Occupational Health Safety & Well-being at Cardiff Met

Chris Deacy MSc Dip2OSH CMIOSH HR Manager Chartered Safety & Health Practitioner Chair of Wales Centre for Occupational Health & Well- being 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

Health & Safety at the University before 2003 Occupational Health issues – health surveillance programme, ill-health retirement Health & Safety issues – risk assessment, H&S training, safety inspections

Sickness Absence

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

Occupational Health, Safety & Well- being Team Integrated into Human Resources Health & Safety Advisory service Occupational health service Health Promotion Working and Health & Well- being Steering groups

Workplace Health & Well-being Strategy Strategic Goals to;- Provide mechanisms and support for employees to make informed healthier lifestyle changes, and develop health & well- being provision at Cardiff Met in line with WAG Corporate Health Standard

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 Well Employee Status ‘Productive’ ‘Present ’‘Absent’ ‘Target Range’ ‘FOCUS’ DiscomfortSick Performance Indicator

Pro-active Approach Well Employee Status ‘Productive’ ‘Present ’‘Absent’ DiscomfortSick 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 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 & well- being 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 & well- being 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 Met

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