The intent for the Health Category is that organizations support the right of all people to work in conditions that are safe and conducive to long-term health by creating work environments in which employees are treated as whole human beings who are empowered with the resources and the agency to take care of themselves. Organizations have the opportunity to create workplaces that help people grow and thrive, facilitating employees to bring their best selves forward both personally and professionally.
Health comes in many forms, and everything from the design and maintenance of our buildings to our workplace culture affects the physical health, mental health, and overall well-being of employees. Whether employees are working in an organization’s office or facility or remotely from home, the workplace environment can have long-term implications on employees’ health and well-being. Organizations have a responsibility to maintain a safe, hazard-free workplace as well as to provide abundant opportunities to promote the individual and collective health of employees.55
Using a preventative approach to managing workplace health means not only addressing problems after an employee is injured or becomes unwell, but also identifying and mitigating risks.56 For example, given that ergonomics remain one of the top causes of work-related injury,57 addressing the unique ergonomic needs of each employee can not only promote and preserve employee health, but also reduce potential missed work time resulting from injury. While many health- and safety-promoting provisions are universal, diverse and inclusive workplaces must also have policies and protocols in place to assess and address the specific needs of individual employees.
Given that most adults spend at least a third of their employable years at work,58 organizations have a tremendous opportunity to proactively support their employees’ well-being. Particularly within the context of equitable and inclusive organizational culture, a comprehensive well-being program that is responsive to the diverse emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the workforce can not only reduce work-related stress, but also prevent stress by creating a nourishing, energizing environment. A workplace culture that encourages healthy rest habits can have an especially significant impact on both employee and organizational health.59-60 Furthermore, investing in employee well-being can reduce turnover, increase profitability and productivity, improve morale, and enhance the overall employee experience.61 An organization can only be as healthy as the people who comprise it; thus, fostering and bolstering employee health in turn fosters and bolsters organizational health.
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55 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016, May 13). Workplace Health Model. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/model/index.html.
56 Occupational Health and Safety Administration. (n.d.). Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.osha.gov/safety-management.
57 National Safety Council. (n.d.). Top Work-Related Injury Causes. NSC Injury Facts. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/work-overview/top-work-related-injury-causes/.
58 Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, June 22). American Time Use Survey – 2022 Results. U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf.
59 Pilcher, J. & Morris, D. (2020). Sleep and Organizational Behavior: Implications for Workplace Productivity and Safety. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 45. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00045. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7005570/.
60 Fietze, I., Rosenblum, L., Salanitro, M., Ibatov, A. D., Eliseeva, M. V., Penzel, T., Brand, D., & Westermayer, G. (2022). The Interplay Between Poor Sleep and Work-Related Health. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 866750. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.866750. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9301247/.
61 Gallup, Inc. (2022, November 11). What Is Employee Wellbeing and Why Does It Matter? Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.gallup.com/workplace/404105/importance-of-employee-wellbeing.aspx.
