For many employers, the two health matters that cause the most difficulties in the working environment are: sickness absence and health issues caused by work. Occupational health is the practice of making sure that your employees remain in the best physical and mental health possible, during their time spent in the workplace.
It is best practice for all corporations to employ regular health assessments to ensure that employees are not suffering any unnecessary physical strain, or stress which may cause illness. Sickness and stress are two of the most costly reasons that employees have extended periods of time absent from work; there are many ways in which this can be combated.
Running health workshops is a good way to promote health and fitness in the workplace, or if possible providing corporate membership to a gym can encourage healthier staff. Stress management counseling can also be implemented, the relative cost of this compared with the cost of having one or two members of staff taking extended sick leave, is lower by comparison.
The rule that prevention is better than cure applies to occupational health, and although companies are obligated by law to provide resources to help employees avoid any of the illnesses caused by poor working conditions, it does help from a company prospective to be pro-active and ensure employees remain healthy and happy. The benefits of a company of taking good care of staff is that it has been reported that, the healthier and happier staff are better in their productivity, which is what every company should want.
Health and safety around the workplace should come down to common sense, but a lot of the time especially in larger companies, there can be dangers that may cause injury. The way to ensure staff safety is to have a member of staff, or many members of staff be tasked with keeping simple things in order in the workplace. This also gets the staff involved and makes them aware of the risks around the workplace.
There is a wide range of therapies available that will also help contribute such as acupuncture, physiotherapy, and even dieticians can all help in making sure that you do not end up with the costly problem of having staff on sick leave, costing you and the economy money. Check your local area to see what services can be brought in to practice. Therapy can be a reasonable price and if you have insurance you may be able to claim, and have it either completely paid for or have a contribution paid.
