This page provides answers to questions frequently asked about healthy workplaces on the following topics:
Health & Wellness Committees
Healthy Workplace Ideas
Reaching Employees
Support & Resources
Screening Tools
NOTE: Use the following links to go directly to the place on the page below
Health & Wellness Committees
Healthy Workplace Ideas
Reaching Employees
Support & Resources
Screening Tools
Is having a Health & Wellness Committee absolutely necessary?
The argument could be made that forming a Health & Wellness Committee is so imperative that no healthy workplace initiatives should be attempted without one. Strycker et al (1996) state that such committees are felt to be important for implementing healthy workplace initiatives but that little research has established what makes them successful.
Many companies boast that their committees are extraordinarily productive. Although little research has been published on Health & Wellness Committees and outcomes, there is an association between number of hours spent by committee members and program success (as cited in Thompson et al, 2005). It is not known if committees are essential for employee participation.
Some workplaces choose not to form a Health & Wellness Committee in favour of using an existing Joint Health & Safety Committee. The main function of a Joint Health & Safety Committee is to ensure that your workplace complies with health and safety legislation. According to O’Grady (2000), Joint Health & Safety Committees can play an important role in improving workplace health and safety. The established structure and function of the Joint Health & Safety Committee makes it an appealing alternative to some workplaces, whereas others prefer to create a Health & Wellness Committee. Each workplace is different and will have to determine what is best according to their needs.
How do I form a Health & Wellness Committee?
The Health & Wellness Committee includes members that represent the various types of jobs and people at a workplace (e.g. senior and middle management, labour representatives, human resources, clerical, etc.). Committees ranges in size; 6 to 12 members are common. If you have a large workplace with multiple locations, you may want to consider having separate committees at each site. The other option is to have representation from each worksite location on the committee.
A member of the Joint Health & Safety Committee should be on the Health & Wellness Committee to act as a liaison between the two groups. If this is not feasible, there should definitely be communication and coordination between the two groups to maximize health and safety opportunities and minimize redundancies.
Strycker et al (1996) found that successful committees have a committed chair, active members, guidance and structure when starting out. These researchers also claim that Health & Wellness Committees appear to work best when they are made up of “doers”; start out with highly visible, easily managed activities; are given step-by-step instructions for conducting activities; solicit employee feedback and requests; and form ties with other worksites and community agencies. As such, you will want to designate someone as “chair” of the committee and have each member take the lead on the different initiatives. In this way, work can be shared by all members.
Once the Health & Wellness Committee is formed, it is important to set terms of reference for the Committee members (e.g. roles; frequency and duration of meeting; how decisions will be made) and establish a goal statement to communicate the intention and direction of the committee to employees. Some companies also create a logo for their Committee, which is later used on all communication and promotional materials. This helps with branding and building awareness of the committee.
How should our Health & Wellness Committee recruit new members?
Some people lean towards having a committee of volunteers rather than appointees. They argue that appointees may not be as devoted as volunteers. Researchers in one study took this position by suggesting that committees made up of volunteers would be most likely to last and have enthusiasm. Contrary to the researchers’ hypothesis however, results showed it made no difference whether committees were made up of self-volunteers, were appointed by a contact person, or were recruited as volunteers. Similarly, there was no association between volunteer, appointed, or recruited committee members and subsequent attendance at meetings, participation in committee work, or representativeness of the committee. However, the researchers of this study admit that their finding is inconsistent with other research that found it difficult to form committees or difficult to obtain representation. Given the fact that there is very little research on this issue, you will have to find out what works best in your workplace through trial and error.
The committee may want to informally put a call out for new members to all employees, briefly highlighting what is involved with being on the committee. Invite those who are uncertain to attend a meeting so that they can get a better sense of what to expect. Another option is to formally request new members and have them go through an application process. If there is not a response from putting a call out to all employees, then have the existing committee brainstorm individuals to approach and ask them personally to be involved.
When recruiting new members, consider who is needed or missing on the committee. In addition to having members that represent the various types of jobs and people in your workplace, it’s also helpful to have people on the committee with varied expertise (i.e. creativity, promotional skills, motivational skills, planning skills, etc.) Include these details in the call out to employees or approach individuals that meet the profile the committee is looking for.
It is important to be realistic about the membership of the Health & Wellness Committee– your committee will change with new members. Change can be good as new members bring fresh ideas and energy to the table.
How can I motivate the Health & Wellness Committee?
