Autism charity Daisy Chain signed up to the North East Better Health at Work Award scheme in 2017 and is delighted to have now achieved the Bronze Level.
After surveying staff as to what health issues mattered to them, the charity embarked on raising the health awareness of employees with a number of campaigns.
Staff benefitted from a special session from the charity MIND on mental health awareness, a cancer awareness event and a look at alcohol issues as well as lots of information provided on the intranet around healthy eating.
Nicola Crombie, Human Resources manager, said: “The health and well-being of employees is an important priority for us at Daisy Chain and there is a lot of emphasis on this within HR. It’s important that people are healthy and well and this is promoted in the workplace.
“We took a careful approach to introducing the North East Better Health at Work scheme, making sure staff can take part in activities and access information in a variety of ways so they get information without feeling pressured in any way. It is important that everyone who works for Daisy Chain is encouraged to care for their health and well-being and can access any support or advice they need but in a way that is acceptable and comfortable for each individual.”
The North East Better Health at Work Award is a free scheme for all employers across the North East and Cumbria regardless of size and recognises the efforts of employers in addressing health issues within the workplace.
There are four levels to the award – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Continuing Excellence and every organisation or company that signs up is supported by a dedicated Workplace Health Improvement Specialist. The project is supported by all the region’s 12 Local Authorities, the NHS and Northern TUC and is endorsed by Public Health England. More than 400 regional employers are now participating in the scheme.
Nicola added: “We are delighted to have achieved the Bronze Award. Taking part in the scheme has benefits for individuals as well as employers. Staff get increased access to health information and a healthy workplace leads to less sickness and improved performance. We are now moving on to plan for achieving the Silver award.