Corporate Wellness Program Proposal

5 Ways to Assess and Improve Your Employees’ Health

Emotional health is a state of wellness that comes from understanding and acknowledging our emotions and finding appropriate ways to express them.

As workforce, we often bring emotional problems from our childhood or current family life into the workplace because we have not dealt with them effectively outside of work.

This can seriously damage worksite relationships and lead to poor performance and negative feelings all around.

Many tools and techniques exist for helping us improve our emotional health. Some of the most common are given below, with real-life case histories illustrating their use.

When an unpleasant mood or feeling persists over a length of time, do not hesitate to seek out a qualified specialist. Health promotion programs generally have specialist support already in place as part of their services.

1. Wellness Coaching -

Among the hallmarks of emotional health is the willingness to ask for help when we need it.

Confidential expert help, the coaching and counseling provided by worker assistance or health promotion programs, can provide an external source of strength and insight for “working out” emotionally-based problems instead of “working them in” to your job.

2. Self-help Groups -

Self-help groups are designed to aid people  in emotional situations in which they feel alone.  The purpose of these groups is twofold –  to allow people  to safely feel and express their emotions, and to help break their isolation at work and/or in society at large and reintegrate them into society with the support of a peer group.

The classic self-help group is Alcoholics Anonymous, but thanks to technology, it is possible to connect with others that have common health challenges, no matter how unique the situation.

People  are taking advantage of tele-conference groups and social web sites, like sparkindividuals .com and revolutionhealth.com. Wellness programs often have such groups available through web-based or telephone support. Progressive company health promotion provider

Exan Wellness, for example, offers teleconference cell groups and moderated wellness forums for interacting with others in a supportive, confidential and unknown environment.

People  with shared challenges get together and discuss the emotional challenges they’re facing at work or in other areas of their lives and work through change together.

3. Journaling –  Journaling is often advised by counsellors as a way to help identify and process emotions. People  record their emotions in writing as they experience them, in no matter what form they wish.

By assisting the writer gain greater emotional clarity, journaling can help in making more emotionally informed decisions. In much the same way, letter writing empowers individuals  to identify and process the emotions they feel in relation to others.

The letter doesn’t have to be sent or its contents shared –  it simply provides a place for the expression of feelings.

An 18-year-old “army brat,” Brent has always done well at school, academically and athletically. But in his last year of high school, something seems to have happened to him. He’s lost all interest in school, becoming moody and withdrawn.

Brent describes to his guidance counselor all the times he’d to move when he was growing up. Each move wrenched him from his friends and forced him to play the role of the “new kid on the block.”

The counselor suggests that Brent write letters to the friends he has missed over the years telling them how he felt. Finally, he has a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Assess Your Emotional Health – Companies that seek to boost employees’ interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence in the workplace are more successful, according to ground-breaking journalist Daniel Goleman.

And emotional intelligence is the buzzword in workplaces these days. Some wellness programs have information about emotional intelligence, or emotional health assessments. Seek out more information about emotional intelligence for better corporate wellness.

5. Friendships/Support Systems –  Friendships allow individuals  to feel supported in their emotional journeys.  At the same time, they give individuals  an opportunity to create their empathetic skills.

These skills are also important for workplace health. When we are empathic with fellow staff, we help them resolve negative or unhealthful emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through internet based groups.

Many people  are finding emotional satisfaction by connecting or re-connecting with friends through Facebook and other social web sites.

Sometimes worksite stress that isn’t dealt with in a healthful manner could be brought home. A 36-year-old mother of three, Sarah, wants to be a good wife, a good mother, and a success at her job.

One day, drained after a long day at work, she shouted at her rambunctious kids and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her.  To make matters worse, she believes she’s a failure at her job in addition to at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger coworkers advance much more quickly up the corporate ladder despite having less experience than she has.

On the advice of a counselor, she determines to take time out for herself and take a course for amateur painters. It doesn’t take long before she strikes up a friendship with a single mom in the class.

She once led a life very similar to Sarah’s before managing to achieve a better balance between work and family. Her new friend becomes a much-needed sounding board for Sarah and offers her perspectives on her life that she had not considered before.

