Worksite Wellness ProgramsWorksite Wellness Programs

Other departments within a company will likely focus on related areas of employee safety and injury prevention. Wellness activities are a natural partner to many other human resource, employee motivation, and safety programs. Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe on the job practices are three areas which may be coordinated together.

• Soft Tissue Sprains & Strains: This injury category continues to remain the number one monetary loss for workers’ compensation. Many health insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Wellness and safety efforts can focus on
• Warm up stretches before starting work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Offer training to work groups so they may start a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.
• The Worksite Wellness Program Committee might consider contracting a fitness professional to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for employee groups throughout the year.
• Offer body mechanics training on an yearly basis or more frequently if possible. These training sessions ought to focus on work related tasks and safety, as well as feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.
• Partner with your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to assist in offering body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventative services which can help workers work safer, smarter, and avert injury.
• Begin a safety concerns suggestion box. Urge workers to report safety and/or injury concerns. Help senior staff to establish policy to recognize and reward workers who offer safety recommendations, support tips, and solution ideas.
• A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider addressing such subject matters as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.
• Partner with senior staff and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are efficacious with safety and injury prevention.
• The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is important and applicable to every group.
• Offer ergonomic training opportunities to interested workers volunteers. These individuals can then assist other workers to evaluate their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.
• It is often more effective to have an observer evaluate workers for helpful and friendly comfort recommendations rather than it is for individuals to evaluate themselves.
• One suggestion is to have workers remind one another about correct posture, to take breaks, to stop and do quick mini stretches, etc.
• Take before and after photos of work areas as changes are made. This will help to verify how small adjustment changes can often make sizable comfort changes.
• Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help develop ergonomic policies and practices and to support employee training.