects can help you stay healthy in the long run.

Get Enough Rest

Working in the construction industry can be tough. Adequate rest and recovery are essential components of a construction worker’s health. While you can’t avoid exerting yourself on the job, ensuring enough rest at home is vital. You need to give the body a chance to rest and repair before your performance worsens on the job while your health deteriorates.

Construction workers get fewer hours of sleep each day compared to people in other industries, which can lead to several health problems. Besides causing psychological issues, such as irritability, fogginess, anxiety, and forgetfulness, sleep deprivation can also cause physical fatigue, heart issues, headaches, diabetes, obesity, and strokes. If the physical exertion makes it hard for you to sleep well, consider getting a massage to help your body wind down. Using rollers and essential oils can help your body relax. Additionally, avoiding electronic devices before bed and trying to get in bed at a set time can help set your circadian rhythms and gradually help your body adjust better.

Take your Lunch from Home

When you have a tough work routine, it may become difficult to take out time and pack your lunch every day. Although this may seem like an unnecessary hassle, doing so can help you avoid eating greasy, processed food, which you may pick up from the nearest fast-food outlet.

Eating clean is one of the best ways to keep yourself healthy. If you’re consuming a heavily processed, sugary, and greasy diet, you’ll likely start feeling tired and bloated soon. Also, keeping up with this unhealthy lifestyle can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart issues, and more. Instead, consider preparing your meal at the start of the week and take healthy homemade lunches to work each day. Doing so won’t just help you save money, but it can also help you maintain your health and agility during work.

Stop Smoking and Limit Alcohol

Smoking and excessive alcohol can significantly impair a construction worker’s health and performance. Smoking can reduce lung capacity, while heavy drinking can impact coordination, posing serious safety risks on the job. Overcoming these habits may seem challenging, but it is achievable with the right strategies, such as setting clear goals or seeking support from friends and family.

Numerous resources are available, from quit-smoking programs to counseling services for alcohol misuse. Prioritizing health means making tough decisions, but quitting smoking and limiting alcohol can lead to a safer, healthier, and more productive work life.

Conclusion

Protecting your health is one of the foremost aspects you must focus on as a construction worker. In such an industry, staying active and healthy is your biggest asset, and these are the best ways to ensure your performance stays top-notch. By following these tips, you can ensure your health and performance always thrive.

Lifestyle

When Seasons Shift: Dr. Leeshe Grimes on Grief, Loneliness, and Finding Light Again

Published

3 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michelle Langton

Some emotional storms arrive without warning. A sudden change in weather, a holiday approaching, or even a bright sunny day can stir feelings that don’t match the world outside. For many people, the hardest seasons are not defined by temperature; they are defined by what’s happening inside, where grief and loneliness often move quietly.

This is the emotional terrain where Dr. Leeshe Grimes has spent her career doing some of her most meaningful work. As a psychotherapist, registered play therapist, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, and founder of Elevated Minds in the DMV area, she understands how deeply seasonal shifts and unresolved grief can affect people. Her upcoming books explore this very space, guiding readers through the emotional weight that can appear during different times of the year.

What sets Dr. Grimes apart is her ability to see clearly what many people overlook. Seasonal depression, for example, is usually tied to winter months. But she often sees it appear during warm, bright seasons, the times when the world seems happiest. For someone already grieving or feeling disconnected, watching others travel, celebrate, or gather can create its own kind of heaviness. Sunshine doesn’t always lift the mood; sometimes it highlights what feels missing.

The same misunderstanding surrounds grief. Society often treats it as a short-term experience with predictable phases and a clean ending. But in her practice, Dr. Grimes sees how grief keeps evolving. It doesn’t disappear on a timeline. It weaves itself into routines, memories, and milestones. People learn to carry it differently, but they rarely leave it behind completely. And that’s not failure, it’s human.

Her approach to mental health centers on truth rather than pressure. She encourages clients to acknowledge the emotions they try to hide: sadness that lingers longer than expected, moments of joy that feel out of place, and the waves of loneliness that return even when life seems stable. Instead of pushing for quick recovery, she focuses on helping people understand how emotions shift and how to care for themselves through those changes.

Much of her insight comes from her military years, where she witnessed the emotional toll of loss, transition, and constant survival. She saw how people continued functioning while carrying pain that had nowhere to go. That experience shaped her belief that healing requires space, space to feel, to speak, and to move through emotions without judgment.

In her clinical work today at Elevated Minds, she encourages people to build small, steady habits that anchor them during difficult seasons. Journaling helps them recognize patterns and name what feels heavy. Community support breaks the cycle of isolation. Therapy creates a place where emotions don’t have to be minimized or explained away. And intentional routines, daily sunlight, mindful breaks, and calm evenings help rebuild emotional balance.

Her upcoming books expand on these ideas, offering practical guidance for navigating both grief and seasonal depression. She focuses on helping readers understand that healing is not about escaping pain. It’s about learning how to live with it in a healthier way, honoring memories, acknowledging loneliness, and still allowing room for moments of light.

What makes Dr. Leeshe Grimes a compelling voice in mental health is her ability to bring language to experiences that many struggle to explain. She reminds people that emotional seasons don’t always match the weather and that there is no single path through grief. But within those shifts, she believes there is always a way forward.

The seasons will continue to change. And with the right tools, compassion, and support, people can change with them, finding steadiness, softness, and light again, one step at a time.