Health and Wellbeing Guidelines for Workplace Health in Australia

We spend a good portion of our adult lives at work.

Just imagine an average working week of 38 hours for 46 weeks a year has you at work a total of nearly 73 full (24 hour) days per year. Now image that your working life lasts for 30 years – that means you’ll spend approximately 6 full years, 24 hours a day, 7-days per week at work.

That’s a lot of time, so there is little doubt what you do (or don’t do) at work has a significant impact on your health and wellbeing.

Many companies now recognize the importance of workplace health initiatives to safeguard their most important assets (employees) and improve the productivity of those “assets”.

To maximize the effectiveness of workplace health initiatives it is essential that such programs are designed, implemented and evaluated based on research and experience in order to achieve maximum benefits.

To meet these objectives the Health and Productivity Institute of Australia (HAPIA) has released a set of best practice guidelines for Workplace Health in Australia.

Research from this organisation indicates that "in organisations where workplace health is managed well, financial performance increased by more than 2.5 times". (1)

Organisational decision makers need to ensure that workplace health and wellness initiatives comply with these recommendations to maximise success and return on investment.

12 guiding principles have been identified as being of central importance for the success of such programs:

- Active support and participation by senior leadership.
- Workplace health as a shared responsibility between management and employees.
- Engagement of key stakeholders – employees, families, management.
- Supportive environment by senior leadership – lead by example.
- Participatory planning and design – gain “by in” so that “ownership” of the program is shared.
- Targeted workplace health interventions – go after the “long hanging fruit” and target problem areas          specific to an organisation.
- Standards and accreditation of service providers – use qualified experts to provide services.
- Focus on obtaining high levels of program engagement.
- Innovative marketing and communication – get it out to the masses!
- Evaluation and monitoring – illustrate the effectiveness of the initiative.
- Commitment to ethical business practices.
- Sustainability from year to year. Make it part of the workplace culture.

Each organisation is different, and has its own set of challenges and issues. However the principles of Best -Practice Guidelines for Workplace Health Programs can assist all Australian companies in maximising the benefits for both the organisation and their employees.

Want some more information? Check out: www.hapia.com.au

Reference:

(1) Health and Productivity Institute of Australia 2010. Best Practice Guidelines; Workplace Health in Australia.