Workplace Health and Safety

o  Organize a launch event to create excitement about upcoming activities and to create a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.

o  Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly company events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Make sure to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events such as relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

o  Begin a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of workforce to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward workforce who complete the swim.

Make sure to set up a challenge between staff and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

o  Post a sign-up board where staff can enroll in a group or find a buddy to take part in activities of interest.

o  Arrange a corporation badminton tournament that lasts several months, with each staff member playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

o  Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in several activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.

o  Create a point system in which one minute of activity is equivalent to one point. Be sure to set a target, and post a chart where all personnel can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

o  Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage workers to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Be sure to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

o  Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

o  Organize a walk “across the U.S. ” Select a route, figure out how many steps it’d take to walk that distance and challenge staff members to do it.

Give or loan pedometers to staff members, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, if you can’t afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Make certain to set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who can walk across the United States  first.

o  Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge workforce who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

o  Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

o  Coordinate a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined total of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites could compete with each other and with management.

o  Challenge personnel to walk 10,000 steps a day. Purchase pedometers for all participating personnel or, if you cannot afford that, make pedometers available at a lowered rate.

Provide tips for increasing daily steps, and reward workers who succeed.

There is no single right way to approach health promotion programs but winning health promotion programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, staff member involvement, adequate resources, and a policy on health that goes hand in hand with the company’s mission, vision and values.

Health Promotion Program –  A Range of Approaches

Even though the goal is to eventually have a long-term, robust health promotion program, some corporations prefer to start with a single program at a basic level.

For example, the first steps may be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthy eating; or they could launch a pilot project to find out how interested staff are to ensure staff needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on personnel and the workplace so senior level management are going to be more willing to consider a bigger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other companies plan a variety of wellness programs to meet the needs of the different kinds of individuals  that make up their workforce.  And some decide to develop a sound company case, complete with a health strategy, before trying any kind of wellness program.

Organizations want to ensure that a new wellness program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program –  Success Factors

Whether or not your corporation chooses to think big from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always rememberthe following key success factors -

o  support and participation from management;

o  worker involvement in planning;

o  wellness programs that meet worker needs;

o  A realistic budget; and

o  continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a team must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Organizations also need game plans, even when they don’t call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs could be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Wellness Program

Obtain upper-level management support. You could need to develop a corporation case to convince managers that the health promotion program is a corporation strategyâ.”that staff member health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Employees need to see evidence that upper-level management believes in and is committed to staff member health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from worker groups as well as from human resources, safety and health, and communications.

Collect information.  To prove that your wellness program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the wellness program starts. You might wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenses.

Assess what workplace facilities are available to support workers to make healthful choices such as showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bike. Assess worker needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Create the plan to reflect the information collected. Include health promotion program goals, activities and how you are going to measure whether your goals were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You could have to change direction in response to worker feedback or changes in the corporation’s structure.

Get senior level management approval. Support for staff time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Make available a variety of activities that create awareness, increase knowledge, create skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns like Company Health Promotion Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Workplaces can also make it easier for workers to make healthy choices by providing flextime to allow workers to fit activity in when it’s convenient or by subsidizing wellness programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthy foods are offered.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program does not have to be complicated or a gigantic investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring a few committed people  together to generate some ideas and get began.

How does it feel to walk into your workplace? Do people  look happy? is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you can leave?

The influence of the workplace environment on the wellness of workforce is profound. First there is the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you are affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors start to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthy role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, personnel feel that the business they work for provides them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy life choices.

And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Employees who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your worksite environment into one that indeed supports the wellness of your workforce and organization.

Health Promotion Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Health Promotion Friendly Facilities

When you enter a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be glad working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. Precisely how does it smell? Sound? Do the personnel have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that could cause  or reduce stress. Healthy environments often have these features -

o  Vending machines with healthy food options like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks

o  Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities onsite or nearby

o  Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing

o  Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate

o  Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthful

o  No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or use of tobacco areas on-site

o  Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

o  Be sure to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

o  Safety hazards have been eliminated

o  Lockers and showers are available for staff who workout before work or during breaks

o  Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity may make it hard to evaluate a workplace. People  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It may be useful to ask people  who are unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Expert consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. When nurses are not permitted to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors.

When parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. When staff members can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies might include -

o  Seatbelt use required in corporation automobiles

o  Alcohol and drug policies are appropriate to the industry

o  Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

o  Flexible work schedules allow personnel to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

o  Nontobacco use policy is enforced

o  Excessive overtime is discouraged

o  Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed

o  Shift staff members are scheduled to allow adequate rest

o  Medical care coverage rewards good health

o  Absenteeism policy rewards staff members who do not use sick days

o  Worker assistance program available to help workforce with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

o  Significant consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthful, prohibited behavior.  Your business might have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but if everybody looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that allows drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies may be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors should be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service in lieu of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your wellness programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in business newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Health Promotion mentors are sought and applauded, too. Workers who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Coworker modeling and mentoring classes can encourage those who enjoy helping others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthy Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight control class.

Wellness activities promote relaxed interaction between individuals  from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.

Managers can also provide support for workers who are working on bettering their health. It does not take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health and fitness center” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by authorizing staff the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Wellness Programs

It is vital that you give staff members the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the organization, not a organization fad. That can start as soon as a new staff member is hired.

New personnel are oriented to the wellness program as one of the staff member benefits. Information about the wellness program should be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new staff member to participate.

The workforce are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.

The health promotion programs and wellness staff are well known in the corporation. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s easy to sign up.

A wide variety of awareness classes are offered. There are topics of interest for everyone.

These are fun and easy events that could be done within your organization to motivate healthy behaviors during a contest or during other times.  The goal is to encourage worker participation. Some examples -

o  Develop a sub-committee of enthusiastic workers who’ll help promote the fitness program by offering ideas, suggestions and encouragement to fellow workers.

o  Create monthly mailbox flyers to promote a contest or provide fitness-related education/encouragement information.

o  Send a weekly voicemail on each participant’s telephone with encouraging wellness messages.

o  Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.

o  Provide low-fat or heart-healthful lunch selections once a week in your cafeteria or have personnel bring a healthful snack to share, with a recipe book compiled at the end of the contest or specified time (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).

o  Distribute worker gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration starts.

o  Allow personnel “Fitness15-Minute Walk Breaks;” organization time to walk, exercise, etc. When appropriate, you may use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical bike, some free weights and meditation music.

o  Hold a T-shirt design contest.

o  Create posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your objectives -

o  Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to put up in the office showing how they have progressed â.” staff can get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.

o  Use a bar graph to compare progress.

o  Use a “thermometer” type graphic and color in progress â.” consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.

o  Offer aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.

o  Compile a list of organized events in the community that offer opportunities to get employees exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few) -

o  Race for the Cure

o  March of Dimes Walk America event

o  Juvenile Diabetes Research

o  Foundation Walk to Cure

o  American Heart Association’s Heart Walk

o  American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

o  American Lung Association’s Lung Run

o  Local marathons or special community walks or runs

o  Create or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.

o  Hold a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!

o  Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.

o  Designate “Move it Mondays” â.” allow workers to take an extra 10 minutes during lunch for exercise.

o  Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” â.” provide staff with low-calorie treats/snacks.

o  Designate “Walking Wednesdays”â.” allow personnel to take an additional 10 minutes during lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow personnel to explore new exercises.

o  Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” â.” make healthful smoothies or juice drinks for workforce.

o  Designate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for staff â.” offer seasonal fruit treats.

o  Send weekly exercise tips to workers via the most effective communications automobile in your worksite.

o  Partner with another corporation representative for local media events coordinated through your marketing and advertising or communication department.

o  Be certain to encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples – Patron Service, Marketing, Medical Support).

o  Launch walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.

o  Seek out local aerobic opportunities or classes through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.

o  Contact a few local area fitness centers and ask when they can or will offer group discounts for exercise plans, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12â.”week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.

o  Hold a Frozen Yogurt Social â.” “Reap the Advantages of Fitness.”

o  Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps required for one mile.

