Business Action on Public Health

Employee Health and Wellbeing 

 Hertfordshire Employers Practitioner Event

‘Building Corporate and Employee Resilience through Mental wellbeing and its impact on business productivity’

14th November 2013

University of Hertfordshire

9.30am-12.00

Debbie LonghurstProject Manager, for Business Action on Public Health

Business in the Community – East of England

Transforming business

transforming communities

Taking Action To

tackle workplace health and wellbeing

consider influence on wider public

health

&

“Public health is everyone’s responsibility and there is a role for all of us, working in partnership, in tackling these challenges.”

Workplace Support•Workplace champions

•Mental wellbeing

•Healthy Eating

•Managing Alcohol

•Physical Wellbeing

•No Smoking

•Fact ‘Employees who are physically active take 27% fewer days off sick’•Fact ‘25% of sick days taken are as a result of stress’•Fact ‘On average smokers take 4.4 more days off sick than non-smokers’

Project Successes

•200 employers support the project across East of England

• Free workplace support now available from Public Health teams

• Over 15 case studies available to showcase local good practice

•72 delegates gained benefit from a pilot programme for Mental Health lite across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

• Increasing use of Governments Public health responsibility deal to give employers a platform for their wellbeing strategy; local partners include•Mills & Reeve solicitors•Essex & Suffolk water•Unilever•Bourne leisure

The facts about Mental ill health in the workplace

•One in 20 healthy people aged 32 and under is developing depression or anxiety disorders as a result of work-related stress each year, with chefs, stockbroker’s and shift workers at particular risk

•Nearly three in every ten employees will have a mental health problem in any one year, the great majority of which will be anxiety and depressive disorders

•In a CBI survey of over 800 companies, 98% of respondents said mental health should be a company concern,81% of those saying that the mental health of employees should be a company priority. But fewer than one in ten of the companies surveyed had an official policy on mental health.

•From BITC Emotional resilience toolkit

Emotional Resilience •What is it? GlaxoSmithKline have defined ‘resilience’ as: “the ability to succeed personally and professionally in the midst of a high pressured, fast moving and continuously changing environment”

BITC in its Emotional Resilience Toolkit, uses the following definitions of terms related to ‘emotional resilience’•Work -related stress•Mental Health•Presenteeism

Did you know? ‘presenteeism accounts for 1.5 times as much working time lost as absenteeism and costs more to employers because it is more common among higher paid staff.’Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

National stress Awareness day 6th November 2013

“Stress is everywhere. It is one of the most common conditions experienced by people in the UK today. It is known to contribute to the more serious physical illnesses, as well as being a cause for obesity, itself rapidly growing in numbers. People going to work whilst suffering stress contribute to poor performance of businesses and services, and can be a contributor to poor care, errors, and disasters caused by lack of concentration. The financial cost to the UK has been estimated at £60 billion or about £1000 per man, woman and child.

Most organisations tackle stress at the wrong end. They wait until someone becomes ill, and then start to provide services to improve their health. This is too late. Stress is largely preventable, as it is mainly caused by events and poor behaviour that triggers a stressful response. Eliminate these events and poor behaviour, and people do not need to experience stress.”

Press release, International Stress Management Association, November 2013

Summary

Please complete the evaluation sheet

Presentations will be on our web page –link will be sent to you

S

Public Health Responsibility Deal

Sign up and pledge to improve public health in England

Health at Work network

“We will actively support our workforce to live healthier lives”

The Public Health Responsibility Deal taps into the important role that employers play in creating an environment that supports people to lead healthier lives and through them create healthier, more productive businesses.

Public Health Responsibility Deal

Gives workplaces a platform for their wellbeing strategy and demonstrates to staff the impact their health has on the business’ bottom line.

Signing up sends a strong public message about an employer’s commitment to taking action to improve the health of their employees, their business and the wider community.

Why pledge?

• H01. Chronic Conditions Guide •H02. Occupational Health Standards •H03. Health & Wellbeing Report •H04. Healthier Staff Restaurants •H05. Smoking Cessation/Respiratory Health •H06. Staff Health Checks •H07. Mental Health and Wellbeing •H08. Young People in the Workplace •H09. Domestic Violence •H10. Construction and Civil Engineering Industries

Health at work pledges

Tools, case studies and informationwww.bitc.org.uk

Emotional Resilience Line Manager toolwww.managingemployeewellbeing.com/bitc/

Suite of practical tools, by business for business

Our supporthttp://www.bitc.org.uk/east/what-we-offer/business-action-public-health

Debbie.longhurst@bitc.org.uk

Thank you to our presenters