Occupational Health Safety Wellbeing at Cardiff Met Chris

Occupational Health Safety & Well-being at Cardiff Met

Chris Deacy MSc Dip 2 OSH CMIOSH HR Manager Chartered Safety & Health Practitioner Chair of Wales Centre for Occupational Health & Wellbeing Cardiff Metropolitan University

Today Health, Safety & Well-being - a Journey from Mere Compliance to Added Business Value

About the University • 3 Academic and 1 Residential Campus • Academic schools in Health Sciences, Sport, Management, Education and Art & Design • 10, 000+ full and part time students • 1300 permanent staff • High number of visitors using sports facilities, public art exhibitions, health clinics and conference suites

Innovative Approach • 2003 Health & Safety, Occupational Health sections of Human Resources became fully integrated under HR Manager (Occupational Health, Safety & Well-being) • 2006 - 2008 Health & Well-being Working Group established – feasibility study • 2008 – Health & Well-being included as a key element of Corporate HR Strategy

Workplace Health & Well-being Strategic Aim “to improve organisational performance through encouraging a healthier and more engaged workforce” • Being Pro-active rather than Re-active

Reactive Approach Employee Status ‘Productive’ ‘Present ’ ‘Absent’ ‘FOCUS’ ‘Target Range’ Well Discomfort Sick Performance Indicator

Pro-active Approach Employee Status ‘Productive’ Well ‘Present ’ Discomfort ‘Absent’ Sick Performance Indicator

Health & Well-being Goals – Increase participation in H&W activities – Reduce sickness absence – Satisfy Corporate Health Standard Gold criteria

Typical Occupational Health Issues in HE Stress Related Absence* Musculoskeletal Disorders* Skin Conditions Respiratory Conditions General Illness*/Accident Injuries

Health & Well-being 2008 - Steering Group Established – Pro-active Occupational Health Interventions – Support active transport Initiatives – Utilise academic expertise and facilities – Establish Health Promotion Working Group

Engagement through Well-Being - Interventions • • Occupational Health Management training Staff Counsellors Health Promotion events Mental Health First Aid Staff Health & Well-being Survey Flexible Working Promotion of Active Transport

Measuring Impact • Analysing and evaluating Health & Well-being interventions • Staff Health & Well-being Survey • Sickness Absence Statistics • Corporate Health Standards

Corporate Health Standard • Achieved ‘Gold’ award following December 2011 assessment • Report highlighted particular strengths in satisfying ‘Core Components’ of the Corporate Health Standard and in “totally embedding health, safety & well-being into organisational practice” • Corporate Health Standard has provided an independent validation of quality of university’s standard of health & wellbeing provision

Participation Levels 2008 to 2010 Instances & Hours of Participation – Green Exercise Initiatives 2008 to 2010

Percentage of Staff Participating in Green Exercise Initiatives 2008 to 2010

Staff Health & Well-being Survey First survey March 2010 Outcomes evaluated and used to inform health & wellbeing development 2010/12 Second survey March 2012 Outcomes showed improvement in engagement, stress management and general health

Impact on Attendance • Targeted Approach – OH Interventions • Managers OH Referral system • OH support – OH Advisor, OH Physician, Physiotherapy, Complementary Therapies, On-site Staff Counselling • Review Sickness Absence Policy

Sickness Absence @Cardiff Met 4 3. 5 3 2. 5 General Illness Work Injury Stress 2 MSD Respiratory 1. 5 Skin 1 0. 5 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

The benefits of Well-being in the Workplace Days lost to stress related absence in 2010 has reduced by 66% when compared with 2008

Barriers/Challenges • Staff - perceived as tokenism, “another badge for the wall” • Trades Union - “is this really about improving staff health & well-being or is it more about squeezing further staff effort and bullying people back to work? ” • Management - “something soft and fluffy and a waste of time and money in these challenging times”

Future Developments • Continue to monitor and evaluate Health and Well-being through Staff Survey • Development of the Wales Centre for Health & Well-being to provide service for staff and externals • Encourage the sustainability and continued growth of health & well-being in the workplace through further collaborative research