Working for a Healthy Living

2010-10-14

Christina Antoniou has worked at Pfizer Canada for five years. During that time, she has seen a kinesiologist, consulted with a dietician and doctor, and exercised and attended fitness classes at the gym several times a week. She’s done it all onsite thanks to her company’s health and well-being program, VIVA.

Pfizer Canada launched VIVA, which focuses on disease prevention, awareness of healthy living and employee support, in May 2007. It also promotes healthy lifestyle habits in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, work-life balance, and stress management.

“I have probably used most, if not all, of the VIVA program’s offerings,” the corporate communications manager says. “Having all these conveniences at the office makes a healthy lifestyle much easier to achieve.”

In May 2009, Pfizer Canada took its successful health-and-wellness program one step further when it obtained the Healthy Enterprise – Elite certification from the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ).

The BNQ created the Healthy Enterprise certification program in collaboration with the Group for Prevention and Promotion Strategies (GP2S). Officially launched in February 2008, Prevention, Promotion and Organizational Practices for Health in the Workplace (BNQ 9700-800) is the first occupational health standard of its kind in the world. It is part of Québec’s Action Plan to Promote Healthy Life Habits and Prevent Weight-Related Problems, 2006-2012 and is also consistent with the main principles set out by Health Canada for Workplace Health Promotion.

The Healthy Enterprise standard is a reference document made available to any enterprise or organization, large or small, wishing to implement and maintain a structured approach of prevention, promotion and organizational practices contributing to workplace health for its employees. It offers two levels of certification (Healthy Enterprise, and Healthy Enterprise –Elite) and encourages companies to adapt their management in four areas of activity recognized by the scientific and medical community for having a significant impact on the health of employees: employee living habits, work-personal life balance, working environment and management practices.

Focusing on what an enterprise can do to encourage people to contribute to their own health, the standard reaches beyond already existing standards for occupational health and safety (OHS) that focus on preventing physical injuries in the workplace. Daniel Langlais, BNQ’s coordinator of the Healthy Enterprise standard, says it actually complements the existing OHS standards by addressing the mental and physical well-being and prevention of disease through a global approach to health in the workplace.

Studies show that eliminating a single health risk for an employee increases productivity at work by nine percent and reduces absenteeism by two per cent. They also show that a physically active employee is 12 per cent more productive than a sedentary employee.

Studies show that eliminating a single health risk for an employee increases productivity at work by nine per cent and reduces absenteeism by two per cent.

Canadian companies that have integrated health programs based on good habits and improved working environment figures show that each dollar invested in these programs brings a return of $2.75 to $4.00 in increased productivity over the first five years of these programs. Overall, the return on investment is far greater when the money saved in the healthcare system is taken into account.

“Bad health represents 17 per cent of overall payroll in days missed, under-productivity, and high cost of insurance. That doesn’t take in the effect on the person,” says Roger Bertrand, chair of the board of directors of GP2S. “Québec spends 43 per cent of its budget on healthcare. We have to invest in health promotion and prevention. Why do we need to do that? Because 70 per cent of illness comes from factors we control.”

GP2S scientific adviser, Dr. Mario Messier, believes that it is well known that working conditions can contribute to the creation or the prevention of stress and psychological problems among workers. He quotes studies that show stress and anxiety cause more frequent sickness leaves than physical problems; that employers spend more on depression than high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases and back pain, all together; and that nearly 50 per cent of sickness leaves in the workplace are related to mental health problems.

“Good programs and effective interventions that will improve working conditions will most likely have a significant impact on the well-being of workers,” says Messier.

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This article first appeared in Volume 37 of CONSENSUS Magazine, 2010. The information it contains was accurate at the time of publication but has not been updated or revised since, and may not reflect the latest updates on the topic. If you have specific questions or concerns about the content, please contact the Standards Council of Canada.

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