Employee Health Engagement Calendar of Awareness Engagement Days 2022
The UK loses 32.5 million work days a year due to ill-health. A healthy workforce is not only an employer’s duty, but it makes business sense.
Different types of health concerns affect different people. Employers have a duty of care for staff health and should take every opportunity to enhance their approach.
Educating staff about key health topics can strengthen engagement around health. There are many awareness activities and initiatives that can help, as well as resources that employers may find useful.
Employee health themes for second half engagement
Below are some of the key employee health engagement initiatives that should be on every employer’s radar for the rest of 2022.
Read our earlier article – Employee Health Calendar of Awareness Engagement Topics 2022 – Part 1 for dates in the first half. Together they make up a great annual calendar for employee health.
July – SUICIDE
Men and women of working age have the highest rate of suicide in the UK. Experts estimate that 10% of every suicide is work related. Issues such as job insecurity, discrimination, work stressors and bullying may play their part in people becoming suicidal.
Managing the risks related to workplace stress can help address the potential risk associated with suicide.
July is the Samaritan’s awareness month which encourages people to reach out. Talk to Us month runs throughout the whole of July, with the Big Listen occurring on 24th July this year. This day further stresses the importance of lending an ear to someone in need.
Maintaining awareness and support for suicide depends on creating a strong employee health culture. Suicide can affect not just individuals but all their colleagues.
You can read our article on workplace suicide and death – how the right employment culture helps to manage a difficult subject.
Find useful resources on workplace suicide prevention on the suicide page of the Health and Safety Executive website. The CIPD guide on responding to suicide risk in the workplace and the BITC resources entitled Crisis Management In The Event Of A Suicide: A Postvention Toolkit For Employers are both useful tools.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
August – SUN CARE opportunity
In August, everybody including the main charities takes a break, but you still have staff working or about to depart for their summer holidays. It is a great month to remind them about sun health and the dangers of too much sunbathing.
Although it happens in May, the resources available from Skin Cancer Awareness Month are just as relevant now. See the Macmillan page on skin cancer awareness month 2022 for many useful resources.
September – BLOOD PRESSURE
Know Your Numbers Week starts on the 5th September 2022. As many as 50% of adults have high blood pressure and don’t know it. Hypertension increases the risk of disease, heart attacks and stroke. The health impacts of high blood pressure are leading causes of sickness absence.
Monitoring your blood pressure regularly is an easy way to keep an eye on any potential problems. This health week is a good chance to educate staff on the causes of high blood pressure and encourage them to know their numbers.
Read our article on how employers can positively impact employee wellbeing by raising awareness of high blood pressure in the workplace.
Learn more about high blood pressure (hypertension) on the NHS page.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
September – EYE HEALTH
National Eye Health Week starts on 19th September 2022. Employees’ eye health can be at risk from many factors including overuse of computer display screens. Poor eye health can cause eyestrain and headaches which negatively affect productivity.
Take advantage of Eye Health Week to encourage employees to get their regular sight tests and to educate them on how to look after their eyes. All your Display Screen Equipment users are entitled to free eye tests. Make sure they know how to access these.
Eye tests are an essential health check. They do not only examine eyesight, but check for conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts. They can also detect wider health concerns such as diabetes, increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Don’t forget, employees’ eyes can also be at risk from chemicals they use or to which they are exposed. The right personal protective equipment (PPE), signage, education and training are vital wherever this risk arises.
A handy source for employers is the Health and Safety Executive page about working safely with display screen equipment. You can also find more information on the NHS page on eye health. You can find Information on eye protection on the HSE “using the right type of PPE” page.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
October – BACK CARE
Back pain is one of the biggest causes of work absence. You must give employees the right training, information, and tools to care for their backs at work. This ranges from providing appropriate desks and chairs to appropriate lifting aids, and training in bending, lifting and carrying.
