Preventing swine flu at work: Prepare now

Thanks to the H1N1 flu virus, familiarly known as the swine flu, the upcoming fall flu season will be unlike anything the U.S. has experienced in recent history, and government officials are urging businesses to prepare for a possible widespread outbreak.

With the pandemic estimated to reach up to 2 billion people, three Cabinet secretaries met last month to announce new guidelines to help businesses plan for and respond to the upcoming flu season.

“One of the most important things that employers can do is to make sure their human resources and leave policies are flexible and follow public health guidance,’’ said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “If employees are sick, they need to be encouraged to stay home. If people begin to experience flu-like symptoms at work, they should be sent home and possibly encouraged to seek medical treatment.’’

Employers’ flu season plans should address key preventative measures including:

• encouraging employees with flu-like symptoms to stay home from work,
• operating with less in-house staff, and
• having employees at higher risk for illness or serious medical complications from infection work from home.

Before the season gets into full swing, employers should take a look at the company’s sick leave policies and ensure employees understand them, according to the CDC. Employers may also want to consider adopting flexible hours for employees who need to care for sick family members or if a child’s school is closed.

Other suggestions include offering on-site flu vaccines, encouraging employees to get the H1N1 flu vaccine, limiting face-to-face meetings and business travel, and allowing employees to work from home.

“Keeping our nation’s workers safe is a top priority,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris, who participated in the announcement. “Faced with a renewed H1N1 challenge during the coming flu season, we are developing tools that will help ensure America’s workers stay healthy and our businesses remain viable.”

Every company will have a unique plan that fits their business needs, but the main goal should be protecting workers. Help prevent the spread of flu at your company by training workers how to keep themselves and their families safe.

Related posts:

Training is key to preventing the flu at work

Preventing the flu in the office, six simple steps

Keep your germs at home!

Employers remain committed to health care amid recession

Employers are hanging on to health care benefits including employee wellness programs, despite financial challenges created by the economic recession, according to a new HR and benefits survey by Towers Perrin.

Even in the face of salary and 401(k) cuts and freezes, many companies are still investing in employee wellness as a part of their workplace “deal” with employees, said the close to 500 HR and benefits executives surveyed.

"Employers recognize that we can't keep doing the same things and expect different results," said Dave Guilmette, Managing Director of the Towers Perrin Health and Welfare practice.

"So we're beginning to see leading companies taking steps to change the system from the inside out, focusing on new benefit designs, incentives for employees and providers, new technologies and new ways to measure and deliver the value of workforce health."

The survey suggests that employers and employees are now looking at health care as more of a shared responsibility between the two.

According to the survey:

• 53% of respondents are trying or considering new benefit strategies they would not have considered before the economic crisis hit.
• 70% of employers are increasing communication to address employee concerns
• 57% of employers are not cutting back on investments in benefit communication and education
• 50% of companies have or will introduce or increase investments in wellness and health promotion in 2009 and 2010

Employers are changing their ways regarding participation incentives and penalties for nonparticipation. Almost one-third (32%) of companies in the survey have or will introduce or increase financial incentives for wellness or health promotion activities within the next two years. Nearly half (45%) are considering introducing or increasing penalties for nonparticipation in wellness or health promotion activities.

"In previous economic downturns, investments in benefit communication and employee wellness were among the first to get cut from a benefit program," said Guilmette.

"The firm commitment to and increasing investment in employee wellness we’re seeing today shows that more employers are beginning to recognize the long-term financial benefit and business advantage they can achieve by improving the health of their employees."

Has your company been able to avoid cutting back on wellness programs, despite the recession? Does your company punish employees who choose not to participate?

Training Trends: Training for a healthy bottom line

Got training?

See if it’s time for a training check-up in your business in the latest issue of our Training Trends newsletter. In it, you’ll also find expert answers to these key training questions:

What are the three kinds of training a company needs to keep its bottom line healthy?

Are your employees up to the challenge of doing business across language lines?

Providing your employees with the right training is important, but how do you know they’re using what they learn?

Here’s a quick look at the June issue of Training Trends:

Got training?

It’s dairy month, and that means lots of photo ops for celebrities sporting milk mustaches. Ads will tout how healthy milk is, and why everyone who is anyone just can’t wait to down their next ice cold, creamy glassful. A few years ago, the slogan was “Milk. It does a body good.”™ Catchy.

We’d like to say the same thing about training. Okay, so it’s not creamy and probably shouldn’t be served ice cold, but otherwise it’s pretty much on target.

