The Government estimates that people in employment spend about 60% of their waking hours at work. The workplace offers the opportunity to influence the health of employees in many ways beyond the prevention of work-related injury, from the foods that are offered in staff canteens, to providing shower and changing facilities for those who cycle to work.

There is evidence too that ensuring the health and well-being of employees is good for business, bringing benefits that can improve a company’s performance.
 

Changing attitudes

In March 2008 the Government published Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population. Working for a healthier tomorrow called for a change in attitudes to extend the workplace agenda beyond health and safety to encompass health and well-being.

PricewaterhouseCoopers investigated the economic case for employers to invest in wellness programmes for their staff. They found evidence of benefits to business including reduced sickness absence, reduced staff turnover, increased employee satisfaction, higher company profile and higher productivity.
 

Developing workplace well-being healthy eating activities: Nutrition professionals

In order to ensure that workplace health and well-being activities are effective and provide employees with the correct information, it is essential that advice on healthy eating is provided by a qualified person such as a registered dietitian, nutritionist or public health nutritionist.

• The Nutrition Society Voluntary Register of Nutritionists has a search facility that allows you to check whether a nutritionist is registered. This is available at http://www.nutritionsociety.org.uk/register
• Organisations wishing to find a Registered Dietitian can do so through a search facility provided by the British Dietetics Association’s Freelance Dietitians group at http://www.dietitiansunlimited.co.uk
  

Useful Workplace Well-being links

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