New Year’s Resolution: Total Worker Health
It’s common for people to make New Year’s resolutions that address their fitness and health. It’s also the time of year that companies develop goals and strategic initiatives for the year ahead as well. One resolution that companies should consider pertains to Total Worker Health™. It used to be that companies only had employee health and safety programs. This was mostly due to regulation (OSHA) and by wanting to prevent the costs associated with worker injuries. A few years ago workplace wellness programs became popular with companies, especially with the rise in obesity and diabetes. These two programs were kept separate which is pretty much the way it is today. However, that may all be changing with advent of Total Worker Health™ by NIOSH. Total Worker Health™ (TWH) “is a strategy integrating occupational safety and health protection with health promotion to prevent worker injury and illness and to advance health and well-being.” A new concept, “The Whole Worker”, is being promoted throughout TWH. This means that life at work and at home has to be addressed in order to achieve full worker health and well-being. In order to do this, NIOSH is promoting and recommending that occupational health and safety programs (OHS) and Workplace wellness programs (WWP) be integrated into one program.
OSH and WWP have a common goal and that is to protect and improve worker health. Since health is complex and multidimensional having separate programs is not as effective as having them together. For example, stress is a common home and workplace hazard. Stress at work can spill over into personal lives and vice versa. This can affect the workers exercise, mental health, nutrition and family life, or it can affect work performance, morale and attendance. Ignoring the contributing factors from home life or the workplace is an incomplete and ineffective approach to worker health. The best solution is a holistic approach to health, i.e. one that combines WWP and OHS.
NIOSH has published the Essential Elements of Effective Workplace Programs and Policies for Improving Worker Health and Wellbeing. It is a resource document “for employers and employer-employee partnerships wishing to establish effective workplace programs that sustain and improve worker health.” It contains 20 guidelines that are categorized under the following topics:
- Organizational Culture and Leadership
- Program Design
- Program Implementation and Resources
- Program Evaluation
At this time the Total Worker Health™ initiative is just that, it isn’t a law or regulation. However, TWH when combined with the National Prevention Strategy certainly has a potential to develop into that, whether or not it does in the coming months and years remains to be seen. That being said, there’s no need to wait for regulations before proceeding to combine health protection efforts (safety) with health promotion efforts (wellness). The effectiveness increases and therefore so does the benefits of the program to both the company and the workers. The advantages of healthier, engaged and more productive workers are both tangible (reduce work comp/benefits costs and profits) and intangible (better moral, high satisfaction, low absenteeism) to the company. The New Year is a perfect time to make it a strategic initiative to combine both programs into one. Why wait until next year?
References:
http://www.healthcare.gov/prevention/nphpphc/strategy/report.html