25% Jump in Business Interest in Worker Wellness

Company wellness for their workers, employers are discovering, is good for the health of their businesses as well. Health promotion programs help to cut the costs associated with poor employee health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.

A recent Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 United States organizations indicated a meaningful paradigm shift in how organizations view health benefits for their employees.

Of those surveyed this year, 88 percent are committed to instituting long-term health care assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their workforce, with the goal of boosting the health and productivity of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent increase in interest in health promotion programs over 2007.

A strong offering of wellness programs to meet the demand has resulted. Health assistance providers have broadened their wellness programs with tools that address general lifestyle factors, physical, social and psychological health factors.

Programs look to predict chronic condition in their staff and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Organizations also demand a way to measure the effectiveness of their health care spending.

Self-care is our motive, says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving workforce tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the benefits, while giving individuals  resources to reach out for help is the key to successful lifestyle change.

Corporations are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver wellness programs.  The kind of wellness program we have created over years delivers the highest health care return on investment.”

Combining employee wellness promotions, internet based assessments and health trackers, internet based medical information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a broad variety of health professionals, is behind the success of the Exan wellness program. “Having internet based statistics about employees’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – ROI” says Vic Lebouthillier.

Corporations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to create holistic health promotion programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior change and eliminate barriers to healthcare, says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.

However, in a separate survey of 30,000 personnel, 74% said that, although they felt their company had an obligation to help them understand how to use their health benefits program, only 12% felt the company had any right to tell them how to be healthy.

Based on these results, employers need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their workforce in addition to the business. It’s a win-win situation.

Companys and employees did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95% of employees understand that their taking care of their health today will impact future health care payments.

A similar percentage also understand the important of early detection and avoidance when it comes to saving on healthcare costs.

Cost is important for most corporations as well. Over 80% of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts did not involve shifting responsibility for healthcare onto employees.

Although 64 percent of companies have shifted costs to their staff, only 17 percent plan to do so in the next 3-5 years. Similarly with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent plan to use them in 2008.

These survey leads todicate corporations are getting more proactive in helping their employees to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is clearly good for the wellness of employees, but also for the wellness of the corporations they work for.

Almost half the companies surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to increased productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60 percent plan to institute health promotion programs that help workers change and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle.

Nearly of these companies will also use data and measurements to ensure their healthcare strategies meet their healthcare objectives?

It’s clear to virtually every American (in particular those of us in business) that healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control.

No one doubts that either the market will solve the problem OR the government will impose one on us. Managed care has failed from either a cost containment or quality of care perspective.

Organizations have reached the point where the cost of providing health insurance is nearly as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on healthcare and its impact on organization and vice versa.

Company wellness as an operational perspective in lieu of merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising healthcare costs.

The Insurance Problem

The first step in correcting the problem is to realize that an staff member’s health is their own responsibility. Expecting corporations to provide unlimited medical insurance coverage is simply unrealistic and unreasonable.

It’s time for employers (on a broad scale) to reconsider their role in providing medical insurance coverage. Instead of providing complete coverage for all workers through group plans, organizations should start to shift the burden of health coverage to those covered.

Here’s the approach. Give catastrophic health insurance as a group benefit to all employees with a large enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost low cost for the corporation.

Then, allow staff to purchase their own health insurance policies (based on their own needs) and pay for them through payroll deduction with pre-tax earnings.

There are numerous insurance organizations that sell individual plans on this basis. Everyone wins. Employees can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own doctors. Companies win by stopping the endless cycle of rising costs and ever-changing plans.

And when person become responsible for the cost of their own insurance, they become more attentive to their own health.

Besides, if an staff member is interested in working for you ONLY because your corporation offers excellent insurance benefits aren’t they telling you they’re going to cost you more money in the future?

Develop a “Wellness Culture”

Our current “sickness culture” perpetuates the health care crisis and hastens the demise of market-based solutions. By sickness culture, I mean our focus on medical problems in lieu of on having a healthful worksite and performance culture.

Additionally, what’d a “wellness culture” look like? First, instead of paid sick days, employees might  be rewarded at year’s end with an attendance bonus.

