Health & Fitness Program in the Workplace

Abstract: This paper deals with the question of the efficacy of an Employee Assistance Program. The question is whether embracing health and fitness programs and making these programs a workplace priority will generate a positive return on investment for the employer in terms of improvements in overall workplace productivity, as well as creating a more positive working relationship between the employee and its employer and the concurrent positive effect on the quality of life for employees of the company at every level. The paper itself will show a significant correlation between the effort and expense employers incur in funding employee safety programs on the job, and wellness programs that encourage workers to adopt a healthier lifestyle and accept the idea that prevention and early detection of illnesses is the best way to ensure they remain healthy.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is an old adage that has been on the minds of risk managers at the forefront of workplace safety efforts. Gavin Souter writing in Business Insurance (1999) reminds readers that government mandated health and safety requirements are nothing more than the bare minimum benchmark for health and safety risk management programs. An effective safety program will go beyond the government mandates. These programs will use a range of internal and external resources and techniques to maximize their effectiveness in preventing injuries and reducing the costs of work relating injuries

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mployers are seeking ways to reduce costs while encouraging employees to take more responsibility for their overall fitness which impacts on the employer's health care spending. Company sponsored wellness programs have evolved from an untested theory into a valid component of a good employee health and benefits management program. According to Dixon and Rees, the top five costliest medical conditions for employers are largely preventable. They are: [1] Low back pain, [2] depression, [3] heart disease, [4] diabetes, and [5] obesity. These are also the costliest conditions in terms of employee absenteeism, decreased productivity and long term disability. Dixon and Rees encourage employers to adopt behavioral prevention services that encourage employees to adopt healthy lifestyle choices that can include cessation smoking, engaging in exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, managing stress and establishing strong social relationships. They also encourage the use of clinical prevention services help avoid painful and costly illnesses by detecting diseases early, when treatment is often more effective and less costly. Clinical prevention programs often pay for routine checkups, immunizations and screening tests for blood pressure,

Category: Medical - H