The right training is healthy for your company. A well-trained employee is less likely to make mistakes, generate errors, get hurt at work or waste materials. Teams with the right training perform more efficiently, require less supervision and are more likely to stay with your company. That means a healthier bottom line for your company. (more)


Going global with language training

It’s a fact. The world has gotten noticeably smaller in the past 50 years or so. Okay, maybe the geographers wouldn’t agree with that, but marketers, sales people and just about anyone who uses the Internet knows exactly what I mean.

We have gotten used to doing business with people in different countries, chatting with friends across the globe and seeing images of places thousands of miles away in real time.

The one skill that has not kept up with this nearly borderless worldview is language. Most Americans speak only one language fluently. That’s not the case in the rest of the world, where learning effective communication skills in two, three or even four languages is considered a basic part of childhood education. (more)


Down the road: Is your safety training staying on track?

You’ve done it all. Harassment training, forklift training, hazardous materials training and first aid training. Your employees are ready for anything. But before you pat yourself on the back and sit back to enjoy that wonderful sense of being up-to-date on everything, we have two questions for you.

First, where are your training records? If there was an accident at work and OSHA came knocking on your door, could you show them proof that your employees had received the right training at the right time? If you were served with a lawsuit for sexual harassment, could you show proof of your company’s efforts to train employees in what is and is not acceptable behavior at work?

And second, are you following through? Even if you have training records, are you following up to make sure the lessons learned in the training seminar or interactive CD-ROM are being applied at work? Are you posting signs and reminders to keep safety practices or acceptable behavior standards in front of employees every day? (more)

Each month, the experts at TrainingTime.com share all of the latest and greatest tips, trends and buzz from across the training industry in our Training Trends newsletter. If you’re not on our mailing list, please take a few seconds and sign up.

If you’re a training expert or HR professional and are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s learning library, visit our “Write for Us” page for instructions on how to contribute.

Are hard times improving employee health?

In the past few years we’ve been witness to layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs and a number of other tough decisions among the long, long list of recession repercussions. But even through all the difficulties, some people are actually using this time to make positive, healthier changes.

New research shows that the recession is causing many workers to adopt healthier lifestyles. A recent survey by the National Business Group on Health of 1,500 workers ages 22 to 69 found a majority said that a healthier lifestyle is more important now than it was to them just one year ago.

One third of survey respondents said they are exercising more and about half say they’re eating healthier. The survey also found that 44% of respondents were eating fast food less often.

Whether you’re just trying to live healthier or wanting to cut back on health care costs, making healthy decisions regarding food and exercise is one of the simplest ways to get started.

Unfortunately, many of us spend most of our day inside office buildings where unhealthy junk food lurks around every corner and the thought of getting a workout in during lunchtime sounds more like a joke than a great idea.

So, lets skip the jokes and instead focus on some real-world tips for staying healthy at work:

• Get outside. Even if it’s only for five minutes at a time, grab your walking shoes and take a quick stroll around the building. If possible, set aside 15 to 30 minutes for a walk in the sunshine everyday.


• Pack your lunch. Bringing a brown-bag lunch from home will help you eat healthier and cut costs. If you’re not into the assembly, buy a week’s worth of healthy frozen meals at the grocery store to keep in the office freezer.


• Snack smart. Offices are full of snacking dangers, from vending machines to the office manager’s candy dish. Curb the urge to seek out these dangerous snacks by keeping a stash of healthy snacks like fruit and nuts at your desk.


• Say no to Joe. Though certain studies have shown that drinking coffee is healthy, drinking too much can be harmful. If you usually drink more than three cups of coffee a day, try to cut back by alternating each cup with a glass of water.
  

Do you have any other advice for making healthy choices at work? Leave a comment and share your tips and tricks for workplace wellness.

Why it pays to stay healthy at Target

Target Corp., the largest discount retailer next to Wal-Mart, is testing a new employee program aimed at improving wellness and lowering health care costs, by paying employees to participate.

As part of the new pilot program, Target will pay employees to undergo a health screening and follow recommended steps. Executives hope to turn it into a larger program to help the company and employees save money on health care.

Right now, the program has only been offered to about 4,000 Target employees, including 10% of workers at their Minneapolis headquarters, a distribution center and 11 stores.

"We're going to measure biometrics progress through time," said John Mulligan, vice president of Target Pay & Benefits, in an interview. "How are the average cholesterol scores of our population? How are the average blood pressures of our population?

"We're willing to make the bet that if we see those numbers improve, we will see the financial benefit of that to our team members and to Target. Both of us will share in the cost savings." (Reuters)

Target employees enrolled in the new program were paid $25 to undergo a biometrics screening that included measuring cholesterol, glucose and triglyceride levels, as well as blood pressure, height and weight. Employees were also required to fill out a health risk assessment and register for the program online.