There will definitely be times when members of the committee need motivating. If your committee is just getting started, they may be unclear about their role and the direction of the committee. Initial enthusiasm can be maintained by:
- Asking the members what they would like to get out of being on the committee and aim to incorporate as many committee members’ wishes as possible.
- Figuring out your direction as a committee and the role of each member. This process will provide a clear purpose for being involved and identify how they can contribute.
- Meeting on a regular basis (i.e. monthly) with times that work for everyone. Pre-book meetings so that people have the time blocked off, but be flexible to change if the schedule no longer works.
- Legitimizing committee members’ roles as an important function in the company as opposed to a volunteer group (i.e. have role put in member’s Performance Appraisal and encourage their managers to commend their involvement).
- Giving committee members access to training opportunities either by having a guest speaker during a meeting or attending workshops in the community on healthy workplace topics. This is important particularly if members feel they are interested in being involved but do not really understand the concepts behind healthy workplace initiatives.
For a mature Health & Wellness Committee (i.e. the committee and members have been in place for a while) that seems to have lost momentum, try the following to re-energize and motivate the members by:
- Finding out if members are still interested in being on the committee. If they are, try to identify what is making the group stagnant. Maybe their workload is intense and the committee needs to scale back on their activities or make use of project groups with people outside the committee. Perhaps conversations need to take place with certain managers to stress the value of their staff being involved on the committee. Or, the direction of the committee may need to be reviewed to ensure that it still aligns with members’ wants and needs. If the focus of the committee is no longer clear, revisit the goals.
- Celebrating achievements and look for opportunities to have committee members recognized for their contribution (i.e. apply for an external award, treat the committee to lunch, incorporate committee recognition at a staff recognition event).
- Having the occasional creativity session can help the committee generate new ideas—they may be bored with the status quo or may struggle with what to attempt next.
- Fostering camaraderie among members.
- Advocating for committee members to have the responsibility and authority to make changes in the workplace without the fear of reprimands from others. At the very least, define the parameters of what they are able to do as a committee. Perhaps the role of the committee is to act as a non-partisan group whose recommendations are heavily considered by management.
- Creating opportunities for personal and committee growth (i.e. training, learning new skills, taking on exciting challenges).
- Designating working spaces (i.e. meeting room) and resources (i.e. operational budget, bulletin board, section on the company intranet) so the committee feels acknowledged.
Where can I get ideas for healthy workplace initiatives?
The following links contain ideas for health and wellness programming.
Calendar of Health Related Days for 2007
City of Hamilton, Public Health Services
101 Ways to Wellness
What are Canadian companies doing?
According to highlights from the Buffet Taylor National Wellness Survey Highlights 2003 (the responses of 429 employers from across Canada), the top five initiatives being offered are:
- First Aid/CPR courses
- Employee Assistance Programs
- Flu Shot Programs
- Time off in lieu of overtime
- Staff appreciation events
However, not all these companies take the recommended comprehensive approach to workplace health. To find out what more progressive companies are doing, check out the following resources:
2007 Healthy Workplace Recognition Recipients
Most companies are already involved in workplace health issues to some degree. Determining where your committee should start or go next depends on your current state. Although there is no “one-size fits all” approach to building and maintaining a healthy workplace, there are similar steps that all workplaces, regardless of size can take. The following tools can help your committee determine your focus:
This one-page chart walks you through a series of yes and no questions to determine what your committee has or has not already accomplished. “No” answers are followed with recommended steps for action.
An Action Checklist for Building a Healthy Workplace
This one-page Action Checklist by the Graham Lowe Group will help the committee during the critical stages of developing and implementing a comprehensive healthy workplace program.
Related Resources:
How to Get Started: Your Guide to Building a Healthy Workplace
The intent of this guide is to help local workplaces get started on their journey of building a healthy workplace. Special emphasis is placed on persuading the decision-makers in your workplace to "buy-in" to comprehensive workplace health promotion.
Wellness Program – Getting Started
Find out the steps for developing and implementing a wellness program for your workplace.
How should I communicate to employees?
Heirich et al (1989) list eight recommendations that can be used to develop effective health information communication in industrial settings. These recommendations have been adapted from:
Heirich, M., Cameron, V., Erfurt, J., Foote, A., & Gregg, W. (1989). Establishing communication networks for health promotion in industrial settings. American Journal of Health Promotion, 4(2); 116.
