Improving workplace health

A new toolkit helps to increase levels of work-based physical activity.


Learning points

  • A new toolkit from the British Health Foundation is designed to increase levels of physical exercise among working-age adults.

  • Its launch coincided with a report from England'schief medical officer suggesting that obesity isthe 21st century's health "time bomb".

  • The toolkit focuses on the business and personal cases for raising physical activity, including reduced absence and raised productivity.

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    The toolkit focuses on the business and personal cases for raising physical activity, including reduced absence and raised productivity.

    A workplace toolkit produced by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) could prove a useful addition to the armoury of those seeking to raise activity levels among working-age adults. It was launched in spring 2003 following a series of successful pilots involving organisations such as financial services company HSBC (featured in our case study below) and the NHS.

    The Workplace Health Activity Toolkit (WHAT) provides information, practical ideas and materials for employers and employees to use in designing physical activity programmes around the workplace. Crucially, it also aims to show that taking exercise does not have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive.

    The WHAT team suggests that more exercise can help us all avert ill health, stress and low morale, which in turn contribute to absence and reduced productivity. Research suggests that work-related physical activity programmes have reduced absence by 20%, and that active employees take around 25% fewer days off sick than the average.

    The WHAT pack1 is designed to raise awareness of physical activity and heart health and to promote simple healthy activities. It can also complement other workplace health and safety policies and health promotion, such as stress management, healthy eating, smoking cessation and rehabilitation programmes. Organisations have also found the pack useful in working towards various workplace health awards.

    The WHAT pack contains:

  • a five-step implementation plan for introducing activity into the workplace;

  • contacts and resources including where to go for further information;

  • a seasonal events poster;

  • an activity points poster including statistics and case studies illustrating the personal and organisational benefits of activity; and

  • a CD-ROM containing all the above information plus additional statistics and tools.

    Putting the toolkit to work

    It is vital to consult management and staff before launching workplace physical activity initiatives, according to the WHAT guide for those coordinating physical activities in organisations.

    The guide says that managers and employees should be asked for their ideas, and ways found to gain the commitment of senior managers and line managers. Ideally, a steering group or network should be formed to discuss ideas on a regular basis.

    This steering group can then look at ways of communicating activities with the wider workforce, using pay packets and emails, for example. It can also keep the process alive once the initial novelty of physical activity at work has worn off. Initiatives must be anchored in what will work in the particular organisation, the guide advises, and the steering group can also help by looking at the costs and benefits of particular activities.

    Making things happen may require the person leading the initiative to talk to HR and facilities managers, because shower rooms, bicycle racks or other provision may be required. Other activities requiring the support of senior management are likely to include the provision of onsite classes, subsidised gym membership and employer-based sports teams.

    Physical activity can also be linked to company travel policies, for example, by providing inducements to cycle to work. Or the employer can encourage staff to take part in charitable events.

    Changing the habits of a lifetime is not easy, the WHAT coordinator's guide accepts, and employees often need a personal reason to start exercising. The activity options offered also need to be varied and interesting, and all barriers to workplace participation must be removed, such as a lack of showers, for example. The CD-ROM provided with the toolkit has examples of how to evaluate activities and a suggested workplace physical-activity policy.

    "Active guide to health working"

    A WHAT leaflet for employees focuses on five aspects of health that can be improved by physical activity, using the phrase "give me an active 5":

  • employees are encouraged to "walk to talk" rather than send emails, make calls or send post to other employees onsite in order to keep their backs flexible;

  • undertaking physical activities at lunchtime that employees enjoy can help keep their backs flexible and strong for the remainder of the working day;

  • the leaflet suggests that employees should not put off all physical activity if they have a medical condition as "many conditions are helped by staying active";

  • a 10-minute walk before or after work can be a means of managing stress, helping employees to plan and establish priorities for the day or week ahead; and

  • employees are advised to help manage their weight by using the stairs instead of a lift or escalator, or taking the long route around the building. A WHAT pocket scorecard is designed to help employees measure physical activity, with the aim of reaching 600 "active points" a month. One point per minute is "earned" for climbing stairs, or walking or cycling as part of travel to work, lunchtime activity or walking briskly around the workplace.