Once completing those steps, employees were given a tailored health plan and were paid $50 each quarter they followed the plan’s recommendation. Employees could also earn $25 for visiting a doctor for annual preventative care.

So far, the program seems to be a success, with 59% of eligible employees at Target’s headquarters completing the first three steps to enroll. Of those who are enrolled, 38% remain “engaged” in the program each quarter.

Target executives are still analyzing the program to see whether they should offer it to all 350,00 of their employees.

“We're trying to engage 350,000 people in caring about their health, their family's health and do it in a way that makes getting and staying healthier easier," said Jodee Kozlak, Target's executive vice president of human resources.

In 2005, Safeway CEO Steve Burd developed a health care plan for his company, similar to Target’s new plan, focused on changing employee behavior and improving the company’s overall wellness to keep health care costs under control.

Over the past three years, most companies have seen about a 16% increase in family premiums, while health care costs for Safeway increased by only half a percentage point. Health care coverage costs among employees enrolled in the wellness program fell 11% after only one year.

In today’s economy, companies are continually searching for ways to cut costs. Finding ways to cut health care costs generally falls in the top spots on that list, but is paying employees to stay healthy the best way to go?

Does your company offer monetary incentives to encourage employees to live healthier? Do you think employee wellness plans like these are the right way to reduce health care costs, or are they going too far?

And the award for smelliest office fridge goes to...

The AT&T building in San Jose, California, where seven employees were sent to the hospital after one worker took it upon herself to clean out an office refrigerator on Tuesday. The odors were so noxious that another 325 people were evacuated from the building.

From the CNN article:

"It was like a brick wall hit you," employee Robin Leetieh told CNN affiliate KGO-TV. "Stopped you immediately."

The refrigerator had been unplugged for some time and moved into a conference room for cleaning. When the woman tried to scrub down the mess, the stench from the cleaning chemicals combined with the rotting food.

"It caused some to vomit, some to just get nauseous. And it, for us, activated a hazardous incident," Capt. Barry Stallard of the San Jose fire department told the television station.

Another office worker tried to cover up the odor -- and made matters worse.

"Someone also took some spray and tried to deodorize the air," Stallard said. "And it turned out that was spot cleaner, not a deodorant. So it made people very sick."

Firefighters set up a triage area in the building's parking lot. In all, 28 workers reported feeling sick. Seven were taken to hospitals for evaluation.

Not among them: the woman who volunteered to clean the fridge.

She suffers from allergies, firefighters said, and had had nasal surgery.

She didn't smell a thing.

No fake moldy sandwich bags needed here. Happy Friday!

Training is key to preventing the flu at work

As of this morning, there have been 64 confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., including 45 in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In response to the intensifying outbreak, President Barack Obama said that swine flu is a cause for concern, but not a cause for alarm. Because government officials don’t yet know how widespread the flu may be in the U.S., they are focused on aggressive planning and precautions.

The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have developed a planning checklist for businesses, especially large businesses, to use in the case of a swine flu pandemic.

“In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses will play a key role in protecting employees' health and safety as well as limiting the negative impact to the economy and society,” the agencies said in a statement at PandemicFlu.gov. “Planning for pandemic influenza is critical.”

Along with how a pandemic could impact business operations, the checklist also includes valuable information that any organization can use to educate and inform employees on the dangers of the flu.

Officials suggest that businesses complete these tasks to communicate to and educate employees:

• Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals (e.g. signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g. hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans).
• Anticipate employee fear and anxiety, rumors and misinformation and plan communications accordingly.
• Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate.
• Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan.
• Provide information for the at-home care of ill employees and family members.
• Develop platforms (e.g. hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way, including redundancies in the emergency contact system.
• Identify community sources for timely and accurate pandemic information (domestic and international) and resources for obtaining counter-measures (e.g. vaccines and antivirals).

Educating and training employees on the dangers of the flu, including swine flu, is the best way to prevent illness within your organization and calm employees’ fears about a potential outbreak at work. Be prepared to answer employees’ questions and concerns, and prepared to squash any misinformed rumors that may be circling the office.

Whether your business is preparing for a natural disaster like a hurricane or flood, or a health crisis like the flu, your success will ultimately be determined by the information and training your workforce receives. Ensure that everyone in your organization knows what to do during a crisis. Your business depends on it.

Is it time for businesses to start getting involved? Is your company actively preparing for a swine flu outbreak? What types of informational materials/training have you provided employees with?

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Rising health care costs, are wellness programs the answer?

In response to rising health care costs, one of the nation’s largest grocery store chains is tackling obesity among its employees with a tough company health plan developed to help employees make positive behavior changes.

