Sustainable Health and Wellness at Germiston
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Employees at the Germiston site in South Africa enjoy themselves during Wellness Day.
Our Germiston site is located in South Africa, a country with high levels of HIV and AIDS. Back in 2003/04, we developed an HIV support programme, but the time was now right to extend the support into a broader wellness programme for the whole workforce.
Helping to support general health and wellness is good for employees and good for the business. With the infrastructure in place to tackle HIV prevention and education, the site had a platform that could be used to consider the wider wellness needs of the workforce: physical, mental and social.
In 2005, 25 employees were trained as ‘peer educators’ for the HIV programme and their role has been extended to become ‘Wellness Champions’. They work with the Wellness Coordinator in the occupational health team to deliver health education awareness information and training to colleagues. These training and awareness campaigns are conducted every month, covering topics such as healthy eating, stress management, dealing with drug and alcohol problems, men’s and women’s health matters and also HIV prevention.
In October 2008, the site held a Wellness Day which saw a high level of employee participation. 70% of employees undertook a short preventative health assessment, offered by the health insurance company that provides medical insurance for most employees. The information gathered will help the site identify the most common health and wellness issues and plan further programmes.
While there was a degree of scepticism among employees at first, the Wellness Champions successfully overcame the doubts. Now, on an ongoing basis, there is a comprehensive employee assistance programme, with a telephone helpline, face to face counselling and advisory services for employment, legal and financial problems. The wellness programme forms a pivotal part of the ‘people’ element of Germiston’s approach to sustainability.