Posted By Mike Miller Hi Cara This is of course the poor relation to Health, safety & welfare as the other two are always addressed. I have just a a high level discussion with our regional SMT on this very subject and as a start are organising a health bus to go round the region. 'well its a start'! Our aim is to raise awareness of health issues via safety committees, tool box talks and maybe a poster campaign. The problem is getting the average worker to buy in to the initiatives as they often see it as an intrusion or a threat to continuous employment. -0ooo there trying to get rid of us ...! it is difficult in my industry as construction has such a macho image. perhaps you will have more success.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Two suggestions from my experience as a roving health/safety ergonomist (who does occasional reports as an expert witness) : 1. on the Pareto principle, pick out two areas of most significant risk, in terms of the implications of an incident and the frequency of absence or other explicit criteria 2. introduce a process of auditing what managers and employees actually do, against the HSC standard of health surveillance. Together, these provide a basis for learning from error, building on success and using positive reinforcement to sustain management interest. The second action is invaluable in the event of an inquiry by an independent expert witness for it enables him/her to report factually and objectively on the quality of your records of health surveillance. The practical guide to provision of Chronic Pain Services for adults in Primary Care, published jointly by the Royal College of General Practitioners and The British Pain Society, provides a smart framework for such an audit. You can download it free of charge at www.britishpainsociety.org.uk. By contrast, in the absence of any auditing process, you are apt to find that the one(s) who issue a personal injury claim are likely to be those on whome the records are chaotic or simply non-existent, which can leave you feeling pretty exposed, personally and organisationally.

Posted By cara I think perhaps my question has got a bit confused. What I am trying to get at is ideas/suggestions on ways to promote Workplace Health, i.e. Exercise Nutrition Health Issues Work Risks First aid at work Alcohol and substance misuse Smoking I know that accidents / incidents can relate to this and understand what's being said but I'm initially looking at things in simpler terms. (We really don't have many accidents - so this isn't really an issue we're mainly office based) Am I making sense??

Posted By cara The Corporate Standard is the quality mark for workplace health promotion in Wales. Administered by the Welsh Assembly Government, it is presented in bronze, silver, gold and platinum categories to public or private sector organisations which implement policies and practices designed to promote the health and well-being of their employees. Welsh - So thats why people may not have heard of it! Doh silly me!!

Posted By Linda Westrupp Cara It isn't just Welsh, we have the same scheme here in England, it is run by the Health Promotion directorates of the Health Authorities. The first thing we did was to get our staff restaurant service involved and through one of the healthy eating awards. We currently run smoking cessation sessions. We also run 'health check days' where Occupational Health run sessions checking blood pressure, cholesterol, weight etc. and give advice where needed (very popular and always packed). We recently had a private company doing bone density measurements, also very popular. You could try and do a deal with a local gym/health club for reduced membership. Hold a family cycling day, we did this and it was a great success. If you have somewhere suitable, hold a weekly (or even daily) free exercise or fitness class - our most popular one was yoga. Contact your local Health Promotion people, I am sure they would be delighted to help or suggest other things. Good luck - go for gold Linda

Posted By MT In Scotland we have Scotland's Health at Work or SHAW for short, where employers can achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for meeting various criteria in the workplace. In my previous role, I led our company to a Bronze award, before I left. We had fresh fruit in the office free to staff at all times, and brought various external people in to talk to staff - the Institute of Advanced Motorists, a nutritionist, and also had a couple of therapists in the office on various days offering indian head massage, reflexology, reiki and also had a tai chi class. I started off the initiative by sending out a questionnaire to all staff asking them to identify work life balance areas which we could address and many said that their drive to and from work was a stressor, hence the IAM presentation. I also produced a monthly health newsletter containing recipe ideas and various news items. We offered a £50 meal voucher to anyone suggesting an initiative which was then taken up by the H&S committee and made live. All in all it was a great morale booster within the workplace, and because we asked the staff what they wanted, rather than telling them what they needed, it had a very high take-up rate.