12 Workplace Health Sins
Apparently the average computer keyboard contains nearly 400 times as many microbes than a toilet seat. Add this to the fact that the majority of Brits eat at their bacteria-infested desk and its enough to make you ill.
Find out more about the 12 Workplace Health Sins that we are probably all guiltily of here.
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River Nene have kindly sponsored the Experience Food at Work initiative.
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The obesity epidemic will cost Britain £7bn by 2010. Now firms are taking action to combat the problem themselves.
Read the full article published by the Observer and written by Janice Warman here.
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The Health Minister Ivan Lewis announces £10 million of capital funding to finance improvements to occupational healthcare services offered to small and medium business.
Read the full Department of Health article here.
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Uscreates have developed a number of interventions to promote healthy eating behaviours in the workplace. For information on how to introduce health promotion interventions into your workplace download the Intervention Inspiration Resources here.
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Uscreates is listed as a company that is changing food in the workplace in a recent article for the Times Online. ‘What’s cooking in the canteen? – Is eating lunch at your workplace a risky business?’ reports on the problems surrounding employees’ health and eating habits at work. The article highlights some good examples food interventions and key points to change the catering facilities in your workplace.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink
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As part of the Healthy Eating Pilot at Breckland Council, Uscreates organised the Visiting Chef event to provide healthy, and tasty, lunch ideas to the workforce.
Alex the Chef developed a range of recipes especially for Breckland employees. Cooking demonstrations and tasters were delivered throughout the day and recipe cards were produced for employees to take away.
Ask Alex
Alex the Chef is available for private catering events. Contact Alex the Chef by emailing Alex_Firman@hotmail.com
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Read more about the Unum Healthy Workplace Award by clicking here.
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Following the Workplace Healthy Eating Audit that Uscreates carried out in Breckland Council offices, to identify barriers to healthy eating, Breckland Council commissioned Uscreates to design and implement methods of promoting healthy eating in the workplace. Below are the interventions that we are developing to be installed later this month.
An interactive poster promoting the ‘Five a Day’ message and providing fruit for the workplace.
Why?
The Breckland site has limited food-purchasing facilities. Breckland Council wanted to provide their workforce with healthy food opportunities within a limited budget.
What?
We worked with staff and health specialists to develop ideas to introduce to the Breckland site. Uscreates developed the honesty fruit bowl concept into a low cost product back up by a simple service to allow staff easy access to fruit but without high cost to the organisation.
A day of Health and Nutrition MOTs offering the workforce a fifteen minute one-to-one session with a qualified dietician.
Why?
Breckland Council wanted to provide opportunities and support for individuals who wanted to make improvements to their health and nutrition.
What?
We worked with dietician’s to develop a questionnaire and one-to-one session, which measured BMI, weight, and waist measurements. The sessions provided participants with a 5-point action plan to make positive changes to their diets. A personalised text service will send out relevant information supporting the action plans.
A lunch pack delivery service providing a minimum of 3 or your 5 A Day fruit and vegetables conveniently delivered to your desk.
Why?
Breckland Council offices are situated on an industrial estate in rural Dereham. There are very limited healthy food options available for staff for lunch.
What?
We worked with the local sandwich delivery van ‘Sandwitch’ to develop a healthy food pack that contains at least 3 or your 5 A Day fruit and veg.
This service is still under development but other plans include devising a system where packs are delivered to employee’s desks which will help to make the healthy option the easy option.
A Breakout zone providing the workforce with an area to eat lunch away from their desks.
Why?
The audit showed that the majority of staff ate lunch and took their lunch break at their desk. Breckland Council wanted to provide opportunities for staff to take a quality lunch break away from their workstation.
What?
We are working with the staff to transform the staff room into a Breakout Zone refreshing the current interior and providing dinning furniture. New signage for the Breakout Zone will encourage staff to use the space and to take quality breaks away from their desks.
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To all Breckland staff
This is your opportunity to raise your dietary concerns with a leading expert in the field of diet and nutrition. Your dietician will be able to chat through your nutritional and health concerns and will point you in the right general direction and make recommendations about what you may need to do next.
You will also receive a body composition measurement from TANITA. This is a very quick and easy way for you to find out about your body’s content of fat, muscle and water, and it will help the dietician check whether this is in the normal range
Breckland are providing employees with free Nutrition and Health MOTs as part of the Experience Food at Work Healthy Eating Pilot.
