Active Lancashire are launching a new internal initiative to help improve the health and wellbeing of their team. The venture, titled 'ALittlebitmore' to incorporate the Active Lancashire acronym, aims to provide their employees with the opportunity to engage in physical activity during their working day, allowing for their health and productivity to improve. The organisation has introduced a weekly 'wellbeing hour' to help set the plan in motion.
The wellbeing hour is protected time that can be used as an individual, or as a team, to undertake a physical activity focused on health and wellbeing. The idea is that this hour will have a positive impact on work and personal life, whilst also allowing the team to gain a better understanding of the barriers to becoming regularly active by living them.
Workplace health is managing and promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, this includes managing sickness absence and unproductive activities. The benefits of being active within the workplace are:
- Reduced sickness absence
- Improved morale and productivity
- Improved management of work related stress
- Reduction of anxiety and musculoskeletal problems
Research has proven that sitting down for too long can be bad for your health; There is evidence to show that metabolism slows and the body finds it harder to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and break down body fat leading to obesity, diabetes, cancer and other illnesses.
Key Statistics from Public Health England
- 1 in 3 of the working population in England report having at least one health condition
- Over half of the people with a long term health condition say their health is a barrier to the type or amount of work they can do, rising to over 80% when someone has three or more conditions
- 1 in 8 of the working age population reported having a musculoskeletal condition
- By 2030 40% of the working population will have a long term condition
Workplace health is becoming increasingly important not only for individuals, but also for organisations. It could take simple changes to massively benefit the health of your employees, which then has a huge impact on sickness days and productivity.
Creating a healthy workforce can help produce a happy workforce. If this is something of interest to you and your organisation, please find below a list of key contacts:
Contacts
For access to free services which are offered to those within the workplace, please contact the following:
Active Lives and Healthy Weight Service Providers
For Physical Health and Lifestyle Choice Support
- Lancaster – Lancaster City Council - Stuart Glover - [email protected]
- Preston/Chorley/South Ribble – ABL Health - Sarah Lever [email protected] / James Fazackerley [email protected]
- Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Ribble Valley, Hyndburn – Up and Active Clive Escreet - [email protected]
- Fylde and Wyre – Fylde Coast YMCA - Lisa Birtwistle [email protected]
- West Lancs – West Lancashire District Council - Emma Davies - [email protected]
Quit Squad
Smoking Cessation
- Central, East and West Lancashire - Sharon Blanche - [email protected]
- North Lancashire - Adele Shields - [email protected]
- If it is an individual, you can refer them or they can refer themselves by calling 0800 328 6297 (options for locality they live in) or via our website www.quitsquad.nhs.uk
Mental Health Support:
Public Health England Mental Health Toolkit for Employers
Ingeus - For Mental Health Support contact Angela Han - www.able-futures.co.uk 073845 13798 or email [email protected]
General Well-being:
Blue Light Wellbeing Framework by College of Policing
Health@Work Consultancy Services - Wellbeing at Work Charter