After taking a look at the numbers, Safeway CEO Steve Burd determined that obesity was at the root of a large chunk of the company’s health care costs. Obesity was a common factor among chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, plaguing his company and causing increased health care costs.

To reduce obesity rates among his 200,000 employees, Burd developed a health care plan in 2005 that was focused on changing employee behavior to improve the company’s overall wellness.

"What is the revelation Safeway had two years ago that completely transformed our thinking? That 50 to 60 percent of all health care costs are driven by behavior," Burd, Safeway's CEO since 1993, said in an interview. "If you design a health care plan that rewards good behavior, you will drive costs down."

Over the past three years, Safeway has been successful in their wellness efforts, with overall health care costs only increasing by half a percentage point. Most businesses have seen about a 16% increase in family premiums during the same time period.

In 2006, one year after the plan was put in place, the company reported that health care coverage costs for employees enrolled in the new plan fell 11%.


How the plan works

Safeway employees are put through a series of tests each year to measure body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol and if the employee smokes.

The difference in premiums between employees who are not overweight and are non-smokers and those who are is about $1,500, with employees paying the difference.

If employees manage to lose 10% of their body weight and quit smoking, Safeway will reimburse employees for the difference at the end of the year.

Employees aren’t expected to accomplish the challenge on their own and Safeway has set up help along the way. Insurance pays for preventative health care services including annual physicals and well child check ups. The company also pays for smoking cessation programs, nutrition counseling and gym memberships.

To test his plan, Burd invited 30 large, self-insured businesses to replicate the Safeway wellness model. He also brought his plan to Capitol hill with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, promoting the Healthy Americans Act.


What’s your opinion on Safeway’s employee wellness plan? Is it the right way to reduce health care costs or do you think it’s going too far?

Working long hours causes brain damage, go home

Looking for reasons to cut out early this Friday afternoon? Tell your boss that working long hours causes brain damage ... and you have the research to prove it.

New research from University College London and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health suggests long working hours may raise the risk of mental decline and possibly dementia.

As part of the largest study of its kind, researchers analyzed 2,214 middle-aged UK civil servants using cognitive tests in 1997-99 and again in 2002-04.

The first set of tests were administered to two groups of people, one group of employees who worked more than 55 hours a week and the other group worked 35 to 40 hours a week.

The first group performed significantly worse in vocabulary tests than those employees who worked less hours. Follow-up tests mirrored the original findings in that employees who worked more than 55 hours a week performed worse on vocabulary tests and cognitive reasoning.

“The effects were cumulative, the longer the working week, the worse the test results. Employees with long working hours also had shorter sleeping hours, reported more symptoms of depression and used more alcohol than those with normal working hours.”

So when you’re skipping out of the office early today, just let your boss know that it’s for your health. Have a happy Friday!

How to cut costs in your personal budget at work

You’ve heard the spiel before - we’re in a recession, your 401(k) is losing money, companies are laying off workers left and right, and we’re all worried about it.

Instead of worrying about everything you have no control over, concern yourself with the parts of your life that you can do something about - starting with how you choose to spend your money.

When you factor in coffee, lunch and all those snacks out of the vending machine, the office has a way of taking more cash out of our wallets than we’d like. Controlling your personal spending habits at work is a great way to start cutting costs in your personal budget.

In a recent New York Times Q & A, author Eilene Zimmerman shared some great ideas for slicing your own budget at the office. Here are a few of the best:

• Leave the plastic at home. Leaving credit cards at home helps you to curb impulsive spending. Determine how much money you can afford to spend at work each week and put that amount of cash in an envelope. If that’s all the money you have to spend, you’ll think twice about your lunch order.


• Brown bag it. Cut down on food costs and improve your health by bringing lunch from home. A survey conducted in October by ConAgra Foods found that workers spend an average of $6.60 a day on lunch. By bringing food from home, even two or three times a week, can help you cut down on food costs.


• Skip the vending machines. For the cost of a few items out of the vending machine you could afford to buy an entire box of snacks from the grocery store. Get a few co-workers together and set up a snack pool. Each person donates snacks like granola bars or pretzels to share with the group and keep your stash of snacks in a central location in the office.


• Brew your own. “If you skip the twice-daily coffee your can save $30 a week. That’s $120 a month and about $1,500 a year.” Pick up a French press (usually less than $20) and brew your own great cup of coffee whenever you want, for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought latte.


• Take a look at your health benefits. Talk with human resources to ensure you’re making the right benefits enrollment decisions. Starting a flexible spending account would allow you to use pretax income for out-of-pocket medical and health expenses. Using pretax income will give you about a 25% savings and reduces your taxable income.

