Wellness Program Blog

Make safety a key concern when planning exercise in your worksite.  An accident or injury will not “sell” the health promotion program and may end up costing the employer. This section will help you take the necessary steps to avoid an accident or injury.

Points to Consider

Using Qualified Experts

Hire professionally certified instructors to lead fitness courses (whether on or offsite) or to run workplace lunch and learn sessions. It’s also a good idea to ask the instructor for references.

When you hire instructors, make certain that your insurance protects both the instructor and your organization.

Risk Management

Whether we like it or not, liability is an issue these days.

Risk management plans do not have to be complicated or expensive. for  instance, part of the plan might require that workers complete fitness appraisals and sign statements accepting the possible risks involved in exercise.

It compensates to be prepared. Safety and emergency policies and procedures reduce the risk of loss both to person and to your organization.

Ask workforce to sign a waiver when participating in both onsite and offsite activities. for liability reasons, workforce must understand the risks involved in participating in the activity and understand that they are waiving their right to sue.

The worker should not be asked to sign the waiver just before the activity.  The waiver might  be invalid when workforce claim that they did not fully understand the risks.

Other Safety Tips

Here is a list of some other safety tips to keep in mindwhen planning exercise.

Look at the environment where workforce are active –

• Sidewalks should be clear of ice and snow, away from falling debris or snow, and have clearly marked curbs and safe crosswalks.

• Stairwells must be well-lit and in good condition and have handrails and safety features, so that employees are not locked out of floors.

• Fitness facilities should’ve proper flooring, good ventilation, and access to water and an emergency telephone.

Offer health screening for workers participating in activities –

• PAR-Q

• PAR-MEDX for Pregnancy

Below are some other important safety factors –

• First-aid kit and automated external defibrillator on site.

• Emergency Action Plan (EAP) in place and practised.

• Commercial grade fitness equipment (not donated, “hand me down” equipment).

• Documented equipment inspection and maintenance schedule.

• Orientation of equipment and wellness programs done by licensed professional with a exercise background.

To make a difference in the lives of your fellow staff, you first need to understand that getting active isn’t simply a matter of choice. Some things are within our individual control, but others are shaped by the people  and circumstances in which we live and work.

It is Easier to be Active When…

• We know what to do and have the confidence, skills and opportunity to do it.

• It is fun. “Working out” at the health and fitness center doesn’t appeal to everyone. Activities need to reflect what people  enjoy.

• Our friends, family or peers are active with us (or at least support us).

• We feel safe, thanks to well-lit streets or stairwells.

• Sidewalks, walking/bicycling trails, parks and health clubs are nearby.

• We have money to pay for equipment, instruction or memberships.

• We can walk, bike or take public transit to work.

• Active options like taking the stairs, having stretch breaks at meetings and going outside at lunch are “normal” in the worksite.

• Managers support and recognize worker efforts. Better yet, they participate.

• We can juggle our work hours to fit in exercise.

Think about how you could develop some of these conditions in your workplace. By taking these steps, you will make it more likely that employees both want and are able to be active during the workday.

Workplace physical activity programs that focus only on individuals have limited success. Studies show that reaching individuals  in various ways gives the best chance of long-term success.

A strategy directed at multiple levels is also called an “ecological approach.”

The kind of evaluation you pick depends on when you do it and the kind of information you collect.

This section describes when to use three kinds –  formative, process and summative examinations.

During the Planning Stage

Use formative investigations in the planning stages to ensure that your wellness program is based on solid information. These investigations also help you to develop effective and appropriate materials and procedures.

Examples of formative evaluations include –

• records of upper management commitments to the wellness program

• staff member interest surveys

• worksite environmental assessments

• pre-testing of wellness program materials

During Your Program

A process examination is used when the initiative is underway. These investigations help you –

• Track what is going well and what isn’t (and how to revise your wellness program)

• figure out when you’re reaching the workers you want to reach

• describe the initiative to others

• monitor who is participating in the initiative

During or After Your Program

Summative examinations happen when the initiative is already in place or completed. Use this kind of evaluation to measure what employees like about the initiative and what could be improved.

All three types of investigations are useful.  The investigation you choose depends on the time and financial resources you’ve available.

What Do You Want to Achieve?

Think about why you’re investigating  and what your examination is going to measure.

When you are attempting to figure out whether an program has been successful, see if you followed your mission statement and met your objectives and objectives.

If you do not have a mission statement or goals or goals, decide with executive management and your employee committee how your corporation will measure success.

For example, you are able to measure success by changes in –

• Physical measures (e.g., strength, flexibility, waist circumference of employees).

• Psychological measures (e.g., employee morale, satisfaction levels, stress levels).

• Productivity measures (e.g., decrease in absenteeism rates, increased staff member productivity).