More people work remotely now than ever before. Their backs can be at risk, especially if they spend their days at desks in the office or at home. It is important that all desk-based employees are provided with safe and ergonomically appropriate equipment, chairs, desks, monitors and similar equipment to protect their backs.
Back Care Awareness Week runs from 3rd – 7th October 2022 and is a good opportunity to share information on posture, lifting techniques and listening to your body.
For further reading you can visit the NHS webpage on back pain or the Health and Safety Executive page on back pain in the workplace.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
October – MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health issues can lead to many problems both in and out of work, including long term sick leave and productivity problems if staff are struggling to cope. Employee health engagement around mental health is more important than ever after the impacts of the pandemic.
World Mental Health Day occurs on the 10th October 2022.
Employers are increasingly recognising the need to raise awareness about mental health. One of the most important things they can do is to de-stigmatise conversations around it. If staff feel they can talk openly about mental health, problems are less likely to build up.
With more people working from home, employee health engagement matters, and not just around physical health. It is also essential to recognise issues such as loneliness and its impact on mental health. Isolation and workplace stress are both leading causes of mental health issues. It is an employer’s duty of care to mitigate any work-related causes of ill-health.
Some useful sources include the Mental Health at Work page “your first stop for better mental health at work” and the MIND page on mental health at work.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
October – STROKE
More than 100,000 people have strokes each year. That equates to around one every 5 minutes – and a quarter of these strokes in the UK happen to people of working age.
Strokes happen when the blood supply to your brain is cut off. This can lead to brain damage, difficulty performing basic tasks and, in some cases, death.
High blood pressure, smoking and heart disease are three main causes of strokes. Make sure staff know the causes of stroke, and what to do if one occurs.
When every second counts, knowing the signs of a stroke and what to do could save a life in your workplace.
World Stroke Day is the 29th October 2022. Use this as an opportunity to educate your employees on the signs of stroke in a colleague. You can find them on the NHS page on stroke symptoms.
Download the Stroke Association: A complete guide to stroke for employers for valuable information.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
November – STRESS
International Stress Awareness Day occurs on the 2nd November 2022.
Businesses lose 12.8m working days to stress each year. Work related stress is the most common form of stress in the UK. 74% of UK adults in the last year have felt so stressed that they have been overwhelmed and have felt unable to cope.
Stress can impact performance, relationships with colleagues and health. Although not all forms of stress are negative, bad stress can be a major cause of long-term absence from work. High-stress environments are also linked to a higher turnover of staff.
Stress can have a significant impact on employee wellbeing. Employers need to help identify and diminish the workplace causes of negative stress and work collaboratively with employees.
Read our article on Stress and Employers – How employers can get smart about stress in the workplace.
See the CIPD page on stress in the workplace, where you can download their factsheet, and explore the Health and Safety Executive findings on work-related stress, anxiety or depression statistics in Great Britain, 2021. Find more useful information on the NHS page on stress.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
December – DISABILITY
There are approximately 4.4 million people in the UK workplace with disabilities. Employees with any disability require appropriate support, adjustments, and resources to do their job.
International Day of People with Disabilities happens on 3rd December 2022. It is a good opportunity for employers and their staff to reflect on how disabilities are managed in their own workplace.
Not all disabilities are visible, someone could suffer from hearing loss, learning difficulties or mental health conditions. Some conditions, such as Cancer or MS are always considered a disability from the time of diagnosis. However, a disability can be claimed for many reasons on a case-by-case basis – such as impairments due to Long COVID, around which first claims are currently being tested in tribunals.
Not only do employers have a duty of care to their staff but the Equality Act places a duty on employers to ensure that disabled employees are able to perform their job effectively.
It is integral to have a good inclusion and diversity policy, make reasonable adjustments and challenge stereotypical thinking.
Visit the ACAS web page on supporting disabled people at work. You may also find the CIPD page on disability at work beneficial.
Why not add health awareness key dates to your calendar? Visit our Employee Health and Wellbeing Calendar now
