Rationale of the Tribute
Call Center employees are prone to a number of sicknesses due to the nature of the job. These are the dark side of what are considered highly glamorous jobs: different time schedules, different sleeping patterns, erratic and irregular eating habits (mainly dependent on fast foods which are unhealthy), pressure and stress in dealing with customers, cold environment, etc. Different time schedules bring about interruption of biophysiological rhythm because sleeping patterns become disrupted. Disruption of sleeping patterns interfere with the secretion of certain hormones and hormonal imbalance results. Add erratic and irregular eating habits, usually with foods which are rich in trans fats because only fast food are available and the problems of health are compounded. As if these problems are not enough, the worker has to deal with pressure and stress brought about by complaints from customers. Then there is the air conditioned environment. The workplace is cold and dry but when the worker goes out of the office, he is exposed oftentimes to hot and humid weather conditions. This causes a strain to an already overstressed health condition. There have been a number of employees who have gotten severely ill and even died because of the reasons mentioned above.
The researcher has a personal stake in making sure that information about this state of affair in the call center industry be brought to the attention of the rightful authorities so to bring about a collective endeavor to address this problem. The researcher’s brother in the prime of his life at the age of 27 had become a victim of a pulmonary ailment which had it been subjected to proper care could easily have been cured. He had been an IT Assistant Manager, dedicated and hard working. He focused his time and attention in the development of the call center that he had worked for. Being young, he did not pay particular attention to his health, thinking he was healthy and not to be bothered by petty ailments. He took his ailment for granted and passed it off as just a slight cough. It was a particularly hectic period as he was working for for the certification of the company. He had a good health plan, he did consult a doctor and the doctor just gave him a prescription of paracetamol and cough syrup, probably also thinking it was “ just a slight cough”
He continued working, continually exposing himself to the cold environment of the work place and to the hot summer weather outside. This aggravated the stress that his lungs and heart were experiencing, and the next thing the family knew, they were notified that he was found dead in his bed. An autopsy had shown that his lungs had expanded to almost three times its size due to phlegm and the cause of death was pneumonia. This is an illness which is easily reversible once detected at an early stage. Neglect had triggered a lot of complications. His heart had enlarged and it added a lot of pressure on already overburdened lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. In the end, he drowned in his own phlegm.
This tragic incident has taught the members of the family and close family friends a very hard lesson, not to underestimate a “common cold” or any sickness anyone may encounter. Nothing is so common; nothing is so slight; and nothing is so simple that it could be ignored since neglect or inattention could make something so common, so slight, so simple, fatal. Such a death was a wake up call, a realization that the human body could only take so much of an abuse; that it should be taken care of and monitored even for the slightest ailment.
The death of the researcher’s brother was an impetus to make her work to disseminate the information that could benefit a lot of people in the call center industry. Though such act could not bring her brother back, it can serve as a tribute to his memory. It can be a timely reminder to the work force in the call center industry to be aware of the risks involved in their work and to take proper measures to minimize if not completely eliminate these risks. This research could also be a reminder to the management of the call center management to set up a monitoring committee that would constantly check on the state of health f their employees, Furthermore, medical practitioners should also be assiduous in checking and monitoring the health of these call center workers, not just give prescriptions without giving them a close medical checkup.