Worksite Health

Medical care costs have risen substantially during the past four decades in many developed nations around the world, and these costs increase with increasing workforce age. Employers have assumed a disproportionate share of these costs via direct medical expenses, changes in government safety legislation and other costs such as insurance premiums (O'Donnell 2002).

Studies of the relationship between modifiable risk factors (i.e. smoking, high blood pressure diabetes, excess weight, high waist circumference, poor diet, high cholesterol, inactivity, depression and stress, drinking too much alcohol), and costs show that employees who have a cluster of modifiable risk factors are strikingly more expensive (Kowlessar et al 2011).

Workers spend a large proportion of their waking lives at the workplace and are a captive audience for any health promotion intervention. The potential benefits to be gained from a well-structured worksite health promotion program include:

• Improving employee health and fitness
• Decreased medical and disability costs
• Reduced employee absenteeism
• Decreased staff turnover
• Improved employee mental alertness
• Improved morale and job satisfaction
• Enhanced corporate image
• Improving productivity