Workplace wellness

Employee Health
Assessment



The Workplace Wellness vision:

We want to reduce the number of work related pain syndrome sufferers worldwide. This will be achieved, at least in part, through this  innovative online diagnostic and ergonomic assessment process. Firstly, it enables management to quantify and qualify the physical state of their employees. Secondly, it provides specific observations and conclusions to give positive advice to employers and employees about the prevention and cure of their individual problems. In addition there is advice on dealing with employee health action.


Occupational health practitioners must make themselves aware of specific legislation that covers employee rights when dealing with health data.

Occupational health advisers are required to keep a range of records in order to:

a. Provide a baseline for the health status of staff and identify those with special health needs.
b. Provide an effective workplace health surveillance system.
c. Identify patterns of ill health and work areas with specific risk.
d. Help management in its responsibility for the notification of accidents and ill health, as well as for medical examinations required by law.
e. Report on staff health problems; and
f. Monitor the use and effectiveness of the occupational health service.

A confidential clinical record is personal to the employee and keeps information about the health of a member of staff during employment, including:

a. An occupational health questionnaire completed by the employee concerned.
b. Any subsequent clinical information.
c. Details of any biological monitoring or clinical examinations.
d. Relevant correspondence and details of any health surveillance carried out, or personal monitoring stemming from environmental factors.


Employees' health: the employer's role.

There are four main priorities:

1. The welfare of your employees.

2. The minimising of your legal position by listening to employees and reacting positively to their concerns.

3. Objective assessment of individual employees symptoms and work practices.

4. To consider the cost of supplying our Workplace Wellness assessments versus the costs of litigation and preventable loss of productivity and greater absenteeism.

CEO's are aware of the Health and Safety assessments that their companies undertake each year. All too often these assessments come to generalised conclusions about trailing wires, heating, lighting and inadequate workstations, but they are not very likely to achieve a specific diagnosis of an individual employees' pain syndrome. 

Implementing our system for your company will add greatly to your ability to change things for the better..




Human resources and Occupational Health


Issue awareness:

Effectively dealing with ill health and employee absence needs sensitivity to the circumstances of that particular employee. Being aware of legal obligations whilst obtaining as complete an understanding of the physical and mental state in which the person is working obviously has many positive effects. This is most important when employees may already have or may have recently developed a health concern or problem.


Situation management:

Responsibility for managing ill-health issues at work and employee absence due to sickness ultimately rests with the head of your institution. However, Human Resources has direct responsibility and must issue general guidance from time to time to reflect current legal requirements and good employment practice. Our report can form part of your guidance, giving you details about furnishings, workstations, posture, mouse and keyboard etc..


Identifying problems:

Managing sickness absences often requires a pro-active approach if long-term problems are to be avoided. Therefore it is vital that there is disclosure with the member of staff about whether the cause may be work related and what measures could bring about an solution. You can simply request them to be assessed and you will be able to make an more informed judgement.

Early action is key, a stitch in time saves nine.


Recovery times:

Members of staff who have been absent with a medical condition for which there is no recognised normal recovery time can present a problem in that you (HR) cannot know how long their problem will last. The whole point of our assessment process is to provide you and the employee with a more precise picture of the problem. Not only does it tell you what the problem is in great detail, it also provides solutions both for the individual and for the general workforce.


Managers


You are on the front line, and can see when an employee is in pain, so can everyone else. What do you do about it? Have a chat with them, see what is wrong?


They may complain of symptoms like wrist pain and pins and needles or a familiar symptom like neck ache which has now become so severe that they start making mistakes and slow right down, incapacitated.


You can send them home to recover but their recovery may take a few weeks, you won't know until they get the 'all clear'.


Then they return to work and the same pain starts up again.... what now?


The role you play in the welfare of employee health is absolutely essential for the successful implementation of the policies of your organisation.


Line managers and supervisors play a critical role in specifying task and production requirements and allocating individual job roles. Your actions have a very important impact on the working life of your team.


You play a pivotal role in communicating, creating both ‘upward’ and ‘downward’ communications within the company hierarchy. You are critical in ensuring that the interventions specified in action planning are promptly and properly implemented.

