Lisburn City Council :: Work Well Initiative

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The Workplace Health Initiative

“Making Health a Priority in the Workplace”.

Lisburn City Council’s Environmental Health unit are providing free information, advice and support to local businesses to encourage employers and their staff to start thinking about health as an important workplace issue.

Background

The workplace is a setting where many people spend the largest proportion of their time. Sickness absenteeism is estimated to cost Northern Ireland £330 million per year. This figure can equate to £598 on average per employee per year. Therefore employers can play a key role in contributing to the health of their employees and in turn the health of their organisation.

The health of the workforce – both physical and psychological – is a major contributor to the success of an organisation, and can enhance organisational performance and help organisations to gain a competitive advantage.

The Workplace Health Initiative is an innovative project that aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) develop policies and programs that will promote the health and wellbeing of their employees.

The health promotion agency have piloted the workwell initiative with businesses and a summary evaluation is available for your review and examples of case studies from a selection of participating workplaces are presented here.

Lisburn City Council’s Workplace Health Coordinator (Alison Collins, Environmental Health Officer) will be delivering the initiative to all interested businesses within the Council area. A healthy Workplace guide will be provided to participating businesses along with support and guidance to enable them to assess their organisational and employee needs and to develop and implement a health action plan. The successful businesses will receive a certificate of excellence in the promotion of health and wellbeing issues within their organisation.

This proactive initiative will be addressing health and wellbeing issues which will include healthy eating, physical activity, smoking, alcohol & substance abuse, cancers, musculoskeletal disorder, stress, mental health, childcare and health & safety issues.

The benefits employers can receive from participating in this initiative will include:

A reduction in illness-related absenteeism, fewer working days lost and therefore a long-term decline in the sickness rate;
Increased motivation among staff and improvements in the working atmosphere in the company, leading to more flexibility, better communications and readiness to cooperate;
A measurable increase in the quality of products and services, more innovation and creativity, and a rise in productivity;
The prestige factor that improves the public image of the company and makes it more attractive as an employer.
A change towards a healthier work culture

The benefits employees can receive from being involved in this initiative will include:

Improved level of awareness of health and wellbeing issues
Knowledge and information to take back into their families and communities
Adopting a more positive attitude towards lifestyle and behaviour
Helping to motivate and support individuals to make healthier choices

Work Well Healthy Workplace Guide

The healthy workplace guide is a step by step manual to support organisations to develop as a healthy workplace. It is aimed at employers, those responsible for human resources or health and safety, occupational health staff and anybody working in the field of workplace health.

The guide includes:

Information and documentation which can help support an organisation to assess how healthy their workplace is and then plan their healthy workplace programme using quality criteria.
An organisational health assessment tool which helps assess where gaps may be within an organisation relating to healthy workplace practices.

You may download the guide here, (Workwell: Healthy Workplace Guidehttp://www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk/Resources/workwell/workwellworkplaceguide32006.htm),however please contact your workplace health co coordinator to gain access to the online employee questionnaire, which forms part of the needs assessment process.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

What are the criteria to become involved in the Lisburn City Council’s Workplace Health Initiative?

The Workplace Health Initiative aims to support small and medium businesses that are located in Lisburn City Council area.

Why is my employer becoming involved?

Employers want their staff to be happy and healthy. For organisations to succeed, they must value the health and wellbeing of their employees.

So what will Change in the workplace as a result of this?

The organisation will be reviewing three key aspects of the workplace. These ar

Leadership and management – where they will look at how the organisation operates and what they can do to have a positive impact on employee health and wellbeing. They will ensure that human resource policies are in place and that systems exist that will make employees working life better.

Physical Environment – The organisation will not only ensure that they have their health and safety in order, but will also make employees physical working environment pleasant to be in.

Health and Wellbeing – The organisation will provide employees with information and opportunities to improve their own health from healthier eating to physical activity.

So what happens next?

There are several stages we will work through.

Stage 1 The organisation will set up a working group to discuss what they are going to include in their healthy workplace programme and how to take it forward.

Stage 2 Employees will be requested to complete the on line work well questionnaire. This will highlight what they want and need from the healthy workplace programme and will cover a variety of health areas. The collective results of the survey will directly feed into the development of the healthy workplace programme.

Stage 3 The working group will meet to develop a health action plan from the findings.

Are the employee questionnaires confidential?

The employee questionnaires are confidential, anonymous and simple to complete. Realistic answers will enable a relevant health action plan to be developed.

Are the activities carried out during work time?

The majority of activities can be carried out during working time but it depends on the activity and the organisation. Ideally activities would be organised once a quarter, so they would not be continually ongoing.

How do I find out more information about the initiative?

Further information is available by either contacting the workplace health coordinator or by completing and returning the on line Expression of Interest form.