Integrating health, safety can improve worker wellness: Campbell Institute

Itasca, IL — Employee wellness programs need to be multidimensional to lead to sustainable – and even improved – worker health, according to a recently released report from the Campbell Institute at the National Safety Council.

The report states that organizations should expand beyond initiatives such as smoking cessation and weight loss to include health and safety issues such as fitness, nutrition, workplace fatigue, overtime management and job security.

The Campbell Institute recommends a systematic approach to implementing and maintaining a total worker well-being program:

• Plan: Analyze information, solicit ideas and select the best plan for improvement.
• Do: Implement the plan – either as a pilot program or fully deployed.
• Check: Gather information to verify the desired effects of change.
• Act: Sustain gains made and make course corrections as needed.

“There is not a one-size-fits-all solution to worker well-being,” John Dony, director of the Campbell Institute, said in a March 5 press release. “Organizations are unique and so are their employees. If the biggest risk to an organization is employees being overweight, it might want to focus efforts on physical fitness. Or, if the highest risk for an organization is deemed to be worker stress, it might want to look at implementing a worker assistance program.”

The Campbell Institute will host a one-hour webinar related to the report at 11 a.m. Central on March 21. To register, visit www.thecampbellinstitute.org/webinars.