These are short informational “Health Tips” in an e-mail format on many different health-related topics. You can appoint someone within your business to find specific topics on the Internet from sites that are in the public domain or topics may be purchased from companies.

Some qualified sources include -

o  Hope Health

o  Sound Ideas, Inc.

o  Centers for Illness Control and Prevention

o  National Institutes of Health

These e-mails could be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

When the majority of your workforce don’t have e-mail, consider providing the information to them through -

o  Bulletin boards

o  Check stuffers

o  Mailbox stuffers

o  Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From – Health Promotion Program

To – Wellness Team

Subject –  Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to make certain you’re dressed properly for the weather.  And the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.

Layer 1 — Prevent 100% cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds perspiration. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.

Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper if you get too warm.

Layer 3 — When needed, over the sweatsuit, you are able to add a waterproof and windproof jacket. When it’s very cold, you might want to wear a jacket made with goose down.

Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Prevent 100% cotton socks. Don’t wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly …  This will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.

Head — About 40% of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

Lips — Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Corporate Health Promotion E-mail Messages

From – Health Promotion Program

To – Wellness Team

Subject –  Energy Increases

Need an energy improve? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.

o  Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it could make a big difference in your energy level the next day.

o  Eat less more often. Have small, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to improve your energy level.

o  Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, which you can offset by drinking water throughout the day.

o  Prevent alcohol and caffeine. Both can contribute  to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.

Wellness Workshops are learning sessions planned and organized by you to meet specific objectives. Decide on a topic and pick a speaker. Select a site for the “Lunch and Learn” session, ordinarily a lunchroom or break room.

Depending on your budget and goals, employees can brown bag the lunch or you may provide the meal. Meetings can be mandatory or elective, your choice.

Experience tells us the most success will be achieved if these Wellness Workshops are elective and if the business provides lunch.

Goals for Wellness Workshops

Education on a specific health problem. You may want to pick one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are -

o  Diabetes â.” diabetes avoidance and care by a qualified diabetic educator

o  Heart illness â.” cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a nutritionist)

o  High blood pressure

o  High cholesterol

o  Flu and pneumonia

o  Breast cancer â.” breast health or breast self-exam sessions may be taught by a trained instructor

Education on medical insurance benefits -

o  Diabetes â.” what are the covered benefits, where to purchase diabetic supplies, support groups for staff with diabetes.

o  Health Promotion Program Benefits

o  Well baby/child care.

Education on the importance of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management (DM) programs. Example programs -

o  Diabetes

o  Respiratory

o  Low-Back Pain

o  Cardiovascular

o  Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Health Promotion Seminars

o  Local health plan office

o  Local heart association

o  Local cancer society

o  Pharmacies â.” many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related issues.

o  Pharmaceutical Companies â.” many corporations have standard presentations developed for companys that are provided free of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are -

o  Know Your Numbers (high cholesterol) â.” Pfizer

o  Respiratory Health Promotion (flu and pneumonia) â.” Pfizer

o  Men’s and Women’s Health â.” Pfizer

o  Local fitness clubs/personal trainers/YMCA â.” can discuss walking safety, benefits of walking, swimming and aerobics.

o  Yoga and/or Pilates instructors

o  Running, cycling club representatives

o  Local hospital nutritionists

o  Stamp Out Smoking â.” Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Health Promotion Seminars

o  Bicycling â.” benefits and opportunities for cycling

o  Nutrition and health (Heart Healthful lunch for all attendees)

o  Cardiovascular health

o  Women’s health issues

o  Just how to recognize the signs and signs of heart attack and stroke

o  National Worker Fitness Day within the office setting â.” Governor’s Council on Fitness representatives can promote event

o  Exercise tolerance and healthful heart issues

o  Beginning an exercise plan â.” include the importance of seeing the doctor prior to the starting of any new exercise program

o  Self-defense

o  Domestic abuse

o  Safety in general

o  Exercise safety

o  Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Conducting an Staff Member Fitness Challenge at your worksite is a fun and motivating way to elevate awareness among workers about the importance of beginning and sustaining an exercise program.

