Gloucestershire businesses celebrate winning Healthy Workplaces awards
Employers were recognised for the work they do to support their employees’ health and wellbeing at the inaugural Healthy Workplaces Gloucestershire celebration.
The ceremony, held at The Growth Hub on the University of Gloucestershire's Oxstalls campus, brought together business leaders and representatives from business support groups to recognise fifteen businesses who have achieved accreditation in the past year.
The winning businesses were: Castleford House care home, Cheltenham Borough Council, Forwards Employment, Gloucestershire Clinical Comissioning Group, Gloucestershire County Council, Hope for Tomorrow, HR People Support, Invista Textiles UK Ltd, Journey, Publica, Stroud District Council, Take Five Healthcare, UCAS, University of Gloucestershire and Stagecoach West.
The Workplace Award is a county standard of good practice and a quality mark of health and wellbeing in the workplace. Organisations are assessed through a series of online standards and commitments in a range of health areas from healthy eating to personal safety.
Siobhan Farmer, deputy director of public health for Gloucestershire County Council, who commissioned the award, said: “There are clear public health benefits to having a healthy workforce both from an employer and employee perspective.
“We know that good people management practices can have benefits for organisational performance and employee wellbeing. A key driver to this is senior leadership commitment to establishing a culture that supports health at work.”
Mary Hutton, accountable officer of NHS Gloucestershire CCG, said: "To deliver an effective service we need healthy, motivated, well trained and engaged staff.
"The CCG understands that meeting the wellbeing needs of our staff will make an important contribution to the quality of their working day and working life. The impact shows in our staff sickness, engagement, retention and incredible flexibility and resilience during Covid. It is our intention to continuously improve and aim to also achieve the Enhanced level of the Healthy Workplaces Gloucestershire Award.”
The businesses which received their awards have been working through the Healthy Workplaces accreditation for the past two years to implement health and wellbeing measures in their workplace to support staff wellness and health, increase productivity and reduce sickness absence.
Victoria Lukins, Project Manager for the awards, said: “We look at the workplace as a community where people are spending a lot of time. It's about raising awareness when people are struggling with their mental health, promoting healthy behaviours and physical activity to create an environment that is supportive and open to making small changes that have a big impact on employee morale and wellbeing. We are delighted to celebrate these businesses.”
