News bites

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives

By Vivienne Wilson, Marketing and Quality Officer (West), Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives

At the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, we have one very important focus. It’s our job to help employers, employees and all our partner agencies come together to create a much healthier and motivated workforce across Scotland. We also want to support those who aren’t currently employed – for example, due to a period of ill health – but who want to go back to work and reap all the benefits of employment.

Whatever people want to do for a living, and wherever they are in Scotland, our vision is to give them the opportunity to work in ways that allow them not only to sustain, but also to improve, their health and well-being.

The fact is that everyone in Scotland will benefit from our having a healthier workforce.

Historically, Scotland has had a poor health record, though in recent years much has been done to turn this around. Our health is improving, and premature deaths from both accidents and disease are declining. The role of work and workplaces in contributing to this progress has been fundamental, and this remains the case as we strive to achieve the levels of health enjoyed by most of our European neighbours.

Over the next few years, we will be playing a key role in helping the Scottish Government to reduce work-related ill health by 20% and days lost to ill health by 30%.

The Centre’s services include:

  • A free and confidential telephone advice line offering expert advice on workplace health (health promotion, health & safety, occupational health) to individuals and employers in all sizes of workplaces.
  • Free and confidential workplace assessment visits to help companies understand their occupational health and safety duties. We also provide practical and workable solutions for firms with less than 250 employees.
  • The Healthy Working Lives Award Programme which covers: health promotion, occupational health and safety, health and safety, vocational rehabilitation, employability and mental health and well-being. The award programme is available to all sizes of workplaces, private and statutory.

The first 33 Healthy Working Lives Awards will be presented by Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health at a ceremony in Edinburgh while this newsletter is going to print. Assessors have been very impressed by the high standards achieved by the awardees so far and participants have also been delighted with the benefits that following the award programme have brought to their organisations.

For more information visit www.healthyworkinglives.com or call the adviceline on 0800 019 2211.

Healthyliving award holders should also note that by achieving the award they have already completed the practical nutritional component of the Healthy Working Lives award.

Table talk

A recent survey commissioned by the Scottish Consumer Council asked people in Scotland’s six cities about their opportunities to eat healthily at lunchtime. These were some of the findings:

  • 82% of customers say they are able to work more effectively when they have something healthy to eat at lunchtime.
  • 86% say that food outlets should actively promote healthier options such as making fruit clearly available or offering healthy lunchtime meal deals.
  • 69% would be more likely to buy healthier lunches if there were more choices available near their workplace.
  • 76% would find it helpful if a recognisable logo showed at a glance what the healthier options to buy were.

All compelling reasons for workplace canteens and sandwich bars to sign up to the healthyliving award don’t you think?

Download this issue in PDF format
Food Service Sector
Involved in the food service sector and would like to know more? Click here
Customers
Do you sometimes want to eat healthily when eating out? Click here
issue five: February 2008
Change font size
The healthyliving awardNHS Health Scotland - Scotland's health improvement agencyHealthier Scotland - Scottish GovernmentHealthier Scotland - Scottish Government