It is a concentrated effort in which to engage them in exercise for a specific time period that, hopefully, will help them start a healthy habit that’ll last a lifetime.

Notwithstanding, it is vital that you practice wellness year-round. This section provides a robust list of Health Promotion Program ideas that have been implemented within wellness programs.

All ideas presented in this section have been successful for one or both of the entities. Each activity/idea could be used as a stand-alone event, even when you do not conduct a fitness contest, or could be held and your Staff Member Fitness Contest.

You may want to pick some of the ideas you think will work for your staff members or think of others and start your initiative to create a better state of health.

Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that robust wellness programs, or Health Promotion Programs, can lower health care and insurance costs, decrease absenteeism, and improve performance and productivity.

Other benefits demonstrated in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public image of the corporation.

Healthcare and Insurance Costs

A number of studies provide evidence of lower medical and insurance costs for participants in health promotion programs, in particular health promotion programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America conducted a health promotion program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were lowered an typical of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group.

Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola announced a reduction in healthcare claims with a workout plan alone, saving $500 per employee a year for the staff (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program.

Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the company’s major health care costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each participant in its health promotion program.

Lowered Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been shown to be impacted by company wellness and wellness programs.  The evidence indicates a meaningful reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved so of employee exercise programs.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks wellness program decreased absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing wellness efforts on high-risk employees can lead to better results. A national manufacturing corporation reports a decrease of 12.2 percent in illness days for these employees.

A two-year study by the DuPont Business of the effect of its comprehensive wellness program on absences among employees reports that blue-collar employees at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days versus 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Better Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of companys with wellness programs report documented betterment in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among wellness program participants–all critical factors in enhancing productivity.

A Johnson and Johnson study found that worker attitude changes were greater at wellness intervention sites with meaningful positive attitude changes noted in the categories of organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Corporation experimental group realized a 4 percent increase in productivity after beginning an staff member fitness program, compared to the control group.

Furthermore, 47 percent of health promotion program participants reported that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their coworkers, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit staff members than in non-fit staff members. Fit staff members committed 27% fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit staff members.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of corporate health promotion health promotion program results have been reported by individual businesss -

Company –  Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

o  Bank of America (Fries) –  $5.96/$1

o  PacBell –  $3.10/$1

o  Wisconsin School District Insurance Group –  $4.47/$1

o  Prudential Insurance –  $2.90/$1

o  Bank of America (Leigh) –  $4.73/$1

o  General Mills –  $3.50/$1

Summary

There is compelling evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by businesss on health-related costs is preventable by means of health promotion programming.

Well-planned, extensive health promotion programs (health promotion programs and staff member health promotion programs) have been shown to be cost-effective, specifically when the health promotion programming is matched to the health problems of the specific staff member

Free Wellness Programs and Cheap Health Management Alternatives

Begin a free health promotion program or run a successful health promotion program in the office for little or no cost to your organization.  The advantages of company health promotion at work are many.

The articles on wellness program have generated a selection of questions, mainly from wellness providers but also from companies attempting to begin their own wellness programs. There are a number of things to do to implement a successful wellness program at work.

Suggestions for Beginning a Free or Affordable Wellness Program

Before starting a inexpensive or free wellness program for your company, learn more about what workforce want. Survey workforce to learn more about their wellness concerns.

Keep the survey confidential to protect employees’ identities. Normally the most well-liked company wellness topics are smoking cessation, losing weight concerns and heart and cholesterol health.

Look for Company Wellness Freebies

Find out who will come in for free to speak to staff members and explore partnerships with outside agents related to company wellness.

For  instance, consult a local branch of a well-known weight loss company and ask when someone can come in and speak to workforce. Look for agencies that are willing to come in and talk about topics related to wellness at no cost to workforce, in exchange for something from you.

Find Employee Health Promotion Partnerships

Working with a weight reduction organization to set up a speaking engagement for workers is the perfect opportunity to explore a potential wellness partnership.