There are limited places so email zoe@us-creates.com to register your interest ASAP. (Time slots below).
What?
15-minute one to one session with a qualified dietician focusing on any aspect of your diet or eating habits that you want to address. You will leave with a 5-point action plan to make changes.
Who?
The MOTS are available to anyone who wants to improve their health and nutrition. You might want to get fit, lose weight, lower cholesterol, get more energy, or continue to be healthy.
When?
Thursday 24th May from 1pm – 4pm. NEXT WEEK so book in quickly.
Where?
Breckland Council Offices (Elizabeth House)
Private room to be confirmed.
Want to sign up?
There are limited places so please email your preferred appointment time from the list below to
zoe@us-creates.com.
You will receive confirmation of you appointment and more information.
Times:
1.00 – 1.15
1.20 – 1.35
1.40 – 1.55
2.00 – 2.15
2.20 – 2.35
2.40 – 2.55
3.00 – 3.15
3.20 – 3.35
3.40 – 3.55
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If you are a Breckland employee and are interested in registering your interest in the Experience Food at Work pilot click view below and leave your contact details.
NB: Contact details will be used solely for the Experience Food at Work pilot and will not be passed on to any third parties.
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As part of the Healthy Eating Pilot at Breckland Council, Uscreates carried out both quantitative and qualitative research.
Whilst researching the culture of Breckland Council, Uscreates asked employees to choose songs that they would include on the Breckland Office Sound Track.
If you would like a free copy of the sound track please click on view comments and leave you contact details.
Breckland – The Sound Track
Track 1 -The Future by Leonard Cohen
Track 2 – On the good ship lollipop by Tiny Tim or Shirley Temple
Track 3 – Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf version) by The Pixies
Track 4 – 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton
Track 5 – Don’t Look Back by Lucie Silvas
Track 6 – Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves! By Aretha Franklin & Eurythmics
Track 7 – The Best by Tina Turner
Track 8 – I Only Want to Be With You by Dusty Springfield
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“51% of employees consider their workplace an unhealthy environment.”
In response to a recent survey, Yakult have launched the Healthy Workplace Awards to find organisations that actively support employee wellbeing.
The prize is a trip to Japan for six employees. The deadline is 1st June 07. To enter click here.
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Uscreates held the Experience Food Roundtable event to generate ideas to introduce as part of the Healthy Eating pilot at Breckland Council.
Participants of the Experience Food at Work Round Table were split into groups and given specific briefs to design interventions for the Breckland Pilot.
The following ideas were generated.
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Uscreates held the Experience Food Round Table event to generate ideas to introduce as part of the Healthy Eating pilot at Breckland Council.
Participants at the Experience Food at Work Round Table were asked to draw on their personal experiences to model stimulants and incentives for change.
The image shows Alex Firman’s (Chef) thoughts on how training and achieving success can help individuals change and improve. The model is a young chef achieving excellence by creating a superb cake!
Speed Modelling Ideas For Stimulating Change:
-Cost
-Time
-Getting tangible results
-Peer support
-Demonstrating added value to individuals and organisations
-Creating BETTER alternatives
-Strong leadership
-Providing choice and options
-Giving people a say
-Preparing people for change
-Motivation through improving the way you look
Speed Modelling Ideas For Incentives For Change:
-Healthy competitiveness
-Change with PULL rather than PUSH – giving people the tools to make change easier and do not rely on incentives
-Financial rewards in terms of saving money rather than receiving money
-Recognition
-Time
-Flexible working practices
-Seeing the effects of change
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Uscreates held the first ever Experience Food at Work Round Table, bringing together dieticians, health professionals, designers, chefs and industry specialists to design interventions to improve eating behaviours in the work place.
See the highlights of the day below.
What is the Experience Food at Work Round Table all about?
The day consisted of expert comments on Uscreates’ Experience Food at Work package to improve eating in the workplace, followed by a delicious and healthy lunch. The afternoon kicked off with Uscreates ‘Speed Modelling’ exercise to generate ideas and finished off with a design challenge.