Workers would be reimbursed for successful completion of use of tobacco cessation and weight-loss programs. Businesses would invest in corporate memberships at local health and fitness centers so every worker can participate.

Workers would be offered in-house health promotion programs on a variety of issues ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Finally, organizations would commit to hiring and retaining healthy workers.

Simply put, healthful staff cost less and are more productive than unhealthful ones. Applicants should be screened for health habits and practices that limit their productivity and increase the likelihood of future expense.

While this might seem harsh, it rewards those staff members whose personal lifestyle and habits ensure the best Return on Investment by the corporation committing to hire, train and pay them.

Be open to “alternative and complementary” approaches

Studies published in major medical journals reveal that individuals who use “alternative and complementary” health modalities (including chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga and massage) are typically healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the typical American.

Since these person look for ways to stay healthy without drugs and surgery, they end up being a net benefit as for attendance and productivity. Old prejudices in this area ought to be discarded in order for corporations to improve productivity and increase profitability

Conclusion

Health Care costs are increasing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an abysmal failure. Companies are buckling beneath the pressure of providing health coverage to their staff.

American competitiveness in the market is sagging. These times call for incredible solutions. It is time for American businesses to consider some out-of-the-box solutions to the health care crisis.

Corporate wellness is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All choices must be considered while we still have a chance.

Research spanning more than a decade has consistently shown wellness programs to be financially effective and that every dollar invested on a wellness program can return $2.30 and $10.10 by reducing absenteeism, sick day usage and by decreasing insurance costs.

Also it’s noted that there are marked improvements in worker performance and productivity in companies that start a health promotion program.

Healthy companies enjoy increased worker morale and an improved ability to attract and retain key individuals . Furthermore, staff are more alert and productive.

For  instance, Coca Cola reports that they save close to $500 a year per employee once they implemented a workout plan in which 60 percent of their employees participate.

Coors Brewing Company stated that employees who participated in their health promotion programs decreased their absentee rate by 18%.

Staff Members enjoy their share of benefits from wellness programs too. A healthful lifestyle affects every part of a person’s life, including their work environment.

Health promotion programs lead to fewer injuries, less human error and a work environment that is more harmonious and relaxed. Moreover, employees who work at a company that implements a wellness program know that their company is concerned about their wellness.

Workers often report a reduction in their stress levels because of wellness programs.

As staff feel better, more relaxed, more valued and more human to their company; they enjoy an increase in productivity. This increase in productivity, while advantageous to the company, is also essential to the staff member as it increases their own sense of self worth and confidence levels.

Workers who feel successful and who feel that they accomplish objectives are overall happier and in a better frame of mind.

The advantages of wellness programs, both tangible and intangible, are evident. It is a wise move for a company to implement a wellness program, particularly when they incorporate some form of mental health aspect into it.

This also has social benefits as domestic violence and child abuse is shown to be reduced in areas where health promotion programs are implemented. These days, an organization can almost not afford to have some sort of health promotion program to offer to their staff.

Some of the top health promotion programs currently in use today include -

HRAs

Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) is a top health promotion program currently in use globally. Organizations that implement it determine the safety and health concerns of workforce by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workforce.

It can, for instance, guide the organization into determining how the air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem.  An Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) can also evaluate the level of exposure staff have to certain perilous or perilous materials and practices.

Immunizations

This is not always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Notwithstanding, it has also become an important component of the top employee wellness programs in many corporations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for example, are offered to workforce for free.

Staff Member Assistance Programs

Worker Assistance Programs consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to staff regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many corporations, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

In-house diet and nutrition drives

This is another wellness program that companies use, particularly those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, typically in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

In-house wellness newsletter and campaign drives

Among the top health promotion programs that organizations can begin is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign.

The campaign might  be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, such as tobacco use hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the workplace, etc.

The newsletter in itself can be an effective means to deliver information to employees or members of an organization but it is far from perfect.

Some employees, for example, may not read the newsletter entirely or even pay attention to it. If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize positive results.

Exercise and Physical Fitness

Another top wellness program for corporations is one that involves physical activities. Companies often sponsor exercise-related events like marathons and corporation sports programs to encourage employees to remain fit or lose excess weight.

