What Could You Do to Promote a Healthy Workplace?

What Could You Do to Promote a Healthy Workplace?

Creating a healthy working environment and fostering a good workplace culture could have a positive impact on the health, well-being, and productivity of your employees. From providing corporate health plans to creating opportunities for your staff to become more active, there are plenty of measures you can put in place that may help make your workplace a healthier and happier one.

Fostering healthy habits

Have you thought about what kind of healthy habits you could influence on your workplace? Promoting healthier habits could be one way of creating a more positive and productive working environment. Here are a few ideas to get you started, but every organisation is different. Think about what steps you could take to encourage more beneficial habits at work.

• Encourage a smoke-free workplace You might consider it important to provide help and support for your staff to encourage them to give up smoking. Not sure how to go about it? One place you could start is the Australian Government website with a list of the ways to help create a smoke-free workplace. It includes a number of resources that you can point your employees to in order to help them to quit.
• Encourage healthy eating. Do you stock your communal kitchen with sweet treats? This could be causing more damage than good. Think about replacing some or all of the treats with healthy nourishing snacks instead. You may have to endure initial grumbles, but eating well may be key to preventing a number of chronic health problems for your staff later down the road.
• Maintain a supply of drinking water. Look into just how much water is required to keep each individual healthy – you might be surprised! What can you do to help your staff stay hydrated? Make sure drinking water is readily available, whether this is a supply of clean cups by the tap, providing water bottles for your staff to refill or placing a water cooler in a central area.
• Provide a corporate health insurance plan. Not only does this help ensure your employees are covered by private health insurance but it could also be a great motivator for employees. Bupa Corporate Health Plans offer competitive premiums, as well as access to health and wellness programs.

Fostering a healthy culture

A healthy workplace culture can be one of openness and trust. If your workers feel more socially connected to each other they could be more likely to work better together. This could also help them feel more comfortable speaking to colleagues and sharing ideas and information. A feeling of belonging can be a powerful motivating force.

Some ways to encourage more openness and foster a healthier corporate culture may include:

• Acting to stop negative behaviours such as bullying and prejudice in the workplace.
• Giving employees recognition for hard work and offering opportunities for career progression.
• Implementing an “open door” policy where employees of all levels are encouraged to share their thoughts and contribute ideas.

Getting active

A major problem when it comes to health and wellbeing in an office environment is that staff may spend most or all of their time at work sitting at a desk. Studies show that sitting for more than six hours a day carries a risk of putting on weight and can also be linked to various other health problems including reduced circulation, poorer mental health and diabetes.

This is why it could be a good idea to encourage your employees to stand up and move around more during the day – promote measures such as using the stairs instead of the lift, and foster a culture of everyone physically getting up to talk to colleagues about work matters instead of using the phone or email.

You can also make some physical changes to the workplace including installing sit-to-stand desks, so employees can adjust their posture as necessary. Even small alterations like moving bins away from desks can make a big difference to the number of times people stand up and move during the day.

If possible, consider providing activities for your staff to participate in, such as lunchtime fitness classes. This could help improve morale and mental well-being, as well as physical health.

Creating a healthier workplace could have a positive impact on your business, as your staff may be happier, take less sick leave and feel more motivated and productive. What measures will you take towards a healthy workplace environment?