Seven Tips to Achieving a Healthy Workforce
As with anyone who works for a community-based health plan, it is our job to focus on health every day. But proactive healthcare is not a one-way street. . .it never has been. It is a partnership among the health plan, healthcare providers and the patients. To maintain optimum health, individuals need to take an active role and do a variety of things, including watch their diets and follow their physicians’ advice. As a business owner, it’s in your best interest to do everything you can to promote the mental and physical health of your employees, both on the job and off. With these thoughts in mind, we’d like to offer these seven tips to help you maintain a healthy workforce.
1. Design and implement a workplace injury and illness prevention program. An ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of $$$$. Don’t just give this program lip service. Allocate sufficient company resources to ensure the plan can work. Make sure the plan includes a written policy for all employees, emergency preparedness and proper job training. Your workers’ compensation insurer can be a valuable asset in establishing and sustaining a good program.
2. Make sure your employee workstations, whether they are offices, cubicles or places on an assembly line, are “ergonomically correct.” The sites should be well lit with chairs and desks at a proper height to encourage straight posture and discourage the potential for repetitive strain injuries.
3. Use your employee bulletin boards, and if you have one, the employee newsletter, to promote preventive health measures. Your health plan’s health education department can provide materials to support your activities.
4. Encourage your employees to eat right by offering healthy choices. Do the vending machines in the lunchroom only offer potato chips and candy bars, or do they also include granola bars and pretzels?
5. Consider giving your employees access to an Employee Assistance Program. Research shows that offering a confidential resource where employees can go saves companies money by lowering utilization of medical benefits and reducing absenteeism. Look for a health plan that offers this valuable resource as part of its total healthcare package.
6. Set up a break-time or lunch-time walking program. A 15- or 30-minute brisk stroll can clear the head and provide a good cardiovascular workout. New studies show that 30 minutes of activity a day can reduce the risk of heart disease. And, employees who exercise regularly have been shown to be more productive.
7. Select a health plan that supports your health incentives; one that offers work-site health programs, literature and videos for all employees. For every dollar spent on health promotion, you can save up to $6 or more on medical, hospital, disability and workers’ compensation costs.
Your employees are your best customers, treat them well and you will reap the rewards a healthy, happy, productive, cost-effective workforce.
Nels Johnson is Vice President of Group Sales & Marketing for
CareAmerica Health Plans
