Why Wellness?
There are a number of reasons why Employee Wellness Programs are beneficial.
1. Enhanced Morale - When the organizational culture begins
to change as a result of your health promotion efforts, you and your employees
may actually start to see and feel a new level of energy within the corporation.
Ultimately, one of the most ambitious goals of any comprehensive health promotion
program is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the organization’s
most valuable resource — its employees.
2. Lowered Turnover - As we all know, staff member replacement
costs can be quite high for any kind of corporation. The effort and expense
associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references,
interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new staff member can
be a serious burden on any corporation. In light of the challenges that high
staff member turnover pose, many organizations are looking to health promotion
programs as an additional perk that can help to prevent employees from jumping
ship.
3. Increased Recruitment Potential - In the midst of a very
tight labor market, organizations are forced to pull out the stops in order
to recruit new talent. In some instances, health promotion can prove to be a
very valuable tool in sealing the deal.
4. Lowered Absenteeism - When an staff member misses work in
a corporation setting, the entire organization is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities.
Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and
the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build. Even worse is a long-term
absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or
rehabilitation. By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle
habits, health promotion programs can play an important role in reducing rates
of absence.
5. Health Care Cost Containment - Most organizations don’t
start a health promotion program with cost containment in mind. However, cost
containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by
many organizations.
6. Enhanced staff member Health Status - One of the greatest
advantages of a well-designed health promotion initiative is the promise of
improved health. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed
health promotion initiatives can successfully impact such behaviors as tobacco
use, high-risk alcohol use, and more.
Employee Wellness Programs: Focus on Health Education Activities
- Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a comprehensive
Employee Wellness Program. - Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration,
resources required, members in, and expected results of a Employee Wellness
Program. - Orient employees to the Employee Wellness Plan and give them copies of
the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies. - Promote and encourage staff member participation in the physical activity/fitness
and nutrition education/weight management program. - Offer health education information to employees.
- Have a Employee Wellness Programs committee that meets at least once a
month to oversee the Employee Wellness Program. - Offer regular health education presentations on various physical activity,
nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations,
health care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer worksite education
classes. - Host a Health Fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion
of a wellness campaign. - Designate specific areas to support employees such as diabetics and nursing
mothers. - Conduct preventive health and wellness screenings for blood pressure, body
composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes. - Offer confidential Health risk appraisals.
- Offer worksite weight management/maintenance initiatives for employees.
- Offer weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling
as a member benefit in medical insurance contracts.
Where to Start with Employee Wellness Programs
Ten Steps Toward Strategic Employee Wellness Programs
The Employee Wellness Plan management world is evolving rapidly. Each month,
there are new research findings that support the premise that Employee Wellness
Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on health care costs.
Many large organizations that started Employee Wellness Programs three to five
years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and workers compensation
costs. Small to mid-size organizations are watching all this and wondering where
to start with wellness.
Getting upper management support and budget approval is one of the challenges
at the beginning of a Employee Wellness Program. This is the case because Employee
Wellness Programs can be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per
year in large organizations. Most of the savings are not realized for a number
of years. This long-term investing is hard for organizations on the move.
The key to success for Employee Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach.
Here are ten steps to consider when starting a Employee Wellness Program.
- Start with upper management. Without upper management support, a health
promotion strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive
team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the corporation. - Analyze the problem. Look at your health care claims and analyze the trends.
Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’
compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what
hasn’t thus far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing? - Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside
and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and
invite key health vendors including health, disability, Employee Assistance
Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing. Review claims and utilization
data and establish key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see
how they can be tailored to the needs of the population. . - Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85% of claims are usually
attributed to 15% of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most
costly conditions while also reaching employees who are at risk for developing
preventable diseases in the future. Voluntary Employee Wellness Programs such
as lunch & learn wellness seminars miss many of the employees who need
them most. Consider initiatives that are population-wide or target intact
workgroups. Wellness incentives help but do not motivate everyone. - Establish short-term goals for the Employee Wellness Programs. Establish
some realistic short-term goals based on your key areas of concern. Are there
any plan design changes that could have an immediate impact on spending? Are
there some programmatic actions that could have immediate results? - Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine
where employees are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t?
