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RIPH champions a healthy workforce
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14/03/2008
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In conjunction with the government’s proposal to encourage employers to promote good health among employees, The Royal Institute of Public Health (RIPH) is offering accredited training for workplace health champions through a new Health Signposting qualification.
Employers can invest in training a front-line member of staff to provide a health promotion role within the workplace, assisting employees in making healthier lifestyle choices and offering advice and support to colleagues.
With the government investing £372 million over the next three years to tackle obesity, and offering individuals and companies cash and voucher incentives to undertake healthier initiatives, a company can train a health champion to support its staff in losing weight, keeping the weight off, eating more healthily or to be more physically active.
RIPH recommends that employee engagement and ownership of such programmes would be further strengthened by the appointment of health champions within the workforce.
Professor Richard Parish (pictured), chief executive of the Royal Society of Health comments: “Health and well-being is a full time job. As an estimated 60% of our waking hours are spent in the workplace, it’s here we need health champions to promote healthy lifestyles, and work with employers to demolish the barriers to health and to build a healthy workforce from within.”
The qualification is available through RIPH’s training centres.
Anyone interested in offering this qualification to their staff should contact Nicki Alvey or Tony Varey at the Royal Institute of Public Health or visit the website.
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Author
Chris Rowlands
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