You can encourage your team members to respond to calls for participation in surveys, data collection, focus groups and other activities linked to the Management Standards process.

Your knowledge about team members is critical to the success of team interaction and performance. You will often be the first port of call for employees with problems. Using this assessment process will help you immeasurably to decide on useful courses of action.


Employees


All employees from the CEO to the janitor are liable to suffer from painful syndromes of the upper half of the body.


'Pinched nerves', tense shoulders and sciatica to name a few. But the key 'killer' of productivity in the tech industry is the many different types of repetitive strain injuries involving the upper limb, tendons and joints.


A quote from the creator of Workplacewellness.London: Paul Manley: "This area is no mystery to me, I have been diagnosing and treating these problems successfully for over 38 years in my Central London clinic.


Thus, I devised this online process based on my experience and my observations of these types of problems.

I found that they fell into various categories which are inevitably related to use or misuse whilst engaged in repetitive tasks. These categories are defined anatomically as 'zones' and are illustrated in the case history as pain maps with which you can indicate the severity of your pain and discomfort."


So, if you are having 'troubles' or even wish to prevent problems from occurring then request a Workplace Wellness assessment from your manager.

Sign up here

What is it worth to your business?

Example: A large IT company

3000 employees

Average wage £72,000 p.a.

Total yearly wage bill = £216,000,000

Daily = 216,000,000 / 245 possible working days p.a. (inc. 3 weeks holiday) = £88,000 per day.

If 10% (300) of employees have problems which result in an average loss of 10 days productivity each then 300 X £88,000 = £2,640,000 annual cost to your business.

By using this online service this business can reduce that cost down by 60% thereby saving £1,584,000



"I found that this programme did wonders for my workforce. An insightful and detailed employee health assessment has finally been created. Workplacewellness.london is the way of the future."

CEO Europe: Fraser Thorne, Edison Investment Research. Fraser founded Edison in 2003.
Before that, he ran Newton Investment Management’s UK smaller company fund - a top decile performer.


What can management do with the results?

Global statistics:
Your Drilldown page takes all of the data from each employees submission and turns it into frequency as defined by severity and position of the pain pattern. From this, you the employer, can see the overall picture of sufferers and their pain patterns.

For example, a pain pattern may be in the employee's top right forearm. This may co-exist with tension headaches on the same side. You will be able to see these patterns for yourself.

The Drilldown also takes you to each individual employee's report. From this level you can see their particular pain pattern plus their history, ergonomic factors and stress levels.

All too often cross-communication is lost and distorted between co-workers and also their 'bosses'. The report contains specific observations by your employees with regard to management style, bullying, poor quality interactions.
 

All very well but how do you make use of this reporting system?

First of all you can consider it to be an adjunct to your existing health monitoring scheme. This normally includes trainers, gym vouchers, on-site massage and ergonomic assessments often conducted by Physiotherapists.

Secondly, the reports will enable all of the professionals involved in your health monitoring scheme to see much more clearly each employees problem areas. All they need is the username of the employee to see their reports. Employees names, email addresses or other information is kept by our system. Therefore complete employee anonymity is ensured.

Third, you can make much more informed decisions about ergonomics, sick time, loss of production and stress factors. You will be armed with much more data than would be provided by your existing health-monitoring scheme.

Fourth, the impact assessment. When an employee repeats their report a second time, they, and you will be able to see the improvement in their condition as a result of your actions.

How does the employee benefit?

Each employee will benefit greatly by virtue of the process itself. It is very specific. This increases the employee's awareness of the areas involved. It can lead them to realise that their jaw tension and their type of mouse usage are linked, thereby gaining more control over their problem. Most symptom patterns can be treated adequately by massage when they are due to tension patterns and the reports show the practitioner precisely where to focus their therapeutic efforts.

They also benefit by 'venting their spleen' about work communications in the knowledge that their feedback will be seen, noted and most importantly, completely anonymous.

Perhaps of the greatest benefit is that the employee can see that the employer cares about them as well as their profit margin. That the commonsense knowledge that a healthy employee is a productive employee is recognised by their employers. This fills employees with pride and positive energy.



Sign up here