Eight Steps to Effective Worksite Communication of Health Information
1. Use existing formal communication channels
- Staff meetings
- Health & Safety training/meetings
- Pay stub
- Voice mail
- E-mail
- Company newsletter/ intranet
- TV monitors
- Word-of-mouth
2. Create new, official health communication channels
- Form a Health & Wellness Committee
- Request an e-mail address for the Health & Wellness Committee to send out e-mails and to receive e-mails from employees
- Create a Health & Wellness Committee section on the company intranet
- Develop Health & Wellness Committee bulletin boards, newsletters, information kiosks, posters, surveys, etc.
3. Create direct-link, one-to-one outreach with employees
- Offer visible events to connect with employees directly (i.e. health fairs, screening/counseling sessions, presentations, training, etc.)
- Have employees sign-up on the spot for future health and wellness activities
- Send reminders to employees to attend
- Follow up with no-shows
4. Create informal health communication flow by targeting strategically-placed employees for early one-to-one outreach
- Include Health & Wellness Committee members
- Include “bees” whose jobs have them moving throughout the worksite and able to talk with others
- Include people at the hub of communication interaction (i.e. secretaries in key offices)
5. Enlarge and reinforce short-link communication chains
- Invite people who want to make health changes to create their own buddy systems and support groups
6. Create new health communication networks
- Invite people with common successes to have lunch together and plan ways to help others (i.e. former smokers, those who are regularly physically active)
7. Organize special health events involving:
- Friendly competition
- Humour
- Incentives for successful behaviour change
- Opportunities for social support
8. Create attention for focused health messages
- Use posters, moving targets, sight and sound surprises (i.e. balloons)
Related Resources:
This three page excerpt from the Small Group Discussion on May 11, 2005 highlights the various methods of communication and the strengths, weaknesses and possibilities for each.
Want to Reach Staff? Tell Them a Story
A two page article by Graham Lowe highlights workplaces that have a corporate culture of open and honest communication.
How do I increase employee participation?
Wellness coordinators and Health and Wellness Committees often struggle with getting employees to participate in healthy workplace initiatives. Common frustrations include:
- Employees say that they will participate through sign up sheets or surveys but don’t commit
- Employees at risk do not appear interested in participating
- Initiatives appear to consistently attract people who are already healthy
- Participation rates drop on normally well-attended initiatives
- Certain types of employees participate more frequently than others (i.e. office staff show up more than assembly line workers)
- Communications (i.e. posters, e-mails, word of mouth) have been maximized to promote initiatives but people do not show
- Difficulties involving employees from satellite locations
Use the following rates to estimate how many employees will participate in healthy workplace initiatives offered by the health and wellness committee:
- 10 to 50% of employees will actively participate in on-site programs (Wilson, 1990).
- 10 to 25% of employees will participate in programs offered outside the workplace (Fielding, J. as cited in Lovato & Green, 1990).
- Participation rates are higher for general orientation sessions (75 to 80%) and for completing health risk appraisals (65-75%). (Parkinson, R. as cited in Lovato & Green, 1990.)
In North America, the following employee participation trends have been observed:
- Those with higher income and education levels are more likely to participate(Palank as cited in Baker et al., 1994)
- Blue collar workers are less likely to participate than white-collar workers (Glasgow et al. as cited in Peltomaki et al., 2003; Morris et al., 1999)
- Persons in risk-related jobs (i.e. construction) may be less likely to participate (Stange et al. as cited in Baker et al., 1994)
- In one study, women were more likely to participate then men (Berkman & Kawachi as cited in Peltomaki et al., 2003)
- Employees with more job flexibility are more likely to participate (Palank as cited in Baker et al., 1994)
- Healthier people more likely to participate (Sloan & Gruman, 1988)
- Employees who are motivated or ready to change are more likely to participate (Sloan & Gruman, 1988)
There are a variety of reasons why employees do not participate in healthy workplace initiatives:
- Unaware of initiative(s)
- Lack of interest
- No time
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of social support
- Concerns about confidentiality
- Organizational characteristics (i.e. lack of commitment from management).
The following strategies to can be used to increase employee participation:
1. Get active support and participation from management
Sloan & Grunman found that employees are more likely to participate if their supervisors are supportive. To gain support from management for healthy workplace initiatives try:
- Finding a senior management champion who will visibly participate in healthy workplace initiatives and encourage others to get involved.
- Formally request management to address specific barriers to employee participation (i.e. offer flexible work arrangements to permit employees to participate, subsidize the cost of initiatives, and emphasize confidentiality).
- Asking management to clearly communicate their endorsement and support to employees in terms of getting involved with healthy workplace initiatives.