How much interest do employees have in the Employee Wellness Programs? What
obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they try to change
behavior? - Ensure that you have a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your
first wellness dollars should go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program
(EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation
for all of your future wellness activities. A good Employee Assistance Program
(EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of employees. At no additional
cost, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching
and individual attention for employees who are working on modifiable health
behaviors or involved in disease management initiatives. Nutritionists, fitness,
pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value
Employee Assistance Program (EAP). - Establish three to five year goals for health care savings and measure
them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term
goals for your health, disability, and workers compensation plans. Create
program metrics that will help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation
rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness,
changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Create rigorous methods
to measure health care savings over the long term. - Establish goals for organizational health. Consider the more intangible
benefits of a wellness initiative and quantify them whenever possible. Include
staff member turnover rates, cost of new hires, staff member morale, benefit
satisfaction data, and employer of choice issues in setting goals. Create
ways to measure success in these areas. - Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a Employee Wellness
Plan strategy, a communication strategy, and a Employee Wellness Plan incentive
strategy that will fit with your business culture. Focus on integration of
related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused,
simple, and human. Create a budget that includes key components such as consumer
education, health promotion, health risk assessments, and regular biometric
screens.
Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs
Employee Wellness Programs are crucial to improving the health of our nations.
Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making
it a excellent venue for promoting healthful habits. The worksite organizational
culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to
be put to use as a method of assisting employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Benefits to Employee Wellness Programs include:
- Weight reduction
- Enhanced physical fitness
- Improved stamina
- Lower levels of stress
- Improved well-being, self-image and self-esteem
Employers can also benefit from Employee Wellness Programs. According
to recent research, employers’ benefits are:
- Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy employees
- Lowered health care costs
- Decreased rates of illness and injuries
- Lowered staff member rates of absence
- Enhanced staff member relations and morale
- Enhanced productivity
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that
at worksites with physical activity initiatives as components of their Employee
Wellness Programs have:
- Lowered health care costs by 20 to 55 percent
- Lowered short-term sick leave by six to 32 percent
- Improved productivity by two to 52 percent
Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually improved.
How much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we
have lived our lives. If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can
fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active
and refrain from using tobacco products.
Employee Wellness Programs
Who needs Employee Wellness Programs? If you work in an office or a jobsite
or are a member of an corporation who spends a considerable amount of time at
work, you will benefit from a well-designed worker Employee Wellness Program.
Employees spend a minimum of about 200 hours a month at work - a considerable
amount of time.
Furthermore, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its
toll on the staff member, which makes it important that a Employee Wellness
Plan is implemented. Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top
Employee Wellness Programs are being used to help improve staff member conditions
at work and reduce the cost of worker health care.
Some of the top Employee Wellness Programs currently in use today include:
Health Risk Assessments (HRAs)
Health Risk Assessment is a top Employee Wellness Plan currently in use globally.
Organizations that start it determine the safety and health concerns of workers
by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against
the needs of the employees.
It can, by way of example, guide the corporation into determining how much
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 hazardous 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. However, it has also
become an important component of the top Employee Wellness Programs in many
organizations in North America.
Immunization, flu shots, such as those used to combat flu, by way of example,
are offered to workers for free.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a wide variety of services.
It can range from providing educational resources to employees regarding health
issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many organizations,
medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.
Weight Management Programs
This is another Employee Wellness Plan that organizations use, particularly
those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving
richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, usually
in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.
Health-Wellness Newsletters - Health Education Programs
One of the top Employee Wellness Programs that organizations can start is a
self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible
campaign. The campaign may be done periodically and focus on a specific topic,
such as tobacco use hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety
in the workplace, etc.
The newsletter in itself can be an effective method to deliver information
to employees or members of an corporation but it is far from perfect. Some employees,
by way of example, may not read the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention
to it. If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active
and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize positive results.
Physical Fitness and Exercise Programs
Another top health promotion program for organizations is one that involves
physical activities. Companies often sponsor exercise-related events such as
marathons and corporation sports initiatives to promote employees to remain
fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized organizations, organizations
may even pay for gym memberships or in-house exercise facilities.
Employee Wellness Plan Incentives
Some of the top Employee Wellness Programs implemented by organizations involve
incentive rewards. This involves corporation-sponsored initiatives that reward
employees for achieving specific wellness goals. Participation in health campaigns
and signing up for Employee Wellness Programs are two of the most commonly rewarded
schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to points (for bigger rewards)
to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash may also be used.
However, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success.
But it continues to be one of the top choices among organizations who are willing
to modify it in order to fit their unique needs.
