When Macfarlan Smith – our Edinburgh business which supplies active pharmaceutical ingredients – startedto review its workforce health improvement plan, it quickly identified threemajor obstacles to progress: diet, shift working and commuting. Taking a holistic approach to health improvement and a three pronged attack on the problems turned out to be the key.
Although health promotion and training programmes had been in placesince 2008 there were still three engrained issues to address.The traditional Scottish diet – for a start – is notorious for being high in saturated fat, salt and sugar butlow in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Secondly, shift workers, like those at Macfarlan Smith,are always likely to eat less well and exercise less often. And thirdly, given itslocation andthe provision of parking at the workplace, the majority of employees (83% of them) preferred to use private cars to get to work rather than more sustainable forms of transport.
The first tack was to make regular, direct communication withall employees, as well as through trade unions and safety representatives. In a new initiative in 2010, external consultants were engaged to host workshops designed to improve employee understanding of stress and achieve a more sustainable work / life balance.
The second prong of our approach was to promote an improved diet and provide incentives to better eating. Working with its contract caterer, Macfarlan Smith now ensures that a wide variety of healthy meal options, not just salads (often associated with virtuous eating), are available every day. A traffic light system of green, amber and red shows the nutritional values of the menus so that everyone can make an informed choice with full knowledge of the saturated fat, salt and sugar content. Crucially, financial incentives are in place to encourage employees to select the healthier options.
The third step was to provide incentives to employees to take more regular exercise, supporting local businesses engaged in sustainability-type projects where possible. Subsidised gym membership and a financially advantageous ‘Bike to Work' scheme are encouraging greater fitness, with 23% of employees having elected to take up a gym membership or cycle to work as at 31st March 2010.
In a north European country where the climate can often make comfort food and convenient commuting by car a temptation, this progress must be deemed a real success.