We’d like to add one more to the list - just say no to bottled water. Not only does it help you go green at work, it could help you save a lot of money. Americans spent more money last year on bottled water ($15 billion) than they did on iPods or movie tickets. Buying a reusable water bottle will help you stop wasting money and reduce your carbon footprint.

Saving money at work comes down to making conscious decisions on the little things you buy everyday. Give yourself strict limits, stick to them, and you’ll be saving money in no time.

How to hold a healthy office holiday party

After an entire year of watching your waistlines and sticking to the company wellness program, why throw it all away with a holiday party full of high-fat, sugar-filled treats. This year, plan an office holiday party that is both festive and healthy.

Here are some simple tips to use when throwing a healthy office holiday party:

• Focus on fruits and vegetables. Make it a goal to cover at least half of the table with fruit and vegetable dishes. Try great winter fruit options like apple slices, orange slices, melon cubes, sliced pineapple and grape tomatoes. For vegetable trays, try baby carrots, celery sticks, and broccoli and cauliflower florets.


• Provide a variety of beverage choices. Offer a wide variety of no- and low-calorie drink options for everyone at the office to enjoy. Try mint tea, diet soft drinks, water, coffee and holiday punch made with diet soda.


• Prepare lean meats. Find holiday meats that are low in fat and high in protein. Provide healthier meat options including sliced turkey breast, lean ham and sliced lean roast beef. Try healthy seafood options like cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce and broiled salmon.


• Lighten up on the sweets. Instead of the typical high-sugar holiday treats, serve light desserts or assorted bite-size sweets. Use mini cupcake pans to cook up bite-sized cupcakes, brownies and cheesecake. Remember to keep toppings on the lighter side by offering light ice cream, frozen yogurt or light whip cream.


• Get physical. Whenever possible, get everyone up and moving. Hire a DJ or have everyone bring in their favorite CDs, whatever it takes to get party-goers dancing and working off those calories. If nobody is in the mood to dance, organize an activity like touch football, volleyball, charades or musical chairs.


• Use small plates. Eating off of small plates is one of the most effective tricks in the book to keep from eating too much. It encourages people to eat smaller portions and feel like they’re filling up.

Try to hold a healthy office holiday party this year that leaves everyone feeling satisfied and guilt-free. Your coworkers, and their waistlines, will be sure to thank you.

Friday office humor: Dodgeball at work

Apart from paying new hires to quit, encouraging employees to Tweet and extending their product line to include much more than shoes, there's still another reason why Zappos is one of the most exciting companies to work for - dodgeball.

The popular online shoe company has organized daily dodgeball games to relieve workplace stress and get employees moving during the afternoon. Following strict rules to keep the game "fair, friendly, and safe," employees still have fun interacting with each other through the popular childhood game.

From the Inside Zappos blog:

"As a stress reliever from planning warehouse budgets, making purchases, hiring and handling all benefits paperwork, writing scripts to run site manager, and becoming friends with OSHA; the admin team wants to throw something!!!

They decided to start a friendly game of dodge ball, the all time favorite recess sport! Dodge ball is played daily at 3pm in the upstairs office. What a great work out and stress reliever! Kudos, my friends, and remember... safety first!"

Some first-hand video footage of recess time at Zappos:




Happy Friday!

Preventing the flu in the office, six simple tips

As outdoor temperatures drop and winter starts rolling in, we’re reminded that flu season is just around the corner. An outbreak of the flu in any workplace drains attendance and productivity, not to mention putting employees at serious risk of developing dangerous flu complications.

Flu season in the U.S. generally lasts from November through March, and sometimes runs into early spring. Influenza or the flu is very contagious and is caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccination each year, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On average 5% to 20% of the U.S. population falls ill with influenza each year, landing more than 200,000 people in the hospital with flu complications. Sadly, about 36,000 people die from flu complications. Those at high risk for serious complications include the elderly, young children and people with certain health conditions.

Offices and personal workspaces can be breeding grounds for the viruses that cause the flu. Don’t let the flu bring your company’s productivity to a stand still one cough at a time.

Keep employees safe and healthy by working to prevent the flu from spreading in your office with the following six tips:

1. Vaccinate. Talk to every employee about getting the flu shot. Find a local flu clinic or look into hosting a flu clinic at the office. Vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu.


2. Educate. Inform employees about flu symptoms and benefits of the flu shot. Distribute information and hang posters on the dangers of the flu and the importance of getting the vaccination.


3. Review. Review your sick leave and absence policies to ensure you don’t punish employees for being sick. Employees who think they will get in trouble for missing work are more likely to come in to the office no matter how ill they may be.


4. Encourage. Encourage employees to take preventative measures like washing their hands often, keeping a clean work area and using tissues when sneezing or coughing.


