Health Promotion in the Workplace
Many people spend most of their time at work. It is therefore important to prepare work environments that favor the maintenance of health. Education, health, and productivity are closely linked: healthy employees are more efficient, more creative, and more flexible.
Workplace health promotion pays off:
Occupational health promotion includes all common measures used by employers and employees to prevent disease and to improve and maintain health and well-being in the workplace.
The profitability or return on investment is approximately 1 : 3. Significantly, for every Penny invested in health promotion measures, three Penny are earned for the company in the long run. Consult Here for IOSH Course in UAE
Structural health promotion measures aim to create healthy working environments: for example ergonomic workstations, room design with pleasant furnishings and plants or the provision of fresh fruit.
By behavioral measures, on the other hand, we mean those measures that aim to change the behavior of collaborators toward healthier lifestyles: for example with courses and conferences on proper nutrition or stress management, or by offering support to those who want to quit smoking.
The Occupational Health and Safety Management System as a corporate culture:
An Occupational Health and Safety Management System, on the other hand, is a corporate strategy that is reflected in corporate policy and culture. It is a complex system. It includes not only safety and security at work, but also personnel management (e.g. by promoting personnel potential and motivation or work-life balance), and promotion of the health of collaborators and collaborators. The Occupational Health and Safety Management System creates the structural foundations for the promotion of health in the workplace.
Collaboration between the Employer and the Competent Physician:
Various figures in the company come into play for the protection of health and safety in the workplace, including the Company Doctor, who collaborates with the Employer for risk assessment purposes and is appointed to carry out Health Surveillance, based on principles of occupational medicine and the code of ethics. Must be in possession of a specialization in occupational medicine or in other equivalent specializations.
The Employer ensures that the Doctor has the necessary conditions for carrying out all his duties, guaranteeing his independence. It should be noted that this doctor may use, for further investigations, the collaboration of specialist doctors chosen in agreement with the Employer who bears the costs. All data from medical investigations and anamnestic are recorded by the doctor in a special health record, kept by the doctor himself to safeguard professional secrecy; the purpose of health surveillance is to express a judgment of suitability or unsuitability (even with limitations or prescriptions), for the specific job.
In the case of companies with several production units, the Employer can appoint several competent doctors by identifying a coordinating doctor among them. Health Surveillance is a complex system of obligations and responsibilities involving different figures (employer, manager, Company Doctor) and which has a fundamental impact on the lives of workers. This must be done in compliance with the risks highlighted in the assessment document and with the legislation in force. This activity includes preventive and periodic medical check-ups, to check the worker’s health and detect any obstacles to the performance of the assigned duties.
In collaboration with the employer:
The competent doctor intervenes in the detailed study of the risk factors that could endanger the workers’ health. The risk assessment document (DVR) must be drawn up in this way; The competent doctor must also provide workers with information on the purpose of health surveillance, on the possible need to undergo further health checks. His duties include the inspections of the workplace carried out at least once a year (or more frequently, depending on what has been established in the risk assessment document).