Seven out of 10 deaths are due to preventable causes. Workplace wellness programs help prevent the preventable and keep workers healthy and productive.
Employee wellness has come a long way since L.L. Bean opened its first fitness center in 1982. A big leap came in 2000 when the state of Maine began its own health promotion campaign. Wellness Manager Susan Tufts recalls: "It helped us recognize that 7 out of 10 deaths are due to preventable causes and that we should be doing more."
That led to an effort known as Healthy Bean. It included updating fitness centers, a wellness newsletter for employees and families, numerous health education and activity classes, and changes in the foods offered at company cafeterias. L.L. Bean also started the process that led to smoke-free campuses in 2005.
The year 2006 saw another important change—the launch of Bean’s Healthy Lifestyles initiative. This is a comprehensive wellness offering that links with the company’s health insurance plan. Employees can receive reductions in their premiums by taking a more active role in managing or improving their own health.
In order to benefit, participants must complete a health risk assessment and a health screening (for height, weight, blood pressure, and lipid profile). They are also required to participate in at least one call with a health coach—professional coaches are provided by program partner WebMD. Completing those three steps saves an employee $500 on individual health coverage and $1,000 for a family per year.
Think you have no time to train? Think again. BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer helps you fulfill key OSHA-required training tasks in as little as 7 minutes. Try it at no cost and see!
Wellness Works!
Employees have embraced the new offering. During the program’s first full year—2007—participation reached 85 percent. Workers also responded positively to the offer of free coaching. Although just one session is required, employees can call into the coaches as often as they choose for help with health questions, emotional issues, quitting smoking, losing weight, etc.
Although relatively new, Healthy Lifestyles is already delivering handsomely on the bottom line. According to Tufts, Bean is saving about $384 per participating employee per year (and $148 per spouse) on medical costs alone.
When other factors (such as absenteeism and presenteeism) are factored in, the return on investment translates to nearly $4 for every $1 invested.
"Offering comprehensive wellness programming is important but it’s just as critical for a company to create a healthy environment and promote a healthy culture. That’s the foundation," says Tufts.
She emphasizes that wellness must be offered in a physical environment with basic employee protections. "So whether it’s smoking cessation, heart health, or nutrition, you’ve also got to be providing good ventilation to prevent chemical exposure in a manufacturing plant."
Can you picture safety training in effective, 7-minute sessions? Get the details.
E-Z Training at a Phenomenal Price
To help keep your employees healthy and to provide training on a wide range of safety topics, the BLR® 7-Minute Safety Trainer has short, concise, effective, ready-to-use training sessions that provide you with a detailed trainer’s outline as well as an illustrated handout, quiz, and quiz answers to get your points across quickly—and cost-effectively.
All told, this "trainer’s bible" contains 50 prewritten meetings covering almost every aspect of safety you’d want or need to train on, in a format designed to be taught in as little as 7 minutes. Major topics include:
— Confined spaces
— Electrical safety
— Fire safety and emergency response
— HazCom
— Machine guarding and lockout/tagout
— Material handling
— PPE use and care
— Housekeeping/slips, trips, and falls
— and dozens more
Just make as many copies as you need of the included handouts and quizzes, and you’re ready to train.
Equally important is that the program ships new meetings every quarter to respond to new and changed regulations. This service is included in the program price, which averages just over $1 a working day. In fact, this is one of BLR’s most popular safety programs.
If you’d like to personally evaluate 7-Minute Safety Trainer and see how it can build safety awareness, we’ll be happy to send it to you for 30 days on a no-cost, no-obligation trial basis. Just let us know, and we’ll arrange it.
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