What has Falkirk Council, Rolls Royce, and Halliburton (an oil company) got in common?
Its simple really . . . they all took part in the BBC Big Challenge Health Works Awards. Falkirk Council were awarded joint first place in the healthiest large employer category for Scotland along with Rolls Royce and Halliburton. They came out on top after a mammoth search by the BBC to find the UK businesses which do the most to look after their workers' health and wellbeing.
Falkirk Council was the first Council in Scotland to integrate health, safety and care. Health promotion activity is a core function of the Health, Safety & Care team’s work. A range of health promotion activities have been implemented which led to the achievement of the gold, Scotland’s Health at Work (SHAW) award in 2004.
This Council is actively working to achieve the targets set by the Government in the DETR document “Revitalising Health and Safety”, the aims set out in the Health and Safety Commission’s successful Health & Safety Management document “Securing Health Together and also the Health & Safety Executive’s document Successful Health & Safety Management (HSG 65). A Strategic Plan for Health, Safety and Care has been developed which states how this Council will work towards achieving these targets and identifies the priorities for Falkirk Council over a five year period.
The Strategic Plan for Health Safety & Care links to the Community Health Improvement Plan. It also links to work being done by partners such as Forth Valley Health Board to improve community health relating to smoking cessation, substance abuse and mental well-being. Health, Safety & Care Team activity also complements the work undertaken by the Policy Unit in relation to the Falkirk, Health Theme group and the Community Health Partnership in promoting the wider local health improvement agenda at both strategic and operational levels.
The team runs large & small, Service-specific based Health and Safety events which are extremely popular with our employees as they are good for team building and act as morale boosters given that alternative therapies are made available.
A range of additional health and wellbeing activities are offered on an ongoing basis, these initiatives include:
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Looking Good, Feeling Good - a course delivered in conjunction with Falkirk College which has been designed to give employees a boost in terms of their confidence, appearance and self-esteem.
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Health at Work Consultancy Service - delivered to Services/teams, which focus on promoting physical activity and relaxation therapies;
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Mens Health Clinics – Given that men are normally reluctant to go to their General Practitioner, specialist men’s health nurses are available at our events to allow confidential access to advice and assistance. The local men’s health community clinic is also promoted at our events.
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Healthy Lifestyle Card: a discount card for employees to access leisure facilities at a discount;
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Lifestyle 21C: an 8 week health & fitness programme personally tailored to suit the individual employee;
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The Quit Programme: for Smoking Cessation
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External Counselling Service: available to employees on a self referral basis;
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Physiotherapy Service
The health initiatives introduced by the Health, Safety & Care team are pro-active and preventative and we aim to try to keep our employees healthy, happy and here!