    Case study: HSBC, cards division

    The cards division of financial services company HSBC was one of six employers to pilot the WHAT toolkit. The division, based on three sites in Leicester, London and Southend, has a well-established workplace health-promotion project, called "Live", spearheaded by senior project manager, Jim Murphy. Jim has developed Live into a 40-module programme over the course of the past few years.

    The idea behind Live has always been to provide staff with health information and the opportunity to act on it, for example, by installing drinks machines that display the calorie count of each beverage (a cappuccino has 70 calories).

    A series of workshops on different aspects of human health has also been developed, and these are targeted at different groups of workers according to need. For example, a 40-minute session on hormones is tailored differently according to whether the audience is composed of young men or middle-aged women. "Fun" activities, such as a "fantasy flab league" involving three senior managers at a time agreeing to cut their body fat while being bet on and monitored by their colleagues, are particularly popular.

    "Board of directors"

    The Live programme is run as a standalone company by a board of directors drawn from the staff. These directors are usually employees at supervisor level in the cards division whose next step in the organisation would be into a management role. Each member of the Live board takes on responsibility for a particular aspect of the company's management - for example, marketing, advertising or finance - so that the programme also fulfils a valuable management development role.

    Live is funded by HSBC, but "doesn't cost much", according to Jim Murphy, as services used by staff must be paid for after a free trial. Jim Murphy calculates that the programme costs around £8,500 a year for a site employing around 500 people, primarily in terms of the educational materials provided.

    Regular evaluation of the programme shows that it is well used. A recent survey of the Southend site, which employs around 600 people, showed that around 70 people have changed aspects of their lifestyle as a result ofthe programme within one year of its launch.

    Pilot organisation

    HSBC signed up as one of the pilot organisations using the WHAT toolkit in 2002. Jim Murphy believes that questions still need to be asked about what use people make of health messages: "They may be aware of them, but don't act on them," he suggests.

    HSBC linked the WHAT toolkit pilot with a second BHF initiative that aims to encourage walking, which involved measuring the number of paces taken each day and seeking to increase them gradually over time by walking aroundto talk to colleagues at work rather than using the telephone or emails. More than 100 staffat the card division's three sites were involvedin the pilot.

    Feedback was then provided to BHF, focusing on how easy the toolkit is to use. Jim Murphy believes that the existence of the pack, with its recognition of the value of the workplace as a setting for health promotion, is worthwhile, but he has reservations about its focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

    He believes that many SMEs simply do not have the human resources to make workplace health happen, and that they need to see initiatives like WHAT working in larger organisations before they will be convinced to try it.

    1. Workplace Health Activity Toolkit, contact the British Heart Foundation, tel: 020 7935 0185, suggested donation £25.


    WHAT timeline

    April-May 2002: pilot projects involving six employers including HSBC Leicester.

    June-August 2002: feedback and amendments to the toolkit from pilot organisations.

    September-October 2002: resources for WHAT completed.

    November-December 2002: regional workshops to publicise the impending launch.

    January-March 2003: evaluation and advertising.

    April 2003: WHAT is launched.

     


    Workplace health standards

    The Health Development Agency has produced a series of management standards for workplace health and wellbeing that are designed to give a focus to organisations' employee health activities. Organisations working towards the standards must make a statement expressing the employer's commitment to the health, wellbeing and dignity of all members of staff.

    A cyclical approach to attaining the standards is then used, incorporating:

  • setting up a supportive infrastructure, including naming a board member who can act as "champion" for the programme and has overall responsibility for workplace health;

  • assessing staff needs and the capacity of the organisation: all workplace health issues must be addressed in this assessment, including organisational issues, such as job design, management style and practices and communication;

  • planning a strategy, including a statement of intent from the chief executive and the board, which is communicated through the organisation, and the allocation of financial and human resources;

  • implementing the strategy, probably coordinated by a joint working group, which meets regularly to monitor and review progress;

  • evaluating activities and providing feedback to employees; and

  • reviewing the programme, and using this to inform the next planning cycle.

    The standard identifies three areas for development in workplace health:

  • people: organisations working for the standard encourage staff involvement and provide occupational health and other services to give support to staff, and manage absence effectively;

  • places: employers operate a risk-management culture leading to a safe working environment; and

  • communities: the organisation acknowledges its corporate social responsibility by supporting other businesses in promoting health and wellbeing at work.

    The standards are at www.hda-online.org.uk/html/improving/wph_standards.html.

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