BackWalking to work cuts absenteeism
With the average employee taking 7.4 days off sick each year, businesses are urged to encourage their staff to change their journey to work by getting ready for national Walk to Work Week (26-30 April) to help promote a healthier workplace.
National charity Living Streets runs the Walking Works Campaign, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, to highlight the role that walking can play in bringing some much needed activity into the workplace. Although we hear a lot about the health benefits of being more physically active, the benefits to the workplace are often underestimated. Experts suggest that just 90 minutes of exercise a week can cut absenteeism by up to half, yet as it stands, an estimated 70% if adults don’t do enough exercise to benefit their health.
For the next three weeks only, businesses can buy exclusive resources to help them plan for Walk to Work Week 2010, such as offline record cards, promotional materials, pedometers, and even umbrellas for when the weather might turn.
BSkyB is one organisation that has seen the sense in promoting sustainable travel by staff and visitors to their sites and wanted to encourage their staff to walk more.
Living Streets delivered a series of Walk Doctor Roadshows at BSkYB's headquarters in Osterley, West London. The aim was to provide information and ideas for walking locally, and to promote walking as a sustainable workplace travel mode.
The roadshows were planned to tie in with a ‘Walk to Work' activity and incorporated a range of literature produced by the Walking Works campaign for this event.
Roadshows were held in the two staff restaurants and included a staffed display area with two Walk Doctors offering free advice, maps and walking information, plus a podiatrist offering free foot health checks and foot care advice. Over 100 members of staff visited the roadshows on each day.
The Walk Doctor roadshows were successful in investigating walking habits among BSkyB staff, in raising awareness of the health and sustainability benefits of walking to, during and after work, and in promoting opportunities for walking outside work.
Promtional merchandise reinforced Walk to Work messages and gave the activity a sense of fun, while communicating a serious health and environmental message.
“Your Walk Doctor report was very comprehensive. And very good value for money. I shall definitely have your doctors in again!” Samira Ahmed, Head of Transport Strategy.
Find out more about Walk to Work week.
Published on: 25/02/2010
