Make a new year’s resolution for your company.
When companies contribute to their employees’ overall well-being, they can save on health care costs, minimize absenteeism and sick leave, and reduce injuries and disabilities—all while improving the emotional, mental and physical stability of their staff and creating a stronger and more efficient workforce.
These benefits have allowed health and wellness coaching programs to have a more prominent role across all industries, including oil and gas and energy.
A 2011 study of the Gulf of Mexico medical evacuations by our medical director, Dr. Donald Thibodaux, showed that 79% of medevacs were for medical conditions, while only 21% were for occupational or trauma injuries. With simple lifestyle changes, many of these medevacs could have been avoided.
Occupational wellness coaches continually work hard to be the catalyst for change by addressing the major components of wellness: food safety and nutrition, fitness, health education and assessment.
Leighton Guilbeau, field support supervisor, says, “The core components are building blocks that wellness coaches help put in place, but there are numerous other customizable elements to the program that can be utilized.”
Healthy Eating Habits
A wellness coach can work with chefs at the job site to help create healthier menu offerings. They also educate employees on the benefits of healthy eating habits, how to choose healthy meals and portion sizes, and the correct way to read food labels.
Food Safety
Food safety is another important health and wellness factor. Coaches perform galley inspections to ensure best practices for food handling. During on-site visits, they verify ServSafe certifications of catering company employees who handle food and evaluate practices for food storage, as well as shipping and receiving groceries.
Fitness and Wellness Checks
A proper fitness program can help employees get in shape, feel energized, combat certain health conditions and diseases, and even improve their mood. A coach can create a customized fitness plan while implementing a rewards program to keep employees on track and continuously motivated. They also conduct initial biometric assessments of stress levels, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body fat levