Category — Wellness Rfp

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 locating appropriate ways to express them.

As staff members, 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 workplace 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, don’t hesitate to seek out a qualified professional. Wellness programs typically have professional support already in place as part of their services.

1. Coaching/Counseling -

Among 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 employee assistance or wellness 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’s possible to connect with others that have common health challenges, no matter how unique the situation.

Individuals  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 online 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 are 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 whatever 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 about 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’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’s missed over the years telling them how he felt. Lastly, he’s a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Assess Your Emotional Health -  Businesses 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 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 workplace health. When we’re empathic with fellow employees, we help them resolve negative or unhealthy emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through online groups.

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

Sometimes workplace stress that is not dealt with in a healthy 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 children and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her. to make matters worse, she believes she is a failure at her job as well as at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger peers 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 does not 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 Corporation Interest in Worker Wellness

Corporate wellness for their workers, corporations are discovering, is good for the health of their businesses as well. Wellness programs help to cut the costs associated with poor staff member health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.

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

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

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

Programs look to predict chronic condition in their employees and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Businesses also demand a way to measure the effectiveness of their healthcare spending.

Self-care is our motive, says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving employees 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.

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

Combining corporate wellness promotions, web-based assessments and health trackers, web-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 program. “Having web-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 programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their worker populations, drive worker 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 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 healthful.

Based on these results, businesss need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their employees as well as the corporation. It’s a win-win situation.

Corporations and staff members did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95 percent of staff members 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 did not involve shifting responsibility for health care onto staff members.

Although 64 percent of businesses have shifted costs to their staff members, 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 results indicate companies 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 well-being of employees, but also for the well-being of the companies they work for.

Nearly half the corporations surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to increased productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60 percent plan to institute programs that help staff members 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 (especially 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 nearly as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on health care and its impact on corporation and vice versa.

Corporate wellness 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 employee’s health is their own responsibility. Expecting employers 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 health insurance coverage. Instead of providing complete coverage for all workers through group plans, companies should begin 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 affordable for the company.

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

There are numerous insurance businesses that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Employees can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own physicians. Businesses 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 worker is interested in working for you ONLY because your business offers great 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 ailment culture, I mean our focus on health problems instead of on having a healthful workplace and performance culture.

So, what’d a “wellness culture” look like? First, in lieu of compensated sick days, employees could  be rewarded at year’s end with an attendance bonus.

Staff Members would be reimbursed for successful completion of use of tobacco cessation and weight-loss programs. Corporations would invest in corporate memberships at local gyms so every staff member can participate.

Employees would be offered in-house wellness programs on a selection of issues ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Lastly, companies would commit to hiring and retaining healthy workers.

Simply put, healthful employees cost less and are more productive than unhealthful ones. Applicants must 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 workers 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 typically healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the typical American.

Since these individuals look for ways to stay healthy without drugs and surgery, they end up being a net benefit in terms of attendance and productivity. Old prejudices in this area should be discarded in order for businesses to improve productivity and increase profitability

Conclusion

Health Care costs are increasing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an dreadful failure. Corporations are buckling underneath the pressure of providing health coverage to their workers.

American competitiveness in the market is sagging. These times call for amazing solutions. It’s time for American corporations 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 options 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 decreasing absenteeism, sick day usage and by decreasing insurance costs.

Also it’s noted that there are marked improvements in staff member performance and productivity in organizations that start a wellness program.

Healthy organizations enjoy increased employee morale and an improved ability to attract and retain key people . Additionally, staff members are more alert and productive.

For example, Coca Cola reports that they save roughly $500 a year per worker once they implemented an exercise programin which 60% of their staff members participate.

Coors Brewing Company stated that employees who participated in their wellness 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.

Wellness programs result in fewer injuries, less human error and a work environment that is more harmonious and relaxed. Additionally, employees who work at a corporation that starts a wellness program know that their organization is concerned about their wellness.

Employees often report a reduction in their stress levels due to wellness programs.

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

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

The benefits of wellness programs, both tangible and intangible, are evident. It is a wise move for a business to start a wellness program, specifically 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 lowered in areas where wellness programs are implemented. These days, an organization can nearly not afford to have some sort of wellness program to offer to their staff members.

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

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} is a top wellness program currently in use globally. Organizations that start it determine the safety and health concerns of employees by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the employees.

It can, for instance, guide the organization 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 workers have to certain dangerous or dangerous materials and practices.

Immunizations

This isn’t always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Notwithstanding, it’s also become an important component of the top employee wellness programs in many organizations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for instance, 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 workers 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 organizations use, namely those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, ordinarily in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

In-house wellness newsletter and campaign drives

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

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

The newsletter in itself may be an effective means to deliver information to workers or members of an organization but it’s far from perfect.

Some employees, for example, might not peruse 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 wellness program for organizations is one that involves physical activities. Businesses often sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and company sports programs to encourage staff members to remain fit or lose excess weight.

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

Wellness Incentives

Some of the top wellness programs implemented by corporations involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored programs that reward employees for achieving specific wellness-related goals.

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

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

Peer Pressure

In many organizations, businesses take advantage of peer pressure to encourage employees to participate in wellness programs. This is currently one of the favorite employee wellness programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

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

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

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

They begin from the assumption that illness 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 corporations - 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 corporate 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’re 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 corporations have been largely forced to take on wellness. This is partly through legislative pressure, with many countries introducing laws to make corporations 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 lifestyles the businesses are struggling to organize largely traditional and mainstream health systems, like doctors, 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 physician to get happy, because a physician doesn’t have any clue how to make people  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 companies 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 corporation where the staff members 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 corporation 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 businesses and their employees and will pay for itself because of the benefits that both sides will gain?

First of all we’ve to face the fact that we cannot 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 are easy to organize but have little or no real effect on staff member wellness.

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

Nonetheless it’s in the best interest of both corporations and employees to find and create systems of wellness that really work - that benefit individuals  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’s time to increase the vision and find out how to make in truth 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 average corporation.

A lot of businesses are finding the solution to these challenges by increasing job satisfaction, team building, and the implementation of programs that yield a reduction in these costs.

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

Management’s goals for a productive wellness program should be viewed through the perspective of increased staff member productivity, lowered absenteeism due to health related causes, improved staff member morale, lowered utilisation of company subsidised health benefits, enhanced team cohesion and effectiveness and a decrease in turnover due to lack of job satisfaction.

It’s 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 workers point of view may be seen in improved health, increased energy levels, lowered 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 wellness program needs to achieve both managements and staff members goals, and this could be accomplished through a program that will 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 will allow them to achieve the necessary changes to their physical condition that could be applied of their life and work.

The Bottom Line - Wellness Programs

Reduced Absenteeism - Dupont lowered absenteeism by 47.5% over six years for the participants of their corporate fitness program, (Health Behaviour, March 1992).

Decreased Health Care Costs - Steel case showed a reduction in medical claim costs of 55% for corporate fitness program participants over non-participants over a six year period - an average of $478.61 for participants vs. 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% 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 corporate fitness program 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 businesses to consider making workforce health a CEO issue and adopt strategies to promote avoidance and wellness.

After several years of double-digit rate increases for health insurance, businesses 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 reducing costs is financial incentives to encourage workers to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Almost 100 percent of companys surveyed say that health care costs will be a crucial or significant concern over the next five years, according to a recent survey by United Benefit Advisors.

More businesss are adopting higher deductible health plans with HRA’s or HSA’S, wellness programs, and broader disease management programs to control ever-increasing health care costs.

Failure to deal with these issues can be disastrous for an business. Wayne Sensor, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alegent Health lately stated, “I think that we’ve built a health care machinery we cannot afford. I think we are 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 corporations billions of dollars each year.

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

According to California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe, “The obesity epidemic is more than a public health crisis, it’s an economic crisis.” What is 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 great need for additional education on weight and resulting illnesses, and the workplace is an ideal venue. Wellness education and programs can lead to a significant return on investment and, if structured properly, can produce causes a very short period of time.

Although 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 club memberships, but those who needed it most didn’t take benefit of the program in a meaningful way.

Businesses 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 Staff Members is the Missing Link in Managing Health Care 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 create an Economic Engagement Model to forecast the potential impact for your organization.

Corporations can simply no longer ignore the issue of their employee’s unhealthful lifestyles and must take action to engage them in a meaningful wellness program to reduce medical costs, absenteeism and lost productivity.

Workers 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 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 Wellness Committee.

Nutrition Category

• Low-fat campaign/food groups

• Team salad bars

• Vending machine changes

• Diet analysis by a nutritionist

• Produce on parade

• Eating disorder support group

• Restaurant education

Physical Activity/Exercise Category

• “Elevoiders” - stair climbing

• Poker walk

• Mall walking program

• Facilities - showers, bicycle lockers, exercise space, etc.

• Team treks

• Walk-a-block trails

• Recreational tournaments

• How-to-select equipment talks

• Running maps

• Biking maps

• Deskercises (mini stretches for desk jockeys)

• Fit-over-forty club

• Tennis shoe Tuesday

• Walk 100 miles in 100 days

• Walking “buddies”

• NW Trek!

Miscellaneous Category

• House calls

• Meet your benefits providers

• Dental health

• Fire safety

• Ergonomic assessments

• Self-help learning

• CPR/first aid course

• Hearing test

• Hand washing campaign

• Cancer screenings

• Back class

• Passports to health

• Vision screenings

Stress Management Category

• Comedy hour

• Stress Pest

• Humor newsletter

• Money management seminars

• Time management seminars

• Relaxation class

• Better sleep campaign

• Relaxation room

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

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

• Soft Tissue Sprains and Strains -  This injury category continues to remain the number one financial loss for workers’ compensation. A lot of medical insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Wellness and safety efforts can focus on -

• 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 begin a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.

• the wellness committee may consider contracting a fitness professional to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for worker groups throughout the year.

• Offer body mechanics training on an annual basis 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.

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

• Implement a safety concerns suggestion box. Make certain to encourage employees to report safety and/or injury concerns. Make certain to help management to establish policy to recognize and reward employees who offer safety suggestions, provide tips, and solution ideas.

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

• Partner with management and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are successful with safety and injury prevention.

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

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

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

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

• 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.

• Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help develop ergonomic policies and practices and to provide employee training.