Thinking About Employees

When you are considering making improvements to the initiative, think about whether the initiative is still relevant and appropriate for employees. Find out when there are any barriers to participation in the wellness program or to participation in exercise during the workday.

As employees are the ones participating in the wellness program, it is imperative that you give them a chance to provide feedback on the physical activity program.

Picking an Analysis Method

Decide on your examination method. Both measurable results (e.g., absenteeism rates or questionnaire responses) and descriptive results (e.g., one-on-one interviews or focus groups) can be used to evaluate.

The method you choose will depend on the time and funding available and what you want to measure.

Determining Exactly how to Do the Examination

Plan when and where you’ll do your investigation (and who will be analyzed). for additional information, read the “Kinds of Investigations” section on this website.

You might want to pilot test your evaluation (e.g., with members of the employee committee) before sending it out to employees.  The employee committee might also want to evaluate the initiative’s planning process.

Doing the Analysis

• Compare your results to baseline information (i.e., evaluation results from before the launch of your program). When you don’t have this information, save your evaluation results to compare with later results.

You can also look at other information you might have, such as employee satisfaction survey results.

• Analyse and share meaningful and easy-to-understand results with upper-level management and staff.

• Evaluation results can be used to increase the current exercise program and/or to create new health promotion programs in future.

Before launching your Workplace Physical Activity Program, summarize the information you have gathered and plan your next steps.

At this point, you have

• gained support from senior management for the Worksite Physical Activity Program

• formed an worker committee

• assessed what is possible in your workplace

• found out what employees want and need in a Workplace Exercise Program.

Based on this information, you’re now ready to create your action plan to raise exercise at your workplace.

With the employee committee, take the following steps.

• Combine the results of the worker survey with the worksite environmental assessment, and report to senior level management and staff.

• Prioritize the possibilities at each of the “levels” (individual, social, organizational, community, policy) in the worksite listed in “Keys to Success”. for  instance, suppose a big group of workers show an interest in bicycling to work.

Since these people  may want to shower and change after their commute each day, you might give showers and changing facilities priority in your workplace. Bike racks could also be important for making employees’ bikes secure during the workday.

• Consult the list of practical suggestions found this website.

• Create a mission statement (one which aligns with your company’s overall mission statement) to define your purpose and help guide your process. Establishing objectives and objectives will help you reachyour mission statement.

• Put together a plan or blueprint addressing what you have learned. Make wellness program and activity recommendations with timelines, identify resources and assign responsibilities. Revisit the list of tasks outlined in “Step 2 –  Forming an Staff Member Committee.” Seek upper-level management approval to move ahead.

• Once your program is in place, it is vital that you promote it to staff members. Organizing a launch is a good way to do this. A formal launch also demonstrates senior management commitment. If staff members don’t know about the program, they cannot take benefit of it!

• Decide what you need to track to show that you have reached your goals. Measure these factors before you start. This way, when you evaluate later, you’ll know if there has been a change.

To succeed in encouraging physical activity during the workday, you must find out what staff members need and want. They’re the individuals  whose behaviour you are attempting to influence, so it is crucial to understand their needs and gain their support.

The Employee Interest Survey

Ask staff questions that allow you to assess such key characteristics as age, gender, social relationships, family responsibilities and current physical activity participation.

It’s crucial to know this information so that your physical activity initiative meets employees’ needs. Workers aren’t going to take part in something they are not interested in.

Ask staff members what they want, and then implement changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. for  instance, staff members may not want to do activities that make them sweat, because they do not want to shower at work.

Ask staff members what the organization could do to make it easier for them to be more physically active during the workday. If there’s a common trend throughout your organization, a single change could affect a lot of individuals .

For  instance, suppose a big group shows interest in biking to work. They may want to shower and change after their commute. You may give priority to installing worksite showers and changing facilities. Secure bike storage may  be important as well.

When you are launching a health promotion program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter comes around, participation is already a habit.

Involving personnel is key to increasing exercise participation rates. Individuals  are more willing to participate in and support exercise programs when they’re involved in decision making.

The following tips will help you produce your own worker interest survey –

• Keep it short (no longer than 10 minutes to complete).

• Let workers know why you are doing the survey.

• Rather than using all open-ended questions, which could be long and difficult to analyze, ask people  to select from a drop-down list of possible responses.

• Ask for comments and suggestions in one open-ended question at the end.

• Make it confidential and anonymous. Don’t request information that may identify a person.

• When you are including a list of potential wellness programs or environmental changes, make sure your workplace has the facilities and resources to offer them.

Workplace Exercise Programs –  Forming an Employee Committee

Despite the fact that support from the top is vital to a successful program, support from other staff members is also important.

As soon as you receive the go-ahead from management, identify others who are interested in the project and form a committee to help determine the next steps.

Depending on the size of your workplace and the amount of staff time management is willing to contribute, this committee might  be advisory or may plan and carry out the wellness program.

