Ensuring Workplace Health and Safety
Manitoba – As a provider of supplementary health care benefits, Manitoba Blue Cross is committed to developing and maintaining a caring culture for its employees and the clients they serve. When this non-profit organization relocated operations to a new building, instead of simply uprooting employees and planting them in new offices, Manitoba Blue Cross involved staff in creating a safe, welcoming place to work.
To optimize the physical work environment and better meet the needs of clients and staff, Manitoba Blue Cross took health, safety, accessibility, ergonomic and collaborative social issues into consideration during the design phase. From blueprints to construction, Manitoba Blue Cross incorporated employee feedback into the project and also coordinated the completion of a building assessment that involved ergonomic professionals, security experts and staff. These efforts have paid off – surveys indicate 65 percent of employees feel more productive in their new environment.
The new facilities spurred the need for a number of health and safety policies and practices, which resulted in updated procedures and manuals for security, emergencies, violence prevention and workplace safety, as well as a security audit of the building. A joint health and safety committee was created to identify the organization’s key wellness needs, define a framework aligned with targeted objectives and facilitate training. As part of a broad-impact health initiative, the organization introduced an online Health Risk Assessment tool that identified the top four employee risk factors as stress, weight control, exercise and healthy eating. By identifying the lifestyle factors that employees need the most help with, Manitoba Blue Cross has been able to pilot targeted programs such as meditation, yoga and stress management and is already seeing results.
Participation in Manitoba Blue Cross’ health, safety and wellness programs is high. Approximately 20 percent of employees have completed CPR and first aid training, between 20 and 30 percent participate in health seminars, yoga and meditation programs and 80 percent of staff have used the fitness center. Manitoba Blue Cross experienced zero growth in health benefit costs in 2006 and 2007 and was actually able to reduce costs slightly in 2008. Long-term disability rates were also down by 13.5 percent in 2008 and turnover hovered around a low 8 percent in both 2007 and 2008. Manitoba Blue Cross knows wellness at work is a journey, not a destination, and has found that taking care of its own employees pays big dividends: the last two fiscal years have been the most successful in the organization’s history.