Making Your Workplace Healthier

How work and health are connected

When you think about it, most people spend a lot of time at work - about 1/3 of our day. With this much time spent on-the-job, our work can have a large effect on our health, for better or for worse.

In addition, it seems like life just gets busier and busier. The list of things to do is constantly growing, and taking care of our health is often the first thing scratched off the list. So mixing health and work makes good sense.

Work is no longer seen as just something we do to make ends meet.  We now know just how important time spent at work is to our overall health and well-being.

Promoting health in the workplace

More than hard hats and safety boots. In the past, workplace health programs looked mainly at occupational health and safety. We now know that successful workplace health promotion programs cover all aspects of health, including worker safety.

Workplace health promotion basically covers 3 main areas:

1. Occupational health and safety
2. Individual health practices
3. Organizational change

Occupational health and safety generally means reducing the risks from chemical and physical hazards in the workplace. For example, making sure that people have ergonomic computer workstations and all workers have the necessary safety equipment to do the job.

Individual health practices refer to people’s lifestyle behaviours such as tobacco use, physical activity, immunization and nutrition.

Organizational change focuses on improving the organizational climate. Organizational change includes things such as leadership practices, management style, social support, the way that work is organized and the amount of control and independence people have in their jobs.

Successful workplace health promotion programs offer a combination of activities from all 3 areas. They also use several different strategies to do this – awareness building, education and skill building, environmental support and policy development. So, what might this all look like when put together in a workplace?

Keys to success

Keys to successful workplace health promotion include:

• The support of senior management – Workplace health promotion means making some changes. Management needs to actively support the program to make those changes happen and to encourage staff to be involved.
• Acknowledging the priorities of both staff and management – Staff and management might have different ideas about what to do. A good workplace health program balances the needs of staff and management so that everyone benefits.
• An organizational approach – Successful workplace health programs are planned with the whole organization in mind. Everyone in the organization is asked for his or her input and changes are made that affect the health of the entire workplace.
• Use of existing resources – A workplace health promotion program should build on the strengths of your organization. This might include making the most of on-site physical resources and human resources – staff might have special skills in program development, design, communication or health and safety.
• Integration – The goals of your workplace health program should fit with your organization’s mission and values. Ideally, your workplace health program fits with your overall organizational strategy.
• Recognition for the determinants of health – Any health program needs to recognize that our health is determined by many factors. In order to make a real difference change needs to focus on the many things that affect our health including lifestyle, social conditions and the work environment.
• Evaluation and monitoring – Seeing evidence of our efforts is what keeps us motivated to go forward. Including measures of success in your plan helps you stay focused on your goals and gives you an indication of the progress that you’re making.
• Long-term commitment – Change doesn’t happen overnight. In order to really improve the health of your organization (and to sustain changes), everyone needs to be committed to working on it for the long haul.

8 key steps

Research shows that successful workplace health promotion programs follow 8 steps:

1. Selecting someone to take the lead at your workplace
2. Holding program development meetings with your lead group
3. Getting management approval and involvement
4. Looking at what your workplace is already doing
5. Finding out what your co-worker’s think about your workplace health, and their own health
6. Determining what issues are most important to staff
7. Developing a plan for workplace health promotion
8. Getting started!

Find out more

The HealthWorks team is here to help you promote health in your workplace. We provide interested workplaces with:

• Resources for your health at work, home and play
• An 8-step package to help you get started
• Surveys to help you assess what’s already being done in your workplace, and to look at what else can be done
• Support to help you create a workplace health promotion plan
• Consultations on workplace health promotion
• Phone advice

Contact us at 1-888-404-4231 for more information on how you can tap into the workplace health movement.

On the web
Check out the links below for more information on workplace health promotion.

Health settings: Canadian case studies
(http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/workplace/pdf/healthysettings.pdf)
Health Canada outlines the key features of workplace health initiatives and provides case studies from various sectors such as corporate Canada and the health care sector.

Health, Work and Wellness Conference (http://www.healthworkandwellness.com)
The hosts of the annual health, work and wellness conference share information about past conferences and give details about this year’s conference.

Healthy Workplaces and Productivity: A Discussion Paper (http://www.grahamlowe.ca/documents/48/Healthy.pdf)
This paper takes a look at the relationship between the health of a workplace and productivity. It focuses on the organizational and work environment factors that positively influence workers’ health and well-being.

Healthy Workplace Week (http://www.healthyworkplaceweek.ca)
This year-round resource contains ideas on ways to get your organization started on the healthy workplace journey. It contains links with valuable information, research and resources on organizational health.

How do you develop a wellness program for the workplace? (http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/program.html)
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) takes a look at some of the key issues in getting started with developing a workplace health strategy.

Influencing employee health (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/workplace/pdf/workplaceInf_en.pdf)
Health Canada takes a closer look at how different factors such as the physical and social work environment, affect worker health, including suggestions for action.

National Quality Institute (NQI) (http://www.nqi.ca)
This site includes a healthy workplace section with tools and educational materials to help you improve the health of your workplace.

Wellness in the Workplace Pocket Guide (http://www.ccohs.ca/products/publications/wellness.html)
This guide can be purchased from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). It offers information on a variety of topics including work/life balance, ergonomics, stress and safety.