The losing weight company might say that if 10 staff join the health promotion program, they will hold weekly meetings at company headquarters for the individuals  who joined.  The losing weight group also might offer company staff a discount if several individuals  join the health promotion program.

Nonprofits an Untapped Health Management Resource

There are also plenty of nonprofit agencies who’d be thrilled to visit a business to discuss health management. But it is up to you to offer them something in return.

For  instance, if the MS Society came in and talked about the signs of MS, the business could offer to organize an MS walk (in keeping with business health management objectives, right?), or an auction with staff member and company-donated items where the proceeds go to MS.

The individuals  at the nonprofit agencies would be happy to open a dialog with your organization and to talk about what they would want in return for a speaking engagement. In many cases, they will not need anything at all for a first meeting.

Gathering Data and Assessing Wellness Program Results

Gathering data and analyzing  results of a wellness program may be tricky because of HIPPA laws. Notwithstanding, if at least 10 personnel joined the losing weight program, or 20 individuals  participate daily in the all-new “Let’s Walk a Mile at Lunch” program, that sort of progress can speak strongly to senior-level management.

And, organization successes will potentially give management more incentive to provide money for additional health management and wellness programs in the future.

Small company wellness programs are catching on. A well-designed wellness program can increase productivity, boost morale and vitality, reduce stress, decrease rates of absenteeism, and control preventable health care costs within an organization.

The beauty of it is that you’re simply assisting workers to make smart options so the costs of beginning a health promotion program are minimal compared to the benefits.

Worker health is a major concern for small organization owners. In a small shop, even several sick workers can disrupt the flow of the worksite and bring the operation to a standstill.

Instead of sitting back and hoping for the best, some owners are taking the matter of employee health into their own hands by starting employee health promotion programs. Here’s how they work . . .

Overview of employee health promotion programs

Staff Member health promotion programs are programs initiated by the employer to increase the overall health of their labor force and to help individual workforce overcome specific health-related hurdles.

These wellness programs could be offered in a selection of formats –  In mandatory staff training sessions, as voluntary seminars, or through a third-party provider offering a wide-range of staff member assistance programs.

In every case, nonetheless, the employer foots the bill for the wellness programs because an investment in employee health is a corporation investment that directly impacts the company’s bottom line.

Why offer worker wellness programs?

Apart from the obvious concern for the health of your staff, there are a few other reasons why employee health promotion programs make sense for small businesses. Right off the bat, your organization will benefit from the reduced level of absenteeism that goes hand in hand with a healthful workforce.

Wellness programs will also reduce the number of injuries that occur in the workplace, not just from accidents, but also from repetitive motion and other recurring sources.

Since even a minor blip in worker attendance can have a big impact on a small corporation, a more reliable workforce will inevitably translate into a smoother work cycle and a more comprehensive bottom line.

Health Promotion Program Features

Health promotion programs can cover a broad range of health-related topics. Based on your employees’ needs, it is entirely up to you to determine the type of health promotion programming you want to offer.

Nonetheless, most worker wellness programs offer some at least some wellness programs in the following areas -

o  Nutrition. Diet can significantly impact an employee’s ability to do their job effectively. Nutritional programs educate workforce about food choices and equip them to make healthful dietary choices.

o  Fitness. In addition to diet, exercise is an important factor in a healthy lifestyle. Wellness programs frequently provide employees with opportunities to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.

o  Smoking Cessation. Statistics prove that smokers tend to fall ill more frequently than their non-tobacco use coworkers. Since sick workers disrupt the workplace, tobacco use cessation programs are a no-brainer for both businesss and workers.

o  Physiological Testing. A lot of companys offer physiological as a regular part of their health promotion programs. Cholesterol tests, blood pressure screenings, and other simple exams can provide early warning signs for additional serious problems.

o  Stress Management. Stress itself takes a toll on workers. Nevertheless, stress is also linked to other health problems such as depression, cardiovascular illness, diabetes, and obesity. Wellness programs that help workers deal with stress improve not only the psychological health of your workers, but their physical health as well.