Small Business - Create a healthy work environment

June 10, 2008

You’re at your Monday morning staff meeting, and laid out on the table are bagels and cream cheese and doughnuts and bear claws.

And just down the hall to wash it all down is a vending machine filled with soda, or perhaps a candy machine for that extra sugar rush.

While this may or may not describe your worksite, chances are your office isn’t as healthy as it can be. But with a little imagination and effort you can create a healthier work environment for your employees without breaking the bank, say health and wellness experts.

“Wellness is not just for big business,” says Don Powell, president of the American Institute for Preventive Medicine in Farmington Hills, Mich., a provider of wellness programs and publications. “There are a lot of activities small employers can implement and a lot of benefits they can receive by doing so.”

Some of these benefits can include increased employee morale, lower absenteeism and potentially reduced health care costs, particularly if you have a self-insured health plan. In general, the average return on investment is $3.50 for every $1 invested in a wellness program, Powell says.

So how do you begin on the path to better workplace wellness? Well, it all starts with figuring out what your needs are, says Matthew Lewis of Lewis Wellness Consulting, which runs the Creating Wellness Center of Commack.

Conduct a needs assessment and poll your employees on what they’re interested in, suggests Lewis, who helps companies create wellness programs. That way, you can implement wellness solutions that make sense. For instance, it’s pointless to start a smoking cessation program if no one wants to stop smoking.

“The best workplace programs are not dictated by upper management,” says Suffolk Health Commissioner Humayun Chaudhry, who co-chaired a recent Islandwide workplace wellness conference at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton. “They come from ideas from employees themselves.” The health department is itself creating a workplace wellness program, says Chaudhry, who is trying to keep it as cost-effective as possible.

To be sure, there are no-cost and low-cost programs out there, notes Michael Thorn, the lab’s health promotion program manager and conference co-chair. For instance, Suffolk and Nassau have free smoking cessation programs, notes Thorn, who also is a wellness consultant. If you have at least 15 people at your worksite interested in participating, a health educator will come on-site to administer it and help you set up your own, or employees can attend workshops throughout each county. Call 631-853-4017 in Suffolk and 516-227-9424 in Nassau for more information.

The American Heart Association offers different programs, including Start!, which provides companies with a free kit to set up walking routes at the worksite. Check out americanheart.org/present er.jhtml?identifier=3041374. You might want to check with other health-oriented nonprofits to see what they offer.

Looking for other low-cost ideas? Offer healthier food options throughout the office and consider a weight-loss challenge. That’s exactly what Arrow Exterminating Co. in Lynbrook did, says co-president Jackie Grabin. They’ve done two already.

“There was a lot of interest in the office for people to lose weight,” says Grabin, who participated in the challenges along with her sister/co-president Debby Tappan. Each employee put $50 in, but got the $50 back plus another $50 if they reached their goal weight. They were given additional cash incentives if the entire group reached its goal.

At Arrow, approximately 20 employees make up the office staff. The remaining 80 work in the field. All but three members of the office staff participated in the challenges.

Just remember when doing a weight-loss challenge to be mindful of nondiscrimination statutes and regulations, advises Christopher Kutner of the Farrell Fritz law firm in Uniondale. If you set a goal that an employee feels they cannot reach, you may want to offer a “reasonable alternative,” he suggests. After all, you’re all in this together.

HEALTHY EATING

Offer a brown-bag “lunch and learn,” where employees can eat and hear a seminar on a healthy topic.

Start a monthly nutritional employee newsletter or e-mail.

Ask your vending machine company for healthier food options.

Give employees a medical self-care guide to help reduce unnecessary doctor/

emergency room visits. The American Institute for Preventive Medicine offers such a guide.

Reprinted from newsday.com