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Key Components of a Worksite Wellness Program

By U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Johansen Laurel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Johansen Laurel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Many employers have implemented a worksite wellness program to promote the health and safety of their employees.  The components most often associated with a wellness program include a focus on health risk screenings, newsletters, health club memberships, smoking cessation, weight loss, nutrition, etc.

The benefits of a wellness program include a reduction in healthcare insurance cost, decreased absenteeism, and increased productivity.  Most worksite wellness programs focus on preventive programs to promote the long-term health of the workforce.  While these programs have proved overall beneficial (see Workplace Wellness Programs Study, RAND Heath), most do not include a daily screen for sick workers.

When employees are allowed to work sick the overall health of the company suffers.  Low cost and non-intrusive programs can be implemented to screen sick workers.  Often times companies operate at minimum staffing levels, and the management mindset is to encourage the sick to work.   In many cases, employees are not provided adequate sick leave and must work to avoid missing a paycheck.

An infected worker is likely to spread their contagion to 2-5 others depending on their job responsibilities and the density of the work environment.  In addition to the risk of spread, a sick worker will suffer a sharp drop in productivity.  There is a short-term impact to the company when a sick worker is absent, but forcing the sick to stay home results in overall decrease in the absenteeism rate, an increase in productivity, and a decrease in company medical costs.  A primary driver for implementing a wellness program is to decrease the cost of health insurance.

At Wello, we have developed products that allow both managers and employees to obtain a real-time view of conditions when the risk of infection spread is high.  WelloWatch is a free app available on both iPhone and Android smartphones and tablets.  The app provides real time updates to the weather conditions to alert when the spread risk is the highest and the individual susceptibility to catching an infection is the greatest. A daily check of the local conditions  will keep your workers healthy, improve productivity and lower healthcare associated costs. products_wellowatch

An essential component for worksite wellness is the implementation of daily fever screening using a device such as the WelloStation to detect those coming to work sick.  Fever is the primary indicator of infection.  Being able to isolate the sick, will both prevent and deter individuals from coming to work sick.

Implementing an awareness and screening program as part of your worksite wellness program will have a significant impact to the health of your employees and the health of the company.


Additional Resources

News

Working Sick

This interview with the Fox News Radio Ohio and wello SystemX™ inventor and founder Rik Heller highlights the problem of “Working Sick” and how to prevent it with wello SystemX.

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