Physical Jobs

All jobs take their toll on you by the end of the day, whether it's in the form of eye strain from reading a computer screen or steam burns from installing a wall mounted boiler. However, physical jobs - the ones that require a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing, fighting, or moving around - demand the most from your body. People who work in physical or blue collar jobs are often able to devote fewer years to their work than office-bound or white collar professionals because a corresponding decrease in productivity comes with age - one that you don't see as drastically when you're exercising your brain rather than your muscles. To help you last longer on the job, here are some common ways that physical jobs can affect the parts of the body.

Lungs

Without properly functioning lungs, it's impossible to do normal, everyday things like washing the dog or shopping for groceries, much less a demanding job performing vacuum excavation or driving a transfer truck. Lungs are particularly fragile organs that are extremely susceptible to particulates. Breathing in smoke from an engine or boiler can cause emphysema just as surely as smoking cigarettes can. Sawdust or concrete dust from construction can make it hard to breathe, and exposure to chemical fumes can result in lung scarring and even death.

Eyes

The eyes are extremely important organs that are very difficult to repair if they become damaged. Splash-back from waste water grit removal can deposit sand into the eyes and irritate them. In working any form of construction, there is always the risk of a tiny piece of metal or wood ending up in your eye, potentially piercing the lens and ruining eyesight. Even looking at the wrong things can cause irreversible eye damage, as high-intensity lights, lasers, and arc welders are bright enough to damage the retina if you look directly at them.

Ears

Ears are an often-forgotten casualty in the more physical lines of work because most people are still able to function with some hearing damage. However, the majority of factory jobs involve working around loud machinery that can overwhelm the ear drums. Even something as simple as cleaning the roof drains on Toronto homes can damage your hearing if you use a leaf blower or vacuum pump. It's not just loud noises that you have to worry about, either, but also pressure. Divers and pilots are the most commonly affected by excess sinus pressure.

Muscles and Joints

Damage to muscles and joints through repetitive heavy lifting is what most people think of when asked to identify the effects of blue collar jobs on the body. Many blue collar jobs involve some form of lifting, whether it is of boxes, pipes, or the weight of a heavy protective suit. The effect of all that exercise is that the muscles and joints are overworked. In the short term, you can get some relief by applying an ice pack or high temperature blanket to the affected area, but in the long term you might end up with a condition that causes persistent pain or swelling, like arthritis.