Workplace Health and Safety

Interest in increasing physical activity ranks nearly as high as weight control in employee interest and need. Ideas for increasing employee awareness and participation in physical activities follow –

• Fitness courses in the workplace – Onsite exercise may be much more convenient for workers. Nonetheless, onsite courses require logistical planning and coordination with attention to details.

Onsite courses are usually more feasible for bigger employers.  As part of the steps in planning and assessment, consult with other health promotion programs offering worksite classes. Ask what their experience has been like.

Speak to potential providers in the area as well. Find out what it would take to offer an onsite fitness class. YMCA’s, health clubs, and community recreation programs are good resources for this type of discussion.

It’s also feasible to offer a “mini” introductory worksite class series. A mini series might consist of an introduction to a new physical activity area. Workers are then expected to make the transition to home or community based wellness programs.

• Nerf Olympics –  Nerf games are fun (and entertaining) activities that encourage movement, flexibility, stress reduction, and usually are a good laugh. When planning such an activity consider establishing up a “challenge” stations with various activities.

Ideas for activities include hula hoop contests, Nerf basketball free throws, Nerf football tosses, Frisbee “golf”, jump rope, etc.  The Wellness Team will lay out the course.

Each participant goes through the stations and gets a “gold” medal (you can purchase these at party stores and toy stores inexpensively) for completing all of the stations (no matter how badly they perform).

Start each participant at intervals authorizing for smooth running, but expect high difficulty stations to be backed up. This delay can add to the fun and creates a “keystone cops” scenario.

Nerf Olympics is a good activity to do with an audience, so encourage cheering coworkers.

• Offer incentives to employees who engage in aerobic exercise like walking, running and bicycling on their own time (see goal setting health promotion program, offer points toward prizes, etc.).

• Distribute maps of walking/jogging trails located near the workplace. Mark distances in steps and miles. Make sure to encourage workforce to walk during lunchtime and/or break times.

Post a steps collected map on a worksite wall where personnel can log their steps or miles.

• Make certain to encourage joggers, walkers, and those who enjoying other forms of exercise to form fitness groups to meet before work, at lunch, or after work.

• Promote the use of stairs instead of elevators. Place bulletin boards, art contests, etc., in stairwells.

• Sponsor “Bike-to-Work” or Walk-to-Make sure to work week.

• Schedule five-minute desk stretching at the workplace. This can relieve repetitive motion problems as well as eye and back strain.

• Sponsor an individual challenge activity like “Climb a Mountain” or “Swim a Sea”. This is an honor system health promotion program in which participating workforce are awarded minutes, steps, or miles credit for cardiovascular activity (swimming, walking, running, skiing, biking, stair stepping, group exercise, etc.).

The object of this type of challenge is to accumulate the equivalent mileage it’d take to reach the top of a famous mountain, span a body of water (swim the Columbia River), or reach a distant city/county.

Try personalizing the challenge as much as possible to individual interests and/or area geographical matches close to the workplace.

• Collect a selection of exercise video or DVD tapes. Workers can either take a look at a tape for home use, or offer a group activity video class.

• If it isn’t possible for staff to leave the building to exercise or workout at lunch, try establishing an in-house aerobic walking track for employee use in an unused part of the workplace for lunch, break or after hours use.

An example of how this issue might  be solved is the use of stationary bicycles and other small exercise equipment provided for staff by some 911 call centers.

• Sponsor a “Personal Best” Challenge”. Staff Members run, walk, bicycle, etc.  Their own personal best time. Repeat the personal best challenge each quarter to six months. Each time an staff member improves, offer recognition and an appropriate award.

Moreover, recognize those staff members who maintain their personal best in the same way. Be certain to encourage non-participating staff members to get involved.

Assist these person in picking  an activity that is comfortable and of interest for them, and one in which they are able to succeed and progress.

• When you offer an introductory or other onsite exercise class or activity, be certain the instructor can relate to the audience, and the audience can relate to the instructor.

Have a Wellness Committee member attend a current class by the selected instructor class before the instructor conducting a class at worksite. Also, consider the employees who might  be potentially attending the class.

Sometimes bigger and/or older exercise instructors are often better accepted by audiences who are similarly sized and aged.

• Sponsor a themed “virtual” trek. Calculate the mileage for the proposed “trip” ahead of time. Make sure that the distance is appropriate for the number of expected participants and time for the event (six to eight weeks) works well.

For longer events, small teams can accumulate their mileage for the trip. Establish a reporting network. Post a map to track the trip. Chart the progress with stick pins, a magic marker, or a highlighter.

Give a brief humorous fictional narrative of the trip, posting a new one each week. Include as many participants’ names as possible. Alternate posting humorous texts with health tips along the way. Give an incentive after the trip.

Ideas for Exercise Themes –

• Swim the Mississippi to the Mardi gras.

• Take a tour to all Oregon counties.

• Take a tour of Oregon from Enterprise to Brookings.

• Run or walk around the world (25,000 miles).

• Tour de France (take all summer)

• Tour de France on a stationary bicycle (take all winter)

• Indianapolis 500

• Climb Mount Everest (stairs or stair climbers). Target Sir Edmund Hilary’s birthday or the anniversary of the first conquest as a completion date.

• Climb Mount Washington or Mt. Hood. Target President’s Day as a completion date.

• Climb any meaningful mountain and tie it to any remotely related event.

• Use time in exercise as a measurement for the contest rather than distance. This allows you to treat all forms of aerobic exercise more equitably.