Attendees:
Dr Amelia Lake, Human Nutrition Research Centre
Martin Seymour, Health Improvement Officer for Norfolk PCT
Kirsty Webber-Walton, Walking for Health Coordinator, Keystone Development Trust
Mark Stanton, Economic Development & Regeneration Manager, Breckland Council.
Vicki Costello, Development Manager – Innovation Programmes, NESTA
Alex Firman, Chef, Fresh Rocket
Dr Frankie Phillips, British Dietetic Association (BDA)
Chris Downs, Founding and Managing Partner, live|work
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Uscreates attended a Stakeholder Meeting for the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence’s (NICE) Public Health Intervention for Workplace Physical Activity. This event addressed the new guidelines that NICE are developing to promote health in the workplace ‘with reference to physical activity and what works in motivating and changing employee’s health behaviour’.
One key area Uscreates was particularly interested in was how NICE intend to address practical solutions for the guidelines they produce. Uscreates will be contributing their thoughts and suggestions to the institute as, in a similar way to Experience Food at Work, many of the workplaces that will be initially using NICE’s guidance will be Local Councils.
The guidance will be published in May 2008.
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The first ever Experience Food at Work Round Table, combining the expert knowledge of dieticians, health professionals, designers, chefs, and industry specialists, was hosted by NESTA on 7th March.
Uscreates brought together the experts to collaboratively develop interventions to improve eating habits for the Experience Food at Work pilot being held at Breckland Council at the end of March.
The event was a great success and the work done is currently being analysed and developed by Uscreates. This will soon be published on this site.
The Uscreates team would like to thank all that were involved.
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Uscreates’ initiative to promote healthy eating behaviours in the workplace is being trialled in a the Healthy Eating Pilot at Breckland Council.
Interventions are being introduced into the workplace and the impact that they have on employee’s productivity levels, dietary health, and absenteeism are being measured.
Breckland Council offices are situated on a business park just outside Dereham in rural Norfolk. The offices houses around 250 employees.
Due to its location and design, there are limited food facilities available to staff. There are four basic kitchens with microwaves and hot water boilers. There is a giant Tesco about 5 minutes walk from the building and there are two sandwich vans, which visit the site first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, there is not a canteen on site and there are no cafes, restaurants or small shops within walking distance.
Track the progress of the pilot on this site.
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As part of the Healthy Eating Pilot at Breckland Council, Uscreates carried out an audit of the facilities at Breckland in relation to food. The audit identified 3 key problem areas that need to be approached to improve eating habits.
Key Problem Areas:
- Low quality breaks – breaks away from the desk/workspace are not common
- Low levels of communal eating and poor sharing culture – many staff eat at their desks and rarely use the communal facilities (staff room provided)
- Breckland is stuck in a ‘sandwich rut’ – there is a lack of variety in diet
Methodology
- A checklist of facilities and opportunities currently available to staff
- Observational research of eating behaviours and culture within the office
- Interviews with a selection of employees
- Activities given to employees to gain insightful data
The audit comprised of a number of research methods including:
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Investors in People are currently piloting a new Health and wellbeing at work framework.
For more information visit
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Uscreates have identified and developed a number of interventions and improvements to introduce to Breckland Council offices. They range from small-scale changes to larger scale changes to systems and services. Some of the ideas are practical and some are more unusual and radical.
‘Grown Up Lunch Boxes’ designed to encourage staff to prepare a healthy lunch at home. Features may include encouraging more fruit and vegetables, methods of keeping ‘wet’ foods sealed or an appealing ‘grown up’ aesthetic.
Image shown – designer, Daniil Sergeyev, photographer Anna Ponomaryova
Structured breaks in the working day, signified by an alarm bell, encouraging staff to break away from desk and network in a communal area with refreshments.
Lunch packs designed for different employee’s habits, needs and commitments.
For example, a ‘Back to back meetings’ pack designed to provide healthy snack foods to keep an employee going throughout a busy day of meetings.
Other lunch packs may include:
‘On the Go’
‘Desk Based Day’
‘Lunch with a friend’
UsCreates Un-ready Meal bags and baking sheets developed to promote scratch cooking within office environments.
The recipes would be appropriate to the limited kitchen facilities available in the office environment (i.e. microwaves).
There are plans from the Norfolk Primary Care Trust to relocate to the same site as Breckland Council therefore increasing the onsite workforce to over 400. With this increase in size there are early plans to provide an on-site food facility.
