Chronic disease is one of the big situations that a lot of our employees find themselves
in.
There are strong links in research between fatigue, lack of sleep and obesity.
I would definitely consider mental health issues to be at the forefront of health issues
experienced out on site as well as maintaining that healthy balance.
And it is definitely possible to overeat or comfort eat out here and to neglect the healthier
options.
The long working hours that are required of workers in the construction industry obviously
reduces the opportunities that the guys have for structured physical activity outside of
work.
Physical inactivity and poor dietary choices are key aspects of poor employee health that
we often come across.
We can often see isolation playing a role for our people working in rural and remote
locations.
I think that the responsibility for health does come down to each individual to grasp
their opportunities but for them to take that opportunity they need to be given that opportunity
and that's where I think management needs to provide options to their workers.
To try and get people more active within the manufacturing industry here at Yatala we have
a number of initiatives here on site.
We have a walking group.
We have a group of people that every morning they go out and they have a walk around the
Brewery.
Twenty minutes is not a great deal of time for people to be away from work especially
when you look at the outcomes that you can get.
The other thing that we do with our physio service our physio is an exercise physiologist.
So we certainly promote getting active and being healthy in that way.
My role here at Carlton United Breweries is to try and help that health seeking behaviour
with the guys so they can get whatever medical attention they need when they need it and
early, not before they get so sick that they can't perform at work or their performance
suffers.
So some of the initiatives that we've looked to implement include a financial co-contribution
in order to get some touch football teams organised.
If there's no access to healthy food options we've implemented a weekly fruit delivery
to that site.
Only recently we've implemented a site resource list.
When a site is starting up I'll generally go out and have a look at the area to ascertain
if there's any options for the healthy eating, do the local councils offer free or low cost
activities which more often than not they do.
Back in the office we have a cycling group that meets every week.
We've had a 10,000 step challenge that went out across site.
We've brought in gym equipment and set up a little gym here on site.
We've opened a running and walking track.
It fits in with the walk home.
So we don't have to drive home.
We can let off steam and have time to get outdoors and actually get in touch with nature
a little bit and watch a beautiful sunset.
Providing education resources, providing healthy nutrition for people to have as their option
when they're at work.
With the canteen we've had a look at all the different options we can do to try and improve
the quality and the nutritional value of the food that they have available to them.
We're definitely seeing a shift where health promotion and health and wellbeing isn't being
seen as just an employee benefit and actually using behaviour change principles to have
sustainable effective change.
If we can evaluate the success of the health and wellbeing program or the various initiatives
we can see the positive impact not only on the health of our workers but the bottom line
from a financial point of view.
The advice that I would give to someone coming in to a work health promotion role is to understand
their workforce before they put anything into place.
You need to establish a baseline so that you can monitor those small elements of change.
You need to be realistic that increases to productivity and decreases to absenteeism
isn't a short term goal.
It is about long, sustainable changes and a journey that the organisation must take.
You need to be persistent.
You need to have a structured program with goals and measureable outcomes as well.
Understand what gets those people excited and try and find something along the lines
of the healthy living and community type events that they can get involved in that they're
passionate about.
Get out into the work space.
Talk to people and observe.
You will learn so much about what issues are important to them even through general conversation
about their family.
So get personal with the people that you're working with.
I'm really motivated to work in this industry.
It's very rewarding and you do feel as if you're making a difference.
And I get a great deal of satisfaction out of helping people and helping them achieve
their health goals.
You know they've participated in these initiatives and they've really got the benefits out of
that and it's had a positive influence, not only on how well they're doing at work but
also in their home lives and relationships at home.
That's very satisfying for me.