Preventive Health and Safety Engagement (PHASE) was created in an effort to raise awareness around preventive health and safety in order to reduce the risk of developing chronic illnesses or being involved in an accident. Our main theme is “Risk Minimization” which involves two things:
- NOT adding any additional risk to our lives
- Lowering or eliminating any known risks
Let’s look at just a few examples to illustrate what I mean.
- Driving in itself, carries with it a certain amount of risk. If you are in a habit of doing other things while you drive (like reading, texting, eating, putting makeup on, etc.), you are adding to that risk. I personally know of a fatality that occurred because a driver was preoccupied trying to change CDs, swerved into the other lane, and hit a car head-on, killing the driver. She was injured but lived. Adding that risk caused a death and a young teenager, years of mental anguish.
- There have been so many positive advancements in cancer research that we are seeing many more cancer survivors than ever before. Physicians and researchers relay the same truth that early detection is the key. There are screenings for colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and others. When it is time for that screening and you put it off, you are adding to the risk of dying from cancer.
- Heart disease is still the number one killer in the United States. The best way to minimize the risk of developing heart disease, again is minimizing the risk. Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease and hypertension, (which is also a risk factor in heart disease and other conditions). By using the labels on the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale it is estimated that 33.3% of Americans are classified as overweight, 42% as obese, and 9% as severely obese. That means that over 84% of the people in the US are adding to the risk of developing heart disease.
If you do not take steps to minimize known risks and keep from adding any additional risk, you are leaving your life and well-being up to chance. Examine the risks, do not add to them, and reduce all that you can. You may not think much about it now, but minimizing health and safety risks is your best chance for a long and healthy life.
This message is from PHASE –