Group Activities
In many organizations, organizations take advantage of peer pressure in order
to encourage workers to take part in Employee Wellness Programs. This is currently
one of the favorite worker Employee Wellness Programs currently in use today
and growing in popularity. Peer pressure is often leveraged to help promote
competitions and to persuade employees to be active in corporation-sponsored
health fairs.
Employee Wellness Programs - The Good and The Bad
Employee Wellness Programs at the business level are beneficial, right? Wellness
statistics clearly show that such Employee Wellness Programs are not only cost-effective
to the organization but can assist the staff member in developing a healthier
lifestyle. With the rising cost of health care, Employee Wellness Programs simply
make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from
both perspectives.
Employee Wellness Programs: The Good
•
- A sampling of ROI for Employee Wellness Programs: Bank of America: 600 percent;
General Motors:370 percent; Pepsico: 300 percent; Citibank: 465 percent; and
the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560%. (Campbell,J.,
Wellness Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementexperts.com, Albuquerque,
New Mexico.) - Companies with Employee Wellness Programs have realized a 28% reduction
in sick leave, a 26% reduction in adjunctive health care costs and a 30% reduction
in disability and workers compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21,
No.2, March, 2002.) - The Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 ROI
for every dollar spent due to a 20% reduction in rates of absence. (Hardy,A.
(2005). At the Top Of The Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1),
14-20.) - Employee Wellness Programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives
and ongoing support that many people need in order to make lifestyle changes. - Employees also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services
technology corporation, gave employees who filled out a health risk assessment
a significant discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley,
The New York Times, July 22, 2007.)
Employee Wellness Programs: The Bad
- A sampling of ROI for Employee Wellness Programs: Bank of America: 600 percent;
General Motors:370 percent; Pepsico: 300 percent; Citibank: 465 percent; and
the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560%. (Campbell,J.,
Wellness Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementexperts.com, Albuquerque,
New Mexico.) - Companies with Employee Wellness Programs have realized a 28% reduction
in sick leave, a 26% reduction in adjunctive health care costs and a 30% reduction
in disability and workers compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21,
No.2, March, 2002.) - The Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 ROI
for every dollar spent due to a 20% reduction in rates of absence. (Hardy,A.
(2005). At the Top Of The Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1),
14-20.) - Employee Wellness Programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives
and ongoing support that many people need in order to make lifestyle changes. - Employees also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services
technology corporation, gave employees who filled out a health risk assessment
a significant discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley,
The New York Times, July 22, 2007.)
Employee Wellness Programs: The Bad
- The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need
our employer to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some organizations
are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it. - Three hundred organizations have requested assistance from a national employment
and labor law firm to institute more aggressive Employee Wellness Programs.(Cornwell,
Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.) - Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will start reducing staff member
paychecks by $10.00 for every staff member who has a Body Mass Index (BMI)
of greater than 29.9 because not enough employees were utilizing their wellness
services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September
10,2007.) - Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective employer, Scotts Miracle-Gro,
because he believed the corporation’s antitobacco use policy violated his
civil rights. The corporation has a policy against hiring employees who smoke
and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley,
The New York Times,July 22,2007.) - staff member advocates are concerned that health discrimination may not
be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated
Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)
Penalizing employees by hitting them where it hurts the most,their pocketbook,
does not appear to be a a good approach to molding human behavior.
Such tactics may result in raised resentments and retaliation, primarily in
the form of rates of absence and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the
job.) Voluntary, incentive-based initiatives, such as the one in the Washoe
County School District, can and do produce results. A positive attitude on the
part of management along with an opportunity for employees to have a stake in
the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both employer and staff
member.The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits
can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.
Health Fair Planning Guide
Getting Started - Secure management support
- Justifications for having a Health Fair
- Health risk assessments
- Help for high-risk population: smokers, obese employees
- Early detection of diabetes, heart disease risk factors (high cholesterol,
high blood pressure)
Health Fair Participation - Establish your audience
- Employees only, whole family, retirees?
- Community involvement? Theme?