The committee could include workers from human resources, occupational health and safety and finance. It is also a good idea to involve staff from other areas who’ve an interest in promoting exercise.

Terms of reference will define the boundaries of the project. for example, it is important for the committee to have clearly defined and understood tasks. Possible tasks include the following –

• Evaluating your worksite environment

• Implementing an staff member interest survey.

• Developing a mission statement and objectives and objectives.

• Writing a exercise or wellness policy declaring the corporation’s commitment to exercise.

• Brainstorming wellness program ideas.

• Promoting, communicating and advertising and marketing the initiative.

• Coordinating specific activities.

• Determining how the health promotion program are going to be analyzed.

• Continually analyzing what is or isn’t working and adjusting the plan.

Before you make plans to encourage exercise during the workday, it’s crucial to find out what’s “doable” in your workplace.

You do not want to increase worker expectations by offering something that’s impossible due to funding or space limits.

For example, it’s not realistic to suggest putting in a workout facility when there’s no room for it. be open, nevertheless, to creative ways around limitations.

Workplace Physical Activity Programs – Finding out What is Possible in Your Workplace

Consult recreation departments or fitness facilities for maps of the local walking trails or underground pedways. Great walking trails could  be right around the block from your workplace.

Following are some questions to help you assess your worksite –

• What facilities or opportunities does your work space offer that make it easier to be physically active during the workday? for  instance, do you have stairs, bicycle racks, showers, space for a exercise facility, factory walking lanes?

• What nearby facilities or opportunities could workforce use to be more physically active during the workday? Are you close to sidewalks, walking trails, community centers, bike lanes for active commuting and/or exercise facilities?

• What resources are available?

• can the initiative access funds, personnel, space, equipment, facilities?

• What’s the structure of your corporation? for example, consider staff size, working hours, number of sites, unusual shifts, length of lunch breaks and ability to use flex time.

Gaining senior management support is critical to the success of a physical activity program.

Regardless of whether the changes you would like to make involve the work environment, overall policies or specific programs, successfully implementing your ideas depends on executive management support.

Support from senior management is vital for three reasons –

• You’ll need their agreement to involve workforce in a workplace initiative.

• When senior level management compensates attention to and supports an initiative, workers also see the initiative as worthwhile.

• Management has the power to give work time and money to support the health promotion program.

It is imperative that you keep executive management involved throughout a exercise initiative, but at three points you’ll need support for –

• An overall concept, including a go-ahead to assess what personnel want to do within the limitations of your workplace environment.

• An in depth plan (based on the assessment above) coupled with resources to carry out the plan.

• Reviewing the initiative to improve it along the way or to advocate for continuing or expanding the initiative.

Approaching Management

Before approaching senior management to gain initial support for promoting physical activity during the workday, do your homework.

• Pull together a business case obviously outlining how the business will benefit by promoting physical activity during the workday.

• List the individual, social and corporate benefits of physical activity and the benefits of being active during the workday.

• Present some general ideas about what the wellness program might include.

Expect questions such as the following from senior level management –

• Exactly how this help our corporation?

• Just how can we motivate workforce to participate?

• Exactly how much will it cost to run this wellness program or make this change?

• How are we going to know a year from now when this was a good use of time and resources?

Ask managers about the range of activities they’d support. Often managers have ideas of their own they’d like to see acted on to enhance the workplace.

Do not forget to include middle managers when gaining support for your health promotion program. They could be very helpful when you need volunteers to lead teams in corporate exercise challenges.

In today’s organization environment, the health of workforce is often related to the health of the organization. Enhanced job satisfaction, improved morale, lowered illness and injuries, and increased productivity are just some benefits of having healthful workforce.

Marketing health in your workplace doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or time-consuming. Any company, large or small, can promote healthful consuming and active living in the workplace. Here are some suggestions –

Healthy Eating

• For breakfast meetings, in lieu of serving donuts, big muffins, cookies, tea and coffee with cream and sugar, offer healthier alternatives such as bagels, small muffins, fresh fruit, water, 100 percent fruit juice and milk with coffee and tea.

• For lunch meetings, avoid serving chips, fried foods, rich pastas, and salads loaded with dressing. Instead, offer sandwiches, bagels, whole grain low fat crackers and cheese, 100 % fruit juice, water, salads with dressing on the side, vegetable and fruit trays.

• Reimburse staff members for items purchased to improve their health (e.g. healthful consuming cookbooks, consultation with a Registered Dietitian).

• Arrange for the cafeteria or food providers to offer healthy food options.

• Arrange to have healthy choices like bottled water, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit bars, and raisins available in vending machines.

• Give a means for individuals  to share healthy recipes with each other (for example, posting recipes on the Intranet, on posters or by e-mail).

Active Living

• Plan events and group activities to encourage personnel to become active, like walking programs, contests and challenge events, stretch breaks, team sports or participation in local or provincial events.