5. Avoid. If the flu has found its way into the office, employees can minimize exposure by limiting face-to-face time, telecommuting and holding off on business greetings like shaking hands.


6. Stay. Employees who have the flu should stay home. If an employee has flu symptoms, but feels well enough to work, consider telecommuting until their symptoms are gone.

It takes a collective effort to keep the flu from affecting your workplace. With teamwork and education, employees will have the tools to help prevent themselves and their coworkers from falling ill.

Workplace wellness: 5 healthy tips for work

Americans spend an average of 45 hours a week at work, amounting to about 40% of our waking hours each week. Because it's where we spend such a large chunk of our lives, it's important that we carry the healthy choices we make at home into the workplace.

Keeping your work environment a healthy place to be can be difficult, but with a few tips and tricks it can be easy to make a change for the better. Here are some easy to follow tips for employee wellness at work:

1. Get out of the office. Even if you have only a minute or two to spare, venture outside of those depressing gray walls and into some sunshine. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes of your lunch break to take a walk around the block or office building.


2. Brown bag it. Taking your own lunch to work can help you cut calories and save money. It doesn't have to be fancy, just try to fit in all the food groups for a well-rounded meal. It can be as simple as: a piece of fruit, a sandwich on wholegrain bread and some raw vegetables (think carrots and celery sticks).


3. Keep healthy snacks at your desk. The office can be full of dangerous, calorie-filled snack traps. Avoid snacking on birthday cupcakes or raiding the office candy jar by keeping healthy snacks like fruit, nuts or rice cakes at your desk.


4. Less coffee, more water. While drinking one to three cups of coffee a day can be healthy, over-consumption can be harmful. If you tend to drink more than three cups of coffee a day, try alternating each cup with a glass of water.


5. Clean your work area. Your computer mouse, keyboard and phone are the top places where bacteria collect on your desk. Wipe down the surface of your desk, phone and computer regularly with an anti-bacterial spray or wipe to cut down on illness-causing germs.

When it comes to health, sometimes the smallest steps can make a big impact. If you're working to improve your diet and fitness at home, remember to bring those healthy habits with you into the office everyday to ensure success.

Employee wellness training: New guidelines

Even during a financial crisis, investing in human capital through employee wellness is good business, say industry experts.

Soaring employee health care costs are a clear risk to growth, profitability and competitiveness. For those reasons, organizations looking to cut costs should not start by eliminating employee wellness, according to Jay Seifert, LoneStart Wellness co-founder in a recent MarketWatch article.

"Tumultuous times call for stabilizing influences, and wellness is such an influence," says Seifert. "Now is not the time to put workplace wellness and employee health on the back burner. In fact, now is exactly the time to begin to realize the financial and other benefits of a sustainable workplace wellness program."

Depending on the size of your organization, employee wellness programs are relatively simple and cost-effective to set up. Studies show that for every dollar spent implementing an employee wellness program, employers see an average reduction of $2.45 in medical claims.

Along with group wellness activities, offer employee wellness training to educate workers on the importance of living healthy lives. Use the latest set of wellness guidelines from the government to help get your wellness training off the ground and running.

With two and a half hours each week of moderate aerobic physical activity adults can gain substantial health benefits, according to the new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This first-ever set of guidelines is designed so people can work physical fitness in their day-to-day routines with activities they enjoy.

"It's important for all Americans to be active, and the guidelines are a roadmap to include physical activity in their daily routine," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "The evidence is clear--regular physical activity over months and years produces long-term health benefits and reduces the risk of many diseases. The more physically active you are, the more health benefits you gain."

The guidelines advise adults to perform two and a half hours a week of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity, or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity. For more extensive health benefits, double the amount of activity performed each week.

Examples of moderate intensity aerobic activities include walking briskly, water aerobics, ballroom dancing and general gardening. Examples of vigorous intensity aerobic activities include racewalking, jogging or running, swimming laps, jumping rope and hiking uphill.

Incorporate these guidelines into your employee wellness training and educate employees on the importance of physical activity to offset rising health care costs with healthier, happier employees.

For the complete guidelines visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.


Related posts:

New study: Positive work environments = healthy employees

De-stress at work and encourage innovation

Employee wellness programs gone wild

New study: Positive work environments = healthy employees

Though it may sound obvious, we now have scientific research proving that happy employees are healthier and miss less work. Positive, trusting work environments where employees utilize their strengths are instrumental to a sense of well-being, according to results from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

“In the first six months of 2008, 56 percent of workers in high-quality jobs (those who express satisfaction with their work, use their strengths daily, work in a culture of trust and have an employee-boss partnership) were classified as thriving, while only 39 percent of workers in low-quality jobs (those with two or less of the above attributes) were thriving,” according to poll results.

