One of the best things that you can do to avoid injury and illness on the job is to simply encourage good health in the workplace. There are a number of ways to do this without breaking the bank, without having to hire a whole team of personal trainers, and truth be told, without having to put all that much effort forth. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Providing Healthy Food
Keeping healthy snacks stocked in the break room is a great way to encourage your employees to eat a little better. When you leave the office, hungry, looking for a bite, you’re likely to grab a pastry, a burger, a soda, but who can turn down a free meal at the office, even if that meal happens to be a salad and a bottle of water?
Rewards for Healthy Behavior
A fifty dollar gift certificate now and then is a small investment to make in order to encourage employees to stay fit. You can give out a monthly reward to workers who walk or bicycle to work or make the switch from coffee and energy drinks to water.
Underworked and Reasonably Paid
Some employers feel that they’re saving money by paying people less. The fact is that someone who will accept half as much will take three times as long to do the job. This is bad for your bottom line and bad for employee health. You need people who are efficient enough that they won’t need to do overtime and skip lunch breaks in order to meet a deadline.
Go Above and Beyond in Health Coverage
There are minimum requirements for certain businesses when it comes to employee health care. Meeting those standards is step one. You may be able to do a lot of good for your business and for your people by taking it to step two, and seeing where you can surpass expectations. Minimal coverage means that your people are covered should something happen. Going a little farther means that your employees won’t hesitate to get regular checkups and keep themselves in tip-top condition.
There’s that saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Maybe you can, say, make accommodations for your assistant once they develop carpal tunnel, but it may be wiser to simply ensure that they take breaks now and then so that they never develop the condition in the first place.
