Workplace health should be a priority

With many of us now living healthier lives than in the past, gym memberships soaring and plenty of us eating more nutritious diets, shouldn’t it be the case that the workplace mirrors this and that employers take more time to look after employees?

You’ll probably be aware that workplace health has been a hot topic of late, so we’ve looked at the stories doing the rounds, which suggest that you should be looking out for the physical – and mental – health of your staff.

Sitting is the new smoking, says World Health Organization

In July the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that office workers on average spend 20 hours a day sitting or lying down, and also identified physical inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.

It suggests that prolonged sitting of 8 to 12 hours a day increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 90 per cent, also increasing the chances of developing cardiovascular problems.

Workplace ‘cake culture’ fuelling obesity, experts warn

In June the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons said that “cake culture” is fuelling obesity and contributing to poor dental health.

Prof Nigel Hunt said that “for many people the workplace is not the primary site of their sugar intake”, and warned that “sugar has a particularly negative effect if it’s eaten outside of meal time”.

He suggested than banning treats was not the way forward, rather a change in culture is what’s needed.

British Safety Council to ‘de-mystify’ health in the workplace during October conference

Finally, following figures from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which show that 1.2 million people suffered work-related illnesses during 2014/15, the British Safety Council has said it will tackle the issue during its annual conference in October.

BSC Chief Executive Mike Robinson said: “We know that ‘safety’ has dominated the conversation for decades. Now we are looking at the place of health in this debate. Is it occupational health or is it health and wellbeing?”

Is your business looking after its employees?

The best way to look after your employees is to make sure you have provisions in place that consider not just performance-based incentives – it’s just as important to look after their mental and physical wellbeing.

Experienced human resources staff can help your organisation do this, which is where Portfolio comes in. We’ll match the right professionals with compensation, benefit and reward vacancies at your company – speak to our recruitment consultants today on 020 7650 3190 and we’ll get the hiring process started.