In mid- to large-sized businesses, businesses may even pay for fitness club memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Wellness Incentives

Some of the top health promotion programs implemented by companies involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored health promotion programs that reward workforce for achieving specific wellness-related objectives.

Participation in health campaigns and signing up for health promotion programs are two of the most commonly rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to over time acquired points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash may also be used.

However, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be one of the top options among organizations who are willing to modify it for fit their unique needs.

Colleague Pressure

In many companies, companies take benefit of peer pressure to encourage workers to take part in health promotion programs. This is currently one of the favorite worker health promotion programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Colleague pressure is usually leveraged to help promote competitions referring to employee wellness and to persuade workforce to be active in company-sponsored wellness fairs.

Wellness is a great concept. It brings happiness into health and encourages a in fact holistic approach to life. Wikipedia defines wellness as a healthful balance of the mind-body and spirit that leads to an overall feeling of wellness.

It sounds like exactly what every one is looking for. But when you start to talk about corporate health promotion, or corporate health promotion, all life goes out of the concept. Total solutions, disease management (DM) and health screening don’t inspire visions of enjoying life and living it to the full.

They begin from the assumption that ailment is here to stay and needs to be discovered, managed and controlled but can never be healed.

The wellness industry is growing phenomenally fast. Health Promotion guru, Paul Zane Pilzer, has labeled it the next trillion dollar industry. But wellness has two different faces.

On the one hand there are the small organizations – people  working from home or in small centers selling all types of wellness products and services at a speed of growth that is escalating quickly.

On the contrary company wellness is also exploding but in a very different direction.

The baby boomers who are driving the well-liked wellness revolution have been described as the first generation to refuse to accept the inevitability of death.

They are actively looking for ways to prevent aging, stay healthy into old age and enjoy themselves more than ever before after retirement. This is a radical departure from current notions of old age, which are often dominated by pictures of sickness, frailty and suffering.

The businesses have been largely forced to take on wellness. This is partly through legislative pressure, with many countries introducing laws to make businesses liable for stress-related ailment in their workers.

It’s also financially motivated, as research has repeatedly shown the enormous costs of absenteeism (and increasingly of presenteeism as well).

Whereas the baby boomers are actively looking for new solutions and new life choices the organizations are struggling to organize largely traditional and mainstream health systems, such as doctors, nurses, insurance and screening systems.

The problem is that the traditional health system does not have solutions for the problems that individuals  are handling.

Nobody ever went to see a doctor to get happy, because a doctor doesn’t have any clue how to make individuals  happy.  And many stress-related medical problems are described as chronic conditions, which means that they last for a very long time – or maybe for the rest of your life – because there is no medical cure.

Counseling is a common offering in businesses for emotional problems, but whilst it might provide a useful pressure valve it is not a powerful treatment for stress, unhappiness or depression.

Imagine walking into a business where the workers are happy, healthful, full of inspiration, fit, love working, have meaningful family lives, active social lives, and enjoyable relationships at work and in their community.

That kind of business would be a pleasure to work in and bound to be successful because people  would be working to their optimum capacity.

So can we create a system of true wellness that will serve the development of the organizations and their workers and will pay for itself because of the benefits that both sides will gain?

First of all we have to face the fact that we can’t place all the responsibility into the hands of the current health system. Absenteeism, stress, depression, the very roots of the wellness revolution, haven’t been solved by the current system.

When they had been we wouldn’t have this revolution, we’d all be much more well. So we need to look elsewhere for solutions.

We also cannot rely on makeshift feel-good wellness offerings, such as the onsite massage team which visits the office once a month or the wellness day that raises awareness for a little while but leaves most people  unaffected. They’re easy to organize but have little or no real effect on staff member health promotion.

Corporate needs are different than individual needs and many of the new small wellness organizations that are springing up simply do not have the capacity to serve the corporate market.

However it’s in the best interest of both corporations and workers to find and create systems of wellness that really work – that benefit people  to be happy, handle stress, love working, and to have enough energy to go home at the end of the day and enjoy their family and social life.