People in “high-quality jobs” said the way they feel on weekends is similar to how they feel on weekdays when it comes to respect, happiness, and feelings of anger or stress. People in “low-quality jobs” feel significantly worse on weekdays than on weekends and are less likely to feel happiness, experience learning or feel respected.

On average, people in negative work environments stay home 1.25 days each month, 15 days a year more than those in more “pleasant” work environments.

Factors contributing to a negative work environment include job dissatisfaction, an authoritative boss, lack of trust and lack of focus on individual strengths.

A strong worker well-being is determined by engaging work with opportunity for career development, social time with family and friends, regular exercise (30 minutes/day), frequent laughter and job satisfaction.

We have the proof that positive work environments promote employee health and well-being, now what are we going to do with it?

For starters, you could:

• Explore some of our past ideas to reduce stress at work.
• Help improve employee health, loyalty and engagement by starting a wellness program.
• Play video games at work.
• Or, just break stuff.

Relieve workplace stress at the Smash Shack

A few years ago, Sarah Lavely left her veterinarian career to open up the perfect business during tough times: selling fragile, “smashable” items to break against walls.

Lavely founded Sarah’s Smash Shack in San Diego as a safe haven for people who enjoy reliving stress by breaking things. Instead of using china on your own kitchen walls, for a small price you can break all the porcelain you want down at the Smash Shack.

"We had no business model to follow, no precedent, no place where you come only to smash things," she says. "We had to figure out what we needed - a room big enough to contain broken glass - how far is a safe distance from the smash wall, and what kind of safety equipment we would need."

Customers pick tableware like wine glasses and dinner plates only to smash it in special soundproofed “break rooms.” Of course all the necessary safety precautions are taken, customers wear protective eyewear, overalls, boots and a helmet before hurling breakables against steel walls.

Ceramic white dinner plates are a best seller at the Smash Shack, “because they require a strong toss and break violently against the wall,” according to a CNN Money article. Since her grand opening on August 1, business has been steadily increasing.

Regarding our list of ideas to de-stress at work and fuel innovation, I would like to add “breaking stuff.” But unless you live in the San Diego area or until Lavely decides to franchise, you’re on your own when it comes to where and how you do it.

De-stress at work and encourage innovation

The economy is in bad shape. So bad even Warren Buffett is worried.

Whether its the falling dollar, gas prices or debt, our country’s financial problems have all of us pretty stressed out these days. Aside from some of the more violent effects of a bad economy on the workplace, stress has a direct impact on employee productivity and your bottom line.

According to the 2007 “Stress in America Report” by the American Psychological Association, more than half of Americans said they are less productive at work as a result of stress.

From Entrepreneur.com:

“All that stress adds up to an estimated $300 billion a year in costs for U.S. businesses due to absenteeism, decreased productivity, employee turnover, and medical, legal and insurance fees.”

On top of the economy, the bleak medical benefits situation in the US is stifling innovation. As medical premiums and medical deductibles rise, more money is taken out of paychecks and people have less money to spend. Innovation is difficult to find when employees are overwhelmed with medical bills.

While we can’t change our country’s health care system or improve the economy overnight, we can do something to help lessen employee stress at work. Get their minds off their finances and focused on innovation, and you’ll start seeing happier, more productive employees with better ideas coming out of your company.

A few ideas to de-stress employees and spark innovation:

Start a Fantasy Football league. It’s helped some big companies like NuVox motivate their staff and build teamwork. Some friendly office competition that doesn’t take employees away from their work for too long can help alleviate stress.

Start a skunkworks program or innovation league. It’s hard to get businesses to take risks in a bad economy. Sideline any fear of risk and start a company within your company (called Skunkworks) where innovation is encouraged. Once all of the “real” work is done, get together with the skunkworks team to innovate and empower employees. It can be as little as four hours a week, or more depending on how much time is available.

Start an employee wellness program. Regular exercise improves health and reduces stress. Start a weekly walking program or make a deal with a local gym for discounted employees memberships, and get employees moving. Healthier employees make less trips to the doctor, reducing medical costs and insurance rates.

Start telecommuting. Allow employees to telecommute for part of the week. Just reducing an employee’s weekly commute by one day can make a big dent in how much they spend each month in gas. By spending less money commuting to the office, employees will have one less thing to worry about financially.


Unless you have $800 million in your back pocket, no one is going to solve the nation’s financial crisis anytime soon. Until the economy begins to turn around, all we can do is work to mold company cultures to help de-stress employees and encourage innovation.

Dealing with domestic violence in the workplace

With bad news about our faltering economy flooding our computer and TV screens everyday, it’s almost impossible to avoid thinking about our nation’s financial worries. What’s even harder is checking our personal financial stress at the door when we show up to work.