A temporary food facility can be trialled to gain an initial idea on usage, and impact on the workforce. A portable Piaggio coffee and sandwich van could trade on site or the existing sandwich vans could provide outdoor seating and coffee to mimic a café style food facility.
Installing sweetie dispensers and replacing sweeties with healthy snacks such as nuts and dried fruit.
There are two sandwich vans that visit the Breckland site. They sell a range of good value sandwiches, crisps, cakes and drinks. The sandwich vans come at 9.30am and 10.30am and stay for about 10mins. Staff come out at these times to buy food.
Encouraging and supporting the sandwich vans to provide healthy and appealing choices would improve the variety of food available to employees and increase sales. Other improvements include; sandwich van staff walking around the building selling food or to arrange for an optional email subscription which can be sent out to notify staff that the vans have arrived.
Install a MetroNap Energy Pod into the Breckland Office to provide employees the opportunity to maximise their energy levels through the proactive use of sleep and napping techniques. Visit www.metronaps.com for more information.
Use the Breckland digital rolling message display to report on the progress of the pilot and provide interesting facts and anecdotes to employees.
Lunchtime or after work activities to improve health and wellbeing. E.g. aerobics, Pilates, walking or volunteering.
The staff room is a small space with strip lighting and institutional chairs arranged around the perimeter of the room. There is a book sale scheme available for employees however; the books and goods are displayed over nearly all of the surfaces in the room leaving little space for other activities such as eating, reading etc. In addition, there are no refreshment or kitchen facilities available.
There is the potential to transform the room into an inviting and relaxing space. A culture change needs to be initiated, as there is a core group of employees who use the space with the majority having never been in the room.
The on site kitchens are basic areas with basic facilities. Introducing simple, space saving tables and chairs will give opportunities for people to eat their lunch or drink their tea away from their desks.
Adding inspirational material to the walls (e.g. recipe ideas, lunch ideas, motivational materials) like the Sainsbury’s Try Something New poster above, would encourage employees to prepare healthy lunches and snacks.
Breckland employees receive subsidised gym membership to local sports and leisure centres.
Breckland Council do not currently provide tea and coffee for staff. Providing staff with free tea, coffee and fresh milk would be a lost cost way for Breckland to communicate to the staff that they are valued.
Protect from weather and improve landscaping and seating.
Limited cooking facilities and equipment are available for staff to prepare and eat food within the office. Introducing simple cooking equipment such as chopping boards and knives will provide staff with the means to prepare food at the office rather than buying pre-packaged meals.
A cookbook with recipes designed to be prepared using the basic cooking equipment available in offices. Sections within the book may suggest recipes or meal ideas for different work situations such as lunchtime meetings or for team lunches.
Alternatively, the recipe ideas could take the format of recipe cards or an online resource.
Healthy ingredients conveniently delivered to workplace encouraging employees to make a simple, quick, healthy lunch from scratch, with the facilities available to them. Recipe ideas and cooking instructions may be provided with ingredients.
This service could be co-developed with a local produce delivery service or with the sandwich vans, which already visit the site daily, to ensure sustainability and commercial viability.
Communal fruit bowls available for staff. Staff can drop cash into a kitty, which is used to top up the fruit.
An email alert system whereby employees can subscribe to subjects that interest them and receive email alerts related to this subject. This will create clubs, communities and support networks. For example, one community might receive alerts notifying them that the sandwich van has arrived, or another might receive alerts on social events.
Areas for staff to take quality breaks away from their desk, utilising un-used office space (e.g. corridors or stairwells). Simple, basic and comfortable furniture arranged to create informal breaking, meeting areas and social areas and providing an alternative to the relatively un-used staff room.
Linking a Chef or Nutritionist to Breckland to advise and update interventions.
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We spend 60% of our waking hours and eat a third of our meals and snacks at work, according to the Human Nutrition Research Centre. The workplace has been identified as a key area to impact on eating behaviours.
Uscreates are developing ideas, designs, and interventions that can be introduced into work environments. These will help employees improve eating behaviours and help employers improve the morale, health and productivity of its staff.
The Experience Food at Work initiative is currently being piloted with Breckland Council.
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Experience Food is an initiative by Uscreates to use design to improve eating habits.
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- 12 Workplace Health Sins
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