• Make available on-site health professionals (e.g. personal trainers, fitness instructors) or incorporate this service in staff member assistance programs to help staff work towards exercise objectives.

• Give a supportive environment in the workplace that makes healthy choices easy – bicycle racks, shower facilities, clean, safe and accessible stairwells, walking or running routes near the workplace, and gym facilities.

• Allow for flex time so that employees have more opportunities to take part in exercise plans as part of their working day.

• Reimburse staff members for full or partial club membership fees, fitness class registrations, and fitness equipment buys.

• Provide corporate fitness club memberships to reduce costs of individual memberships.

Keeping It Fresh!

Find a champion to –

• Organize lunch “n learn sessions to provide information and motivation for healthy eating and active living.

• Invite demonstrators to provide cooking lessons or tips for making healthy foods.

• Post a rotating list in a common room of local restaurants that offer healthful food options on their menus.

• Distribute information to educate staff on portion sizes.

• Include physical activity and nutrition information in newsletters, pay check inserts, bulletin boards or e-mails.

• Plan activities that promote healthy eating and physical activity. for  instance, begin a year-round lunch-time walking club, and special activities

Can a small business support corporate health promotion? Absolutely! In truth, in some ways it is easier to develop a healthful worksite in a small business than in a large company.

Limited resources, in particular in small businesses, can prevent an corporation from establishing up a health promotion program. Reasons can include –

• lack of budget resources;

• lack of staff;

• lack of senior-level support;

• little knowledge of the wellness theory and;

• concern about making wellness available to all staff members.

As reported by the Health Promotion Councils of America, some small corporation owners might have the wrong idea of what’s involved in having a health promotion program.

Some corporations aren’t sure a health promotion program would really work and others feel that attempting to change personal lifestyle behaviours is intruding and “none of their business”.  

Perhaps they don’t understand that it doesn’t need to be costly and that they don’t need special staff. They could not realize that some staff would like to see some healthy changes and would help make things happen in their workplace.

It can be Done

A lot of small businesses have found ways to have a health promotion program that works for them. They keep the cost and effort to a minimum and still have results that are positive for everybody.

In 2006, Graham Lowe wrote a report on the best places to work in Calgary. He said that healthy worksites often have a “positive worksite culture”.  In a worksite with a positive culture, people  feel appreciated, valued, and trusted.

Dr. Lowe says it’s easier for a small worksite to have a positive worksite culture than for a big worksite. Many staff members prefer to work for a small organization, he says, because it provides more opportunities to work closely with others and develop a sense of community.

In his report, Dr. Lowe says the most successful organizations with fewer than 100 employees have –

• great worker benefits;

• policies that promote a balance between work and personal life;

• flexible schedules;

• competitive salaries;

• excellent leadership with an emphasis on teamwork;

• environmentally responsible business policies;

• procedures for seeking staff member input; and

• A focus on placing employees’ personal wellness ahead of the personal gain of corporation leaders.

All or most of these elements are also components of a good wellness program.

Tips and Ideas

There are many ways to include wellness in a small business. You don’t necessarily need a wellness expert or a fancy fitness center.

What you do need is support from senior level management and a committee of several committed people . Here are some ideas that your workplace can consider.

Communications and Promotion

• Send out a regular “wellness” newsletter in hard copy or online. Or send out a simple message like the weekly Healthful U Hot Tip.

• Use promotions that are already designed such as Healthy Workplace Week.

Active Living and Healthful Eating

• Make certain to encourage staff to sign up for the Stairway to Health stair climbing competition.

• Get pedometers for workers and track their steps.

• Rent a nearby school or community health club and offer exercise classes.

• Hire a local fitness instructor to give classes or lead stretch breaks. Costs could be shared with staff members.

• Install secure bike parking.

• Serve healthful alternatives at corporation meetings and lunches.

Policy and Organizational Programs

• Hire an ergonomics specialist to assess workstations.

• Develop policies to support work-life balance (for example, mandatory vacations, flextime, limits to work and e-mail on personal time).

• Provide a wellness subsidy for a variety of health and leadership activities and courses.

• Make available financial incentives to be healthful.

• Make available wellness incentives as rewards and recognition for a job well done.

• Conduct an organizational health audit (NQI Healthy Worksite Week).

• Become a partner with the community (for example, daycare, health clubs, festivals, parks, restaurants).

• Spread the workload. Make sure to set up a wellness committee.

Small organizations might not have a lot of time, money, or human resources (HR) available for a health promotion program. But they often have a enormous advantage over big companies-a positive workplace culture.

That is a excellent foundation for a wellness program. When employees are satisfied, enjoy their work environment, they are more productive, and tend to be healthier.  With a little creativity and passion, small businesses can develop successful wellness programs.

Get support from management, form a committee of two or more and discover the possibilities!