So far the corporate world has hijacked the concept of wellness and turned it into a modern version of occupational health. It is time to elevate the vision and find out how to make indeed healthful, happy workplaces where individuals  thrive.

High rates of employee turnover and the costs of sick days are increasingly taking bites into corporate profits.  The high cost of recruitment programs only adds to the challenges that these problems in sum cost the typical corporation.

Many corporations are locating the solution to these challenges by increasing job satisfaction, team building, and the implementation of wellness programs that yield a reduction in these costs.

It’s become increasingly clear to most managers that a well designed wellness program with a strong nutritional and fitness lifestyle emphasis will directly meet this need.

Management’s goals for a productive health promotion program must be viewed through the perspective of increased worker productivity, decreased absenteeism because of health related causes, improved worker morale, decreased utilisation of corporation subsidised health benefits, enhanced team cohesion and effectiveness and a decrease in turnover because of lack of job satisfaction.

It’s obvious that an betterment in any of these areas will have a positive impact on the financial status of any organisation.

The benefits from an workers point of view may be seen in improved health, increased energy levels, reduced body fat, a more youthful fit body, an increased ability to handle job related stress, greater feelings of confidence and morale and more social connections at work contributing to greater feelings of satisfaction with their work and worksite.

To be most productive a health promotion program needs to achieve both managements and personnel goals, and this can be accomplished through a health promotion program that will provide the individual staff member with an awareness of their current physical condition and attitudes to fitness and wellness, and the benefits of attaining a fitter, healthier lifestyle, and a plan that will allow them to achieve the necessary changes to their physical condition that can be applied in their life and work.

The Bottom Line – Health Promotion Programs

Lowered Absenteeism – Dupont reduced absenteeism by 47.5% over six years for the participants of their employee exercise initiative, (Health Behaviour, March 1992).

Decreased Health Care Costs – Steel case showed a reduction in medical claim costs of 55% for corporate exercise initiative participants over non-participants over a six year period – an average of $478.61 for participants versus non-participants who averaged $868.88, (The Am. Journal of Wellness, Sept/Oct, 1991).

Reduced Turnover – Turnover among fitness program participants at the Canadian Life Assurance Business was 32.4 percent lower over a seven year period compared with non-participants (Canadian Journal of Public Health, Jan/Feb, 1988).

Positive Return on Investment – Blue Cross Blue Shield  of Indiana found that its staff fitness initiative had a 250% return on investment; $2.51 for every $1 invested over a five year period (American Journal of Wellness, March, April, 1991).

The Partnership for Prevention was formed to encourage Fortune 1000 organizations to consider making workforce health a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) issue and adopt strategies to promote prevention and wellness.

After a few years of double-digit rate increases for medical insurance, organizations are realizing that among the best ways to slow the cost increases is to have workers take more responsibility for both costs and health options.

A majority of businesses surveyed feel that the best way for decling costs is financial incentives to encourage personnel to adopt healthier life choices.

Almost 100% of corporations surveyed say that health costs are going to be a vital or significant concern over the next five years, according to a recent survey by United Benefit Advisors.

More businesss are adopting higher deductible medical plans with HRA’s or HSA’S, health promotion programs, and expanded disease management programs in order to control ever-increasing healthcare costs.

Failure to deal with these issues could be disastrous for an employer. Wayne Sensor, CEO of Alegent Health recently stated, “I think that we have built a health care machinery we can’t afford. I think we’re choking the economic engine of America.”

In his October 2005 newsletter, Dr. Andrew Weil stated, “I think rising health- care costs are becoming the major economic issue in our nation”. Obesity costs California companies billions of dollars each year.

Projected costs for 2005 may reach 28 billion dollars for direct and indirect health costs, employee’s compensation, and lost productivity. California has experienced among the fastest growing rates of obesity of any state.

As reported by California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe, “The obesity epidemic is more than a public health crisis, it is an economic crisis.” What’s frightening is that most people don’t even realize that they’re obese, which is defined as only 20 percent above normal weight.

There is a great need for additional education on weight and resulting diseases, and the workplace is an ideal venue. Wellness education and programs can lead to a meaningful return on investment and, when structured properly, can produce causes a very short period of time.

While many companys have attempted some form of health promotion program in the past, results from those efforts have been disappointing.