2. Change the culture of your workplace
Culture change is a slow process, but here are some ways to make your workplace culture a “culture of health”:
- Address safety issues, sources of stress, and work/life conflict problems if they are paramount to employees and have not been resolved. Employees may not be willing participate in other healthy workplace initiatives until progress has been made on other issues important to employees.
- Environmental supports are necessary to enable employees to participate in or practice healthy behaviours. On-site fitness classes or walking clubs, healthy food choices in the vending machines and cafeteria, and a smoking cessation program at work are all examples of supports in the workplace that make the healthy choices easier for employees.
- Policy is the key to sustaining healthy workplace programming. Policies establish ground rules and expectations with regards to a particular behaviour. Workplaces can create an overall written health policy or develop specific policies. As an example, for company events over three hours there could be a policy that requires a physical activity component and a healthy snack.
- Position healthy workplace initiatives as a joint partnership between management, employees, and the union (if applicable). Employees may not participate if they think initiatives are management driven and they are being monitored.
- Request and share testimonials of how specific healthy workplace initiatives have helped employees. These anecdotes from co-workers may encourage their co-workers to participate in the future.
3. Consider using incentives
Incentives can be a double-edge sword: they may increase employee participation, but may not change employee behaviour! Also, once started, incentives are difficult to remove. Incentives generally work best when they are kept small and strategically support your healthy workplace initiative. Some incentives to consider include:
- Allowing employees to participate on company time
- Offering prizes (i.e. pedometers, massage, healthy cookbooks)
- Running contests
- Providing fun awards
4. Involve employees in the planning and implementation
This ensures employees’ needs will be met (Glasgow et al., 1993), thereby increasing the likelihood that they will participate. Common ways to get employees involved include:
- Conducting a needs assessment. This process should reveal the actual needs, current practices and preferences of employees. Tools or techniques include surveys, focus groups, audits and human resource data analysis. For more information on tools available, see THCU’s Catalogue of Situational Assessment Tools
- Involving employees on the Health & Wellness Committee. Make sure the health and wellness committee reflects the diversity of your workplace (i.e. gender, language, cultural background, job roles, etc.) in order to offer initiatives that will be attractive to employees. If representation of this nature is unrealistic, ensure you consult with employees who can help the committee.
5. Customize initiatives
Customizing initiatives increases employee participation because it caters to employee preferences. Employees will be attracted to different initiatives, so you will want to offer a variety that appeal to employees of different stages of readiness or motivation. For example, employees who are not physically active on a regular basis may prefer a one-month pedometer program that includes showing them how to use the pedometer and includes a progress sheet that helps them reach realistic goals, whereas employees who are regularly active may want to be in a physical activity competition. Making initiatives affordable, convenient, simple and easy to follow are important considerations as well.
6. Have a marketing and communication strategy
Rather than just promoting individual events to employees, consider developing a marketing and communication strategy. This may involve how you brand the Health and Wellness Committee initiatives, how management and employees stay informed of your activities, and how to promote initiatives and accomplishments. Channels of communication to use include: management, co-workers, meetings, company newsletter, and intranet. Do not forget that once is never enough to create awareness– employees need to hear the same message at least four times. Therefore you will likely want to make use of several channels of communication for each initiative you want to promote! For more information, see “How should we communicate with employees?”
7. Maintain participant confidentiality
Many employees are apprehensive about participating in healthy workplace initiatives if they think that they will be monitored by others. Make it clear to employees that their individual participation is confidential– only aggregate information is collected for reporting purposes (if that is the case).
Important Points to Remember:
When using participation to determine effectiveness, consider both the number of employees who sign-up and the ones who continue to participate. The Health & Wellness Committee is on the right track if high numbers of employees are involved. When assessing lifestyle behaviours or participation rates, remember that just because an employee stops participating in a healthy workplace initiative does not mean that he or she is discontinuing the behaviour. For example, an employee that drops out of a Pilates class offered at work may have joined another one in the community.
Participation rates are critical because the effectiveness of healthy workplace initiatives depends on employees getting involved. Don’t be discouraged if participation rates are low – chances are the health and wellness committee can apply the strategies outlined above and increase participation. Furthermore, Serxner et al. (2004) suggest that workplaces can still achieve positive return-on-investment from “surprisingly low participation rates” because the cost of unhealthy employees is higher than the cost of programs to improve their health (Baker et al., 1994). Some workplaces are concerned if employees who are already “healthy” are the ones participating, but remember that it is imperative to keep them healthy and well. Some researchers argue that by ignoring low-risk employees, they will be come high-risk and high-cost over time (Serxner et al., 2004; Serxner et al., 2001). Similarly, doing nothing to support high-risk employees will likewise result in increased risk (Serxner et al, 2004). Therefore, healthy workplace initiatives should address all groups: high-risk, low-risk and healthy employees (Serxner et al., 2001).
