Wellness Quote – Wellness 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 staff, we often bring emotional problems from our childhood or current family life into the workplace because we haven’t 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 licensed professional. Health promotion programs typically have professional support already in place as part of their services.

1. Wellness Coaching -

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

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

2. Self-help Groups -

Self-help groups are designed to aid individuals  in emotional situations in which they feel alone.  The purpose of these groups is twofold –  to allow individuals  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 coworker group.

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

People  are taking benefit of tele-conference groups and social websites, such as sparkpeople .com and revolutionhealth.com. Wellness programs often have such groups available through internet based or telephone support. Progressive corporate wellness provider

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

Individuals  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 recommended by counsellors as a way to help identify and process emotions. Individuals  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 enables individuals  to identify and process the emotions they feel in relation to others.

The letter does not 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 has 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’s missed over the years telling them how he felt. Finally, he’s a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Assess Your Emotional Health – Organizations that seek to improve employees’ interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence in the workplace are more successful, as reported by ground-breaking journalist Daniel Goleman.

And emotional intelligence is the buzzword in worksites 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 people  to feel supported in their emotional journeys.  At the same time, they give people  an opportunity to develop their empathetic skills.

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

A lot of individuals  are locating emotional satisfaction by connecting or re-connecting with friends through Facebook and other social websites.

Sometimes worksite stress that is not dealt with in a healthful manner may 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 children 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 decides 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 hadn’t considered before.

25% Jump in Business Interest in Staff Member Wellness

Company health promotion for their staff members, businesss are discovering, is good for the health of their organizations as well. Wellness programs help to cut the costs associated with poor worker health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.

A recent Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 U.S. corporations indicated a meaningful paradigm shift in how corporations view health benefits for their workforce.

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

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

Programs look to predict chronic illness in their staff and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Businesses 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 personnel 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.

Businesses are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver health promotion programs.  The kind of health promotion program we’ve created over years delivers the highest healthcare return on investment.”

Combining employee wellness promotions, internet based assessments and health trackers, internet based health information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a wide variety of health experts, 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 – Return On Investment (ROI)” says Vic Lebouthillier.

Organizations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to develop holistic wellness 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.

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

Based on these results, corporations need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their employees in addition to the company. It is a win-win situation.

Businesss and workers did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95% of workers 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 prevention when it comes to saving on healthcare costs.

Cost is important for most businesses as well. Over 80 percent of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts didn’t involve shifting responsibility for health care onto personnel.

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

These survey results indicate businesses are getting more proactive in assisting their personnel to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is clearly good for the wellness of personnel, but also for the wellness of the businesses they work for.

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

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

It is clear to virtually every American (particularly those of us in business) that health care 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.

Corporations have reached the point where the cost of providing medical insurance is almost as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on health care and its impact on corporation and vice versa.

Corporate health promotion as an operational perspective instead of merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising health care costs.

The Insurance Problem

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

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

Here’s the approach. Provide catastrophic medical insurance as a group benefit to all workforce with a big enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost cheap for the company.

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 companies that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Employees can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own doctors. Corporations win by stopping the endless cycle of rising costs and ever-changing plans.

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

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

Create a “Health Promotion Culture”

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

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

Employees would be reimbursed for successful completion of tobacco use cessation and weight-loss programs. Businesses would invest in corporate memberships at local fitness clubs so every staff member can participate.

Staff Members would be offered in-house wellness programs on a selection of issues ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Lastly, businesses would commit to hiring and retaining healthy workforce.

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

While this may seem harsh, it rewards those workforce whose personal lifestyle and habits ensure the best Return on Investment by the company 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 ordinarily healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the typical American.

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

Conclusion

Healthcare costs are increasing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an awful failure. Corporations are buckling underneath the pressure of providing health coverage to their employees.

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

Company health promotion is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All choices ought to be considered while we still have a chance.

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

Furthermore it’s noted that there are marked improvements in staff member performance and productivity in corporations that implement a health promotion program.

Healthful businesses enjoy increased employee morale and an improved ability to attract and retain key people . In addition, workforce are more alert and productive.

For example, Coca Cola reports that they save nearly $500 a year per employee once they implemented a fitness program in which 60% of their employees participate.

Coors Brewing Company announced that personnel who participated in their wellness programs lowered their absentee rate by 18%.

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

Wellness programs result in fewer injuries, less human error and a work environment that is more harmonious and relaxed. Moreover, workforce who work at a corporation that implements a health promotion program know that their corporation is concerned about their wellness.

Employees often report a reduction in their stress levels because of health promotion programs.

As workforce 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 corporation, is also essential to the worker as it increases their own sense of self worth and confidence levels.

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

The benefits of wellness programs, both tangible and intangible, are evident. It’s a wise move for a organization to implement a wellness program, specifically when they incorporate some form of psychological health aspect into it.

This also has social benefits as domestic violence and child abuse is shown to be decreased 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 workforce.

Some of the top wellness programs currently in use today include -

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs)

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

It can, for example, guide the corporation into deciding 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 HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workforce have to certain hazardous or hazardous materials and practices.

Immunizations

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

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

Employee Assistance Programs

Staff Member Assistance Programs consist of a broad 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 health promotion program that companies use, specifically those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, generally in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

In-house wellness newsletter and campaign drives

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

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

The newsletter in itself could be an effective means to deliver information to staff members or members of an organization but it’s 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’ll be easier to maximize positive results.

Exercise and Physical Activity

Another top health promotion program for organizations is one that involves physical activities. Companies often sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and organization sports programs to encourage workers to remain fit or lose excess weight.

