BITC Health and Work Summit, London, UK 12 May 2009

Citation

McCarron, K. (2009), "BITC Health and Work Summit, London, UK 12 May 2009", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 8 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2009.37208fab.011

BITC Health and Work Summit, London, UK 12 May 2009

Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 6

Keren McCarronMedia relations manager at the Food and Drink Federation.

Business in the Community’s Health and Work Summit took place on 12 May in central London. A total 150 delegates gathered to hear leaders in the field discuss how to maximize the value of employees, which is a key challenge facing UK organizations, particularly in the current economic climate.

The day began with Dame Carol Black providing an overview of the work and aspirations of the UK government’s cross department health, work and wellbeing strategy team. This included the implementation of electronic fit notes, a national training program for GPs on health and work, and a national center for working age health and wellbeing.

Next was a panel session chaired by Noel O’Reilly, senior editor for Xpert HR. The discussions covered a range of topics including a call for a common definition and KPIs for health and wellbeing in the workplace, and the need for appropriate training and careful communication at manager level to bring about change in company culture and ensure appropriate behavior spans entire organizations.

The Business Action on Health Campaign launched a number of topic-specific toolkits at the event, focusing on healthy eating, physical activity, emotional resilience and skills, health and wellbeing.

Healthy eating in the workplace

The afternoon program consisted of a series of workshops for delegates. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) ran a workshop “Big ideas for promoting healthy eating and physical activity in your workplace” at which FDF members Danone, Nestle and Unilever and energy company RWE npower each presented elements of their scheme. Delegates were particularly interested in initiatives to provide nutrition information based on guideline daily amounts in workplace canteens and encouraging staff to take part in group exercise activities.

Speaking at the event summit, Angela Coleshill, FDF’s HR director, explained how the workplace has a direct impact on the physical, mental, economic and social wellbeing of employees. She said that even when companies are facing serious challenges in the current economic climate, it’s vital that the wellbeing of employees does not slip off the agenda as their health and wellbeing is paramount to the success of the company and the wider industry.

Coleshill also explained that as part of FDF’s wider work to promote workplace wellbeing, it sponsored the summit and also the healthy eating and physical activity toolkits, which were launched at the event. She said FDF believes that healthy eating and physical activity go hand in hand, and that it’s important to help employees create an appropriate energy balance.