Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week:  October 23 – 29, 2006
2006 theme:  “Make a Difference in Your Workplace”

Each year in late October, Canadian organizations large and small celebrate Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week (CHWW).  Overseen by the Canadian Healthy Workplace Council and managed by three groups:
the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), ‘Health, Work and Wellness,’ and
the National Quality Institute (NQI), Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week is “a time designated to increase awareness of how important healthy workplaces are to the long-term success of organizations.” (CHWW 2005).

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week was developed to bring attention to comprehensive workplace health.  Months such as February and March are dedicated to the observation of heart health and nutrition, however a comprehensive approach to health was yet to be observed.  The creation of CHWW brought focus to the strategic development of a comprehensive approach encompassing leadership, cultural and program-based solutions to address organizational health issues. 

During Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week, Canadian organizations are encouraged to learn about and participate in organizational health, prevention and wellness strategies.  Additionally, CHWW provides an excellent opportunity to bring awareness to valuable workplace research, tools and resources available. 

The theme for Canada's Healthy Workplace Week 2006 is “Make a Difference in Your Workplace.” As stated on CHWW’s website, “Whether you're the CEO or on the front lines, you can make a difference!”

What can YOU do to create a healthier workplace?

Look around:  Does your workplace offer healthy options in the cafeteria or vending machines?  Is fresh water available for all employees?  If not, you might submit some healthy ideas for change to your workplace health committee.

Get involved:  YOU make a difference and YOU set a great example for those around you.  (This point really is all about YOU!)  Participate in a group walk at lunch, sign up for a workplace health initiative or join the social committee.  Do what you can to set a good example for health at work.

Start it up:  Do you have space available for aerobic or Pilates classes?  Find other interested employees, enlist an instructor and get things started.  It takes less effort than you think, and the payback is better health, increased office morale and reduced stress.

Make a friend:  Do you socialize with colleagues at lunch?  Is there someone who won’t leave his desk, except during a fire drill?  Reach out to others in the office.  Start a euchre club at lunch, compliment a colleague on a job well done, hold a multicultural pot-luck lunch to learn more about and celebrate the people you work with.  Why not?   You spend most of your adult life with them!

Whatever your ideas for a healthier workplace, keep this thought in mind: 
“The vision must be followed by the venture.  It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs.” (Vance Havner)  Get stepping today towards a healthier workplace and plan a healthy activity to celebrate Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week.

How can your organization participate in Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week? 
Plan ahead.  Solicit buy-in from all levels of management, identify organizational healthissues at your workplace and create a smart plan that includes measurable goals and objectives.  Do many people at work smoke or eat poor lunches (or no lunches??)  Implement a program aimed at increasing the nutritional value of employee lunches and then survey them afterward to see if their nutritional habits changed that week.  Do what makes sense for your organization and you’ll see results.

For more information on Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week and how your organization can get involved, visit www.healthyworkplaceweek.ca and/or call Janet Young, Manager of Wellness Consulting, Buffett & Company Worksite Wellness Inc.

Buffett & Company specializes in Workplace Wellness  consulting and
is a proud sponsor of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week.

This article was written by Christy Stain, the Communications Specialist at
Buffett & Company and is the property of Buffett & Company Worksite Wellness Inc. 

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