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

Health Promotion Incentives

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

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

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

Coworker Pressure

In many corporations, corporations take advantage of colleague pressure for encourage staff to participate in health promotion programs. This is currently among the favorite worker health promotion programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Coworker pressure is often leveraged to help promote competitions referring to company wellness and to persuade workers to be active in company-sponsored health fairs.

Health Promotion is a excellent 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 begin to talk about corporate health promotion, or corporate health promotion, all life goes out of the concept. Total solutions, disease management and medical testing don’t inspire visions of enjoying life and living it to the full.

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

The wellness industry is growing phenomenally fast. Wellness 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 companies – people  working from home or in small centers selling all types of wellness products and services at a speed of growth that is escalating rapidly.

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

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

They’re actively looking for ways to prevent aging, stay healthful 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 companies have been largely forced to take on wellness. This is partly through legislative pressure, with many countries introducing laws to make companies liable for stress-related illness in their workers.

It is 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 corporations are struggling to organize largely traditional and mainstream health systems, like physicians, nurses, insurance and screening systems.

The problem is that the traditional health system doesn’t have solutions for the problems that people  are handling.

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

Counseling is a common offering in companies for emotional problems, but whilst it may provide a useful pressure valve it isn’t a powerful treatment for stress, unhappiness or depression.

Imagine walking into a corporation where the employees 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 type of company would be a pleasure to work in and bound to be successful because individuals  would be working to their optimum capacity.

So can we develop a system of true wellness that will serve the development of the businesses and their personnel 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’d been we wouldn’t have this revolution, we would all be much more well. So we need to look elsewhere for solutions.

We also can’t 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 are easy to organize but have little or no real effect on worker health promotion.

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

Notwithstanding it’s in the best interest of both businesses and personnel to find and develop systems of wellness that really work – that benefit individuals  to be happy, handle stress, love working, and to have enough energy to go home after the day and enjoy their family and social life.

So far the corporate world has hijacked the theory of wellness and turned it into a modern version of occupational health. It’s time to elevate the vision and figure out how to make truly healthy, happy workplaces where people  thrive.

High rates of staff member 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 organization.

A lot of businesses are finding 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 health promotion program with a strong nutritional and fitness lifestyle emphasis will directly meet this need.

Management’s objectives for a productive health promotion program must be viewed through the perspective of increased staff member productivity, decreased absenteeism because of health related causes, improved staff member 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 is apparent that an improvement in any of these areas will have a positive impact on the financial status of any organisation.

The benefits from an personnel point of view can be seen in improved health, increased energy levels, decreased 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 workplace.

To be most productive a health promotion program needs to achieve both managements and workforce objectives, and this may be accomplished through a health promotion program that’ll provide the individual employee with an awareness of their current physical condition and attitudes to fitness and well-being, and the benefits of attaining a fitter, healthier lifestyle, and a plan that’ll allow them to achieve the necessary changes to their physical condition that may be applied for their life and work.

The Bottom Line – Wellness Programs

Reduced Absenteeism – Dupont lowered absenteeism by 47.5 percent over six years for the participants of their employee fitness initiative, (Health Behaviour, March 1992).

Reduced Health Care Costs – Steel case showed a reduction in medical claim costs of 55% for corporate fitness 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).

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

Positive Return on Investment – BC/BS  of Indiana found that its corporate exercise 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 Avoidance was formed to encourage Fortune 1000 corporations to consider making workforce health a CEO issue and adopt strategies to promote avoidance and wellness.

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

A majority of corporations surveyed feel that the best way for lowering costs is financial incentives to encourage workforce to adopt healthier life choices.

Almost 100 percent of corporations surveyed say that health costs will be a critical or significant concern over the next five years, as reported by a recent survey by United Benefit Advisors.

More companys are adopting higher deductible healthcare programs with HRA’s or HSA’S, wellness programs, and broader disease management (DM) programs in order to control ever-increasing healthcare costs.

Failure to deal with these issues can be disastrous for an business. Wayne Sensor, CEO of Alegent Health lately stated, “I think that we have built a healthcare 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 healthcare costs, staff member’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 do not even realize that they are obese, which is defined as only 20% above normal weight.

There’s a excellent need for more education on weight and resulting illnesses, and the workplace is an ideal venue. Wellness education and programs can result in a significant return on investment and, if structured properly, can produce results in a very short period of time.

Despite the fact that many businesss have attempted some form of wellness program in the past, results from those efforts have been disappointing.

In many cases, the healthier workers participated for incentives, like health and fitness center memberships, but those who needed it most did not take advantage of the health promotion program in a meaningful way.

Companies are looking at ways to encourage more employees to buy into the wellness movement.

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

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

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

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

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 Health Promotion 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

Physical Activity/Exercise Category

o  ”Elevoiders” – stair climbing

o  Poker walk

o  Mall walking program

o  Facilities

Other departments within an organization will likely focus on related areas of worker safety and injury prevention. Health Promotion activities are a natural partner to many other human resource, worker 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 starting work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Give training to work groups so they may begin a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.

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

o  Provide body mechanics training each year or more frequently if possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, in addition to feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.

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

o  Implement a safety concerns suggestion box. Make certain to encourage staff to report safety and/or injury concerns. Make certain to help executive management to establish policy to recognize and reward staff 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 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  Make available 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 is often more effective to have an observer evaluate workforce for helpful and friendly comfort suggestions rather than it is for person to assess themselves.

o  One suggestion is to have staff 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 employee training.