Health Fair Time Line
- Establish a date and time Allow 4-6 months of planning time
Health Fair Planning
- Establish health-related screenings, tests, other activities you’ll
offer Establish educational literature and other learning opportunities Health
Fair will provide Include any “fun” activities, or food/beverage
needs for the fair
Health Fair Location & Logistics
- Consider location big enough to accommodate the largest volume of employees
at “peak time” periods - Determine how booths/stations will be set up
Health Fair Vendors
- Target relevant health/safety-related community and corporate vendors to
provide services, educational materials, incentives and giveaways
Health Fair Marketing
- Determine marketing tools to be used to inform employees/members (posters,
mailings, e-mail) - Determine any incentives or giveaways that will be included in the fair
or used to promote participation in the fair
Health Fair Scheduling
- Coordinate timing and events with staff and/or volunteers
Health Fair Personnel
- Schedule appropriate experts Physician or similar health care personnel
to provide patient consultation for review of blood draw lab results - Nurse(s) to administer immunizations
- Administrative/all-purpose individual to facilitate paper work, finger sticks
and to provide general assistance - Pharmacist or pharmacist assistant if appropriate Dietitian for nutritional
counseling suggested personnel designated for health fairs
Footnotes
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation via Reuters Health E-Line.
- Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, (9/11/03)
- www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/press/archive/lower_cost.htm
- “Is Stress Nibbling Away at Your Bottom Line?” By Stephen Alper,
Nov. 15, 2002. - Health Promotion in the Workplace, Michael P. O’Donnell, page 415.
- http://www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/dayto/dayto_6.html
Worksite Wellness Program Incentives
According to Gordian Health Solutions, the effectiveness of Employee Wellness Programs in improving health and reducing health care costs is directly linked to incentives: the more substantial the incentives, the higher the success rate.
Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, such as t-shirts, water bottles
and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, such as cash incentives
or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a program.
Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated
by one of the corporation’s worksite nurses. To promote lunchtime walking,
the staff member has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled
after the karate-belt color system. Employees progress through the color scale
until they reach “black-lace” status. The reward system has resulted
in more employees making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.
At the high end of the reward spectrum, some organizations pay cash to employees
who meet wellness goals. LuK, Inc. offers employees $250 for kicking the tobacco
habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months. For logging fitness points that
add up to 10 miles a month, employees are eligible for health assessments, which
can result in reward amounts of up to $225.
The most effective motivator, according to Gordian research, comes through
linking participation in Employee Wellness Programs directly to insurance premiums.
Doing so clearly demonstrates to employees the positive effects of wellness
on their own health care costs. often, the first step in linking wellness programming
to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating
deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, organizations can promote employees
to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to health problems
before they become chronic. Early detection benefits both patient health and
employer health costs.
Incentivizing Employee Wellness Plan participation with health care credits
More frequently, employers are going beyond improved wellness care coverage
and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation
to employees’ bottom lines. Worthington Industries has recently rolled
out a program that allows employees to eliminate their portion of the insurance
premium by enrolling in a Healthy Choices Employee Wellness Program.
During the first year of the Healthy Choices program, employees and their spouses
complete Individual Health Assessments and medical screenings to determine their
levels of health risks. Nurses, dietitians and exercise specialists are available
to help moderate- and high-risk members develop individual action plans for
improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification,
telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health
management initiatives. By completing the assessments, employees earn their
full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no staff member
contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases. During
year two of the program, the wellness bar is raised slightly. To continue to
receive the wellness credit, members in the moderate- to high-risk category
will be required to work at setting goals with third-party health coordinators.
Year three raises the bar again, requiring members to show progress in meeting
goals and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach goals.
After year three, Worthington Industries employees will be on the wellness
track. The corporation believes that will mean a healthier workforce and cost
savings for employees and the corporation. The well being of Worthington employees
is the foundation of this program, and both employees and the company are expected
to benefit from the long-term advantages of the Healthy Choices Employee Wellness
Program.
While Worthington has taken a broad approach to wellness, other organizations
have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for
example, offers a discount on health care policies for employees who do not
use tobacco. An individual staff member who doesn’t use tobacco saves
$7 per bi-weekly pay. For tobacco-free employees with family coverage whose
families are also tobacco-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.
The next step: Penalizing harmful behaviors
As it stands, health care is the only type of insurance that doesn’t
focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With health
care costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change. Just as an accident
likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage
in unhealthy behaviors is a possible next step in employers’ attempts
to manage health care costs.
Reports that employees would support this type of action are stacking up. One
Ohio employer conducted an informal survey that indicated employees would consider
it a morale boost if health-conscious employees were relieved of some of the
burden of subsidizing care for employees who engage in behaviors that adversely
affect their health. Whether or not this type of program gains popularity, one
thing is sure: the need to control the rise in health care costs is becoming
ever more pressing.
The Last Step: Getting Started
No matter what strategy, from offering employees health resources to providing
incentives for healthy behaviors, employers have a real opportunity to improve
morale and productivity, reduce rates of absence and control health care costs
through wellness. The first step is committing to taking one, no matter what
size effort is appropriate for your organization.