Whether you see it or not, it’s likely people in your workplace are experiencing some financial stress. Studies show that 71% of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, according to the American Payroll Association.

One of the most unfortunate effects of our lagging economy is an increase in domestic violence incidents across the country. Various states have reported spikes in the number of reported cases of domestic violence, and “they are merely the tip of the iceberg,” according to Julie Ferguson at HR Web Cafe.

Employers should be concerned because domestic violence directly impacts employee health, productivity, absenteeism and frequently enters the workplace, Ferguson says. Abusers may harass an employee on the job over the phone, at the worksite or cause injuries that affect an employee’s work.

From Human Resource Executive Online:

Many people think that domestic violence is what its name implies -- domestic -- and that it only happens at home. But, we can't expect someone who is experiencing domestic violence to leave the worry, uncertainty and fear of what may happen to them or to their children at home when they come to work.

And, we can't expect those employees to perform at their best when dealing silently with domestic violence, or for their co-workers to understand how to behave.

And that’s where training comes in.

As a corporate leader in raising awareness of domestic violence, Verizon Wireless recently shared their commitment to the issue and how they’ve created a judgement-free culture to support abused employees with Human Resource Executive Online.

After deciding to develop and offer specific training on the impact of domestic violence in the workplace, Verizon partnered with a top victim assistance organization to educate managers and increase awareness within the company.


How Verizon successfully implemented a domestic violence training program:

• Outlined the company’s needs for a training program: accessible to all levels of employees, easily replicated in different locations and cost-effective.
• Identified and trained human resource leaders to become certified trainers.
• Incorporated informative, “powerful” videos in the program to illustrate how domestic violence carries over into the workplace.
• Certified trainers led discussion sparked by issues brought up in the videos

Since implementing the new training program called SafeWork, more than 3,000 Verizon employees have participated.

“We emphasize that our team does not have to be the "expert" when it comes to domestic violence. Our job, and the goal of the training, is to give our employees the tools they need to recognize when someone may be experiencing domestic violence, to understand both the impact on the employee and the business, and to respond appropriately to the situation,” said Martha Delehanty, vice president of human resources for Verizon Wireless.

Backed by company policy and a code of conduct, domestic abuse employee training programs can be successful in recognizing and addressing such a serious issue in the workplace.

Training employees how to identify and handle domestic abuse in the workplace along with the comfort to approach managers with problems will help any business achieve a safe and healthy workplace.

Visit the Workplace section at the Family Violence Prevention Fund for more facts on domestic violence and examples of how other employers have created strategic responses to domestic violence in the workplace.

Training employees to go green in the office

Going green in the office is more than just a trend. By improving the energy efficiency of office buildings, businesses can save money on pricey electric bills and protect the earth’s precious resources.

“Energy use in commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounts for nearly half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50 percent of energy consumption nationwide,” according to the EPA.

Because it’s where workers spend a large portion of their day, the American workplace is where people can make the largest impact by going green. Training employees to reduce waste office waste can take time, but with a little help you can get everyone on board and involved.

With most people already doing their part at home to save energy, the EPA encourages people to “Bring their Green to Work” with their latest online tool called Energy Star @ Work.

Revealed earlier this month, Energy Star @ Work provides people with valuable tips and information on how workers can save energy and do their part to protect the environment in the workplace.


Start a green movement in your office

Get employees to go green at the office and get involved by setting up green teams dedicated to the cause. With management’s approval, encourage coworkers from different levels and areas of your organization to get involved in the green movement. Forming a diversified team from all levels in the company will ensure greater support and success.

Hold green team meetings to discuss what areas of the business are the least energy efficient and what can be done to make improvements. Raise awareness throughout the office with emails, fliers and posters with information on how the business is going green and what they can do to help.

October is Energy Awareness Month and a perfect time to hold a green event in the office to get everyone excited and aware of the green team’s efforts. Get employees involved and informed by holding a brown bag luncheon with a featured in-house or outside expert to speak about ways to save energy in the office.

Another way to get employees involved in the company’s green efforts is to set up competitions. Divide employees by department or by Green Teams and start a competition to see who can be the most green in the office.

Hand out environmentally friendly prizes like reusable water bottles or coffee mugs to the teams that show the biggest improvements. Remember to publicly recognize teams for their energy efficient changes in company newsletters or at quarterly meetings.


Going green in the office doesn’t have to be difficult. With the support of upper management, involved employees and a little office camaraderie, your company can start doing its part to conserve energy and cut down on greenhouse gasses. It could be as simple as finding energy efficient office supplies or changing the posters on your walls, that could get your office started today.