How do I reach employees who work shifts?
If you have employees who work shifts, try doing the following:
- Offer duplicate events so all shifts have an opportunity to participate.
- Give them access to health information in a useful way (i.e. bulletin board, video library).
- Provide education to shiftworkers and their managers specifically about issues related to working shifts.
- Promote services that are accessible to shiftworkers “after hours” such as Employee Assistance Programs, hotlines, websites, etc.
Related Resources:
Shiftwork Like Clockwork Worksite Wellness Program Facilitator’s Guide*
The Shiftwork Like Clockwork facilitator's guide contains background notes, practical tools and ideas to offer up to 22 "Reach and Teach Modules". Each module addresses individual health issues and takes approximately 15-20 minutes to deliver. You can deliver one module in a series of 15-20 minute Health and Safety meetings or you can combine them to any desired length.
OSH Answers: Rotational Shiftwork
On-line responses to questions related to shiftwork. Includes approaches workplaces can take to reduce the effects of shiftwork.
Shiftwork: Health Effects & Solutions
How do I reach employees in a workplace that has multiple-office locations?
If your workplace has more than one office location, it can be challenging to offer consistent programs, especially if the locations vary significantly in size, facilities, and are spread out geographically. Here are some suggestions for reaching employees at multiple-office locations:
- If there is just one Health & Wellness Committee for the entire workplace, find “champions” at each office location. Even if they are not members of the Health & Wellness Committee, they can be a point person for employees to find out about upcoming initiatives and can provide the committee with valuable insight on which initiatives will be best for their respective locations.
- Run multiple sessions of the most popular activities at all locations.
- Decentralize programs as much as possible. In other words, choose initiatives that are “location-less”. For example, run a contest in which employees keep track of their own participation through use of a scorecard, or give them access to health information through the company intranet at home and work. This permits employees to participate without requiring them to travel to a mutual location.
- Rotate initiatives among the office locations so that one location does not host everything.
How can I offer healthy workplace initiatives on a limited budget…or without a budget?
It doesn’t matter if your workplace is large or small, public or private – all workplaces struggle with funding for health and wellness initiatives. The good news is that while a budget is certainly helpful, it does not mean you cannot move forward without one.
If the Health and Wellness Committee is just getting started, you may want to rely on free services in the community for things like displays for a health fair; presentations for employees; consultations; and resources. Check with your benefits and Employee Assistance Program providers – you may be able to access resources and presentations that are already covered by your workplace. Find out if employees are interested in volunteering their services – you may already have a yoga instructor or walking club leader who would be happy to help your committee by offering a yoga demonstration or organizing some walks.
When a budget is necessary, there are a few options the committee can consider:
- Making a presentation to senior management for funding (either for an annual budget or for a specific initiative).
- Collaborating with another business unit within your workplace that already has a budget on a joint initiative (i.e. perhaps you can team up with the Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committee and offer health and wellness activities during North American Occupational Safety & Health Week).
- Fundraising through 50/50 draws or other means to fund Health & Wellness Committee activities.
- Apply for community grants.
- Request free services/donations.
- Make use of in-house experts.
- Participate in community-wide events.
Related Resources:
If you are looking to learn more about building a budget for health & wellness, this four page article will guide you through budget principles, budget justification, and budget sustainability.
This article highlights how the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) has successfully supported and encouraged employee health without spending excessively.
What are Health Risk Appraisals?
A Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) is an assessment tool that provides aggregate data on health risks within an employee population as well as a sense of employees’ readiness to change unhealthy behaviours and provides confidential reports for individual employees on their particular health risks and strengths.
It's important to note that the Public Health Research, Education and Development Program did a report in 1999 on HRAs and stated that they have limited reliability and validity. HRAs are more likely to be effective when used in a multi-factorial, comprehensive workplace health promotion program that encompasses education, policy and environmental support (Public Health Research, Education and Development Program, 1999).
Related Resources:
The Health Communication Unit (THCU) at The Centre for Health Promotion Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto has developed a resource that contains information about 29 recommended and promising situational assessment tools in six categories: needs assessments, health risk appraisals, workplace audits, employee interest surveys, current practice surveys, and organizational culture surveys.