Small steps lead to big strides.
Employee Wellness Programs: Focus on Injury Prevention
Preventing injuries is a high priority for employers, especially in factory
settings such as Honda. That’s why the corporation offers several initiatives—including
line-site process evaluations —to establish potential hazards and help
reduce the chance of injury. As part of an early intervention program, Honda
employees who are feeling pain can receive a massage of the affected area during
work time.
Stretching initiatives are another effective tool in injury prevention. According
to the Best Practices in Manufacturing Web site, Dayton Parts, Inc. (DPI) in
Harrisburg, Pa., conducted research that revealed approximately 80 percent of
all manufacturing injuries occurred within the first two hours of each shift.
After starting a program that required production employees to stretch for 10
to 15 minutes at the beginning of their shifts, they saw a dramatic reduction
in injuries.
While the DPI Employee Wellness Plan costs about $75,000 a year to operate,
in conjunction with other corporation initiatives, it has helped bring the annual
cost of workers’ compensation from $700,000 to $200,000 per year.6
To help prevent lengthy absences and reduce workers’ compensation claims,
Honda instituted a work recovery program. Through the program, workers who have
had an injury can work in a modified job—getting better. Employees in
the program spend their work days receiving physical conditioning to increase
overall fitness, physical therapy to restore functionality, health education
and nutrition counseling. The program is based on data that shows fewer work
days are lost when an staff member stays connected to the work environment.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, www.ohiobwc.com, provides a
“10-Step Business Plan” as a guide for organizations in providing
Employee Wellness Programs that aim to reduce injuries. The plan includes information
on safety and health initiatives to prevent occurrences of on-the-job accidents,
including:
staff member involvement - To ensure the success of any Employee Wellness Program,
employees must take part in the safety and health-management process. This can
be done through safety and health audits, accident investigations, or by forming
safety and health involvement teams, focus groups or committees.
Orientation and training plan - Conduct orientation and training sessions to
educate employees on the corporation’s safety policies. These sessions
should include procedures for the safe use of machinery and tools, chemical
hazards and how to prevent contact or exposure, specific job/task safe practices,
and hazard recognition and prevention.
Communication - Open communication keeps employees informed and provides suggestions
and feedback on the effectiveness of the Employee Wellness Program. Through
memos, bulletin boards and staff meetings, important safety and health information
can be conveyed throughout the organization, keeping all management staff and
employees knowledgeable about the corporation’s safe practices.
The corporation plan also outlines incentives for post-injury procedures,
including:
Medical treatment and return-to-work practices - arly return-to-work strategies
help injured or ill workers return to work in a timely manner. Companies should
start a disability management policy to help injured or ill employees obtain
quality medical treatment, making their transition back to work quick and effortless.
Timely notification of claims - Employers should document workplace injuries
immediately after they occur and promptly send that documentation to a claims
handler. Quickly providing claim information demonstrates care and concern for
the injured staff member, prevents delays and confusion with the claim process,
and reduces the potential for abuse or needless litigation.
Record keeping - Internal documents should be kept to record work-time injuries
and to assess the success of the corporation’s safety efforts. Corporation
audits, surveys and injury or illness reports can all be used to analyze which
safety practices and policies have proven successful, and what areas of health
and wellness need improvement.
Employee Wellness Programs: Focus on Early Detection and Prevention:
Dr. Moore of Nationwide maintains that immunization is the most cost-effective
treatment in medicine. By way of example, vaccinating children against the influenza
virus averages a savings (including health care costs, parents’ missed
work, etc.) of up to $35 per vaccine recipient. And experts predict that estimate
is low, because it doesn’t take into account the rapid spread of the flu.
The American Association of Family Physicians’ Web site, www.aafp.org,
offers a recommended adult immunization schedule created by the Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices. This schedule, tiered by age and chances of exposure,
recommends diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, pneumonococcal, hepatitis B, hepatitis
C, measles, mumps and rubella, varicella and meningococcal vaccinations.
Ideas to incorporate prevention and early detection:
- Hold a wellness fair and invite organizations that provide testing services
for such conditions as blood pressure, blood iron, cholesterol, body mass
index (BMI) and diabetes. - Offer educational materials about well-baby care and immunizations.
- Choose health care coverage plans that include wellness check-ups and immunizations.
- Offer worksite mammograms for employees.
- Sponsor worksite flu shots to coincide with flu season.
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