Staying fit for business

Maxwell Kusi Obodum • Published 27 Apr 2010 17:00 1 Comment

SMALL businesses have been learning that keeping their staff fit and healthy will pay off in more ways than one.

Scores of companies are signing up for Sport Reading's Healthy Workplace Challenge and many of them dropped in to the town's Hilton Hotel on Monday to swap notes and find out more. Statistics from the Government's Physical Activity Task Force in 2003 shows that staff involved in healthy exercise take 27% fewer days' sick leave, worth an annual saving of £135 per employee.

Monday's lunch was aimed at companies with up to 249 employees who were told there is a fund for new and innovative projects and initiatives improving occupational health and welfare at work and how they can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 in a year.

Reading Borough Council, NHS Berkshire West NHS, Connexions and John Lewis have all signed up to the 2010 programme.

Businesses taking part in the latest 12-month rolling programme get full support from Sport Reading to develop their Workplace Health Action Plan, while employees take part in challenges and get advice and information from the Sport Reading team, leisure companies or organisations specialising in preventative healthcare.

Among the guests on Monday was ergonomist and healthcare professional Diksha Chakravarti, director of Lower Earley-based FixMe, whose mission in life is to iron out back problems, strain, stress or headaches caused by wrongly set up workstations, incorrect posture or poor time management.

She said: "Back pain and computer-related repetitive strain injury are costing the economy millions of pounds."

Each month's Challenge activities are based around a different theme, and Sport Reading offers two levels of involvement for employers ranging from a basic scheme of support and advice to one with online access and including three workplace health consultations per year, resource packs, training days and access to walking and cycling activities.

Contact Jo O'Connor, Workplace Health Co-ordinator, 0118 901 5712 or email healthyworkplacechallenge@reading.gov.uk

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  This is such an old story. About time you replaced with some new news.
  
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