In many cases, the healthier workers participated for incentives, such as health and fitness center memberships, but those who needed it most didn’t take advantage of the wellness program in a meaningful way.

Companies are looking at ways to encourage more personnel to purchase into the wellness movement.

A recent webinar hosted by Human Resource Executive Magazine and presented by Carlson Marketing Group titled, “Healthier Employees; Healthier Bottom Line –  Engaging Workers is the Missing Link in Managing Healthcare Costs,” drove this point home.

This session provided actionable advice on how businesses are achieving higher impact with their wellness investments by focusing on employee engagement. It also highlighted how you can create an Economic Engagement Model to forecast the potential impact for your business.

Employers can simply no longer ignore the issue of their staff member’s unhealthy life choices and must act to engage them in a meaningful health promotion program to reduce health costs, absenteeism and lost productivity.

Staff Members also benefit as they derive better health and greater satisfaction in both their personal and expert lives.  The alternative is being caught in a non-competitive position and severely impacting the bottom-line of the corporation.

A listing of potential wellness topics and ideas not previously mentioned follows. Take some time to “think tank and brainstorm” new ideas with your own internal worker Wellness Committee.

Nutrition Category

o  Low-fat campaign/food groups

o  Team salad bars

o  Vending machine changes

o  Diet analysis by a nutritionist

o  Produce on parade

o  Eating disorder support group

o  Restaurant education

Exercise/Exercise Category

o  ”Elevoiders” – stair climbing

o  Poker walk

o  Mall walking program

o  Facilities ?.” showers, bike lockers, exercise space, etc.

o  Team treks

o  Walk-a-block trails

o  Recreational tournaments

o  How-to-select equipment talks

o  Running maps

o  Biking maps

o  Deskercises (mini stretches for desk jockeys)

o  Fit-over-forty club

o  Tennis shoe Tuesday

o  Walk 100 miles in 100 days

o  Walking “buddies”

o  NW Trek!

Miscellaneous Category

o  House calls

o  Meet your benefits providers

o  Dental health

o  Fire safety

o  Ergonomic assessments

o  Self-help learning

o  CPR/first aid course

o  Hearing test

o  Hand washing campaign

o  Cancer screenings

o  Back class

o  Passports to health

o  Vision screenings

Stress Management Category

o  Comedy hour

o  Stress Pest

o  Humor newsletter

o  Money management seminars

o  Time management seminars

o  Relaxation class

o  Better sleep campaign

o  Relaxation room

Other departments within an organization will likely focus on related areas of employee safety and injury prevention. Wellness activities are a natural partner to many other human resource (HR), employee motivation, and safety programs.

Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe working practices are three areas which could  be coordinated together.

o  Soft Tissue Sprains and Strains –  This injury category continues to remain the number one financial loss for workers’ compensation. Many health insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Health Promotion and safety efforts can focus on -

o  Warm up stretches before beginning work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Give training to work groups so they may start a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.

o  The wellness committee may consider contracting a fitness specialist to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for staff member groups throughout the year.

o  Offer body mechanics training each year or more frequently if possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, as well as feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.

o  Partner with your business’s workers’ compensation carrier to assist in providing body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventive services which may help workforce work safer, smarter, and avoid injury.

o  Implement a safety concerns suggestion box. Make sure to encourage workers to report safety and/or injury concerns. Make sure to help senior level management to establish policy to recognize and reward workers who offer safety suggestions, provide tips, and solution ideas.

o  A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider addressing such topics as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.

o  Partner with upper-level management and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are successful with safety and injury prevention.

o  The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is important and applicable to every group.

o  Provide ergonomic training opportunities to interested workers volunteers. These person can then assist other workers to assess their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.

o  It’s often more effective to have an observer evaluate staff for helpful and friendly comfort suggestions rather than it’s for person to assess themselves.

o  One suggestion is to have workforce remind one another about correct posture, to take breaks, to stop and do quick mini stretches, etc.

o  Take before and after photos of work areas as changes are made. This will help to demonstrate how small adjustment changes can often make large comfort changes.

o  Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help create ergonomic policies and practices and to provide worker training.