September – Workplace Health

The first question often asked is “what’s workplace health”?  It’s really quite simple.  Healthy employees…

  • Are less likely to be ill, absent and reduce company productivity (on average 5.7 days lost to sickness)
  • Are less likely to leave and increase recruitment costs (around 20% of the annual salary of the vacant post)
  • Are more productive and achieve more for your business
  • Will speak positively about management and promote your company brand
  • Make sound financial sense!

Poor health costs your business

Poor health costs business and the economy through lost production, healthcare and insurance, administration and legal costs.  Human costs are measured in terms of the impact on the individual’s quality of life and for fatal injuries, loss of life and consequentially, on families. Workplace health is more than health and safety and regulatory compliance however.

If you want to find out the cost of poor employee health on your business, the government interactive tool will help you work out the costs and create a business case for taking action.

We can help

Improving employee health takes a few simple steps.

Physical health

Getting involved in the national workplace challenge is a good start.  Free and online, it’s a subtle and cost effective way of showing your support for staff wellbeing by encouraging employees to get more active by competing with eachother – and with other companies.  It’s good for morale and it’s a great PR opportunity too.

Mental health

When stress exceeds the ability to cope, it stops being helpful and can affect performance, health, and personal life too.  See our tips on helping staff to cope better with stress.

Looking after carers

Did you know that anyone can become a carer, at any time and at any age, you may may not know which of your employees has caring responsibilities and how this might be affecting their work.  Find out how to support hidden carers in your workforce with our short guide.

Take a workplace health check

A number of health issues affect absence, performance and productivity.  The Bracknell Forest Public Health Team can provide information, advice and signpost to programmes for:

  • Losing weight
  • Improving diet
  • Stopping smoking
  • Cutting down on drinking
  • Being more active
  • Reducing stress and anxiety

Who’ll benefit?

Certain industries, professions and work patterns are more prone to poor health than others.

Talk to us if your staff:

  • Are office- or seat-bound (e.g. drivers/haulage)
  • Work in manufacturing, production, retail
  • Work late night or shift-patterns

Your business may need a more structured approach to assessing health needs and referral to other support and services.  Our workplace health checks will be a good start. Contact public.health@bracknell-forest.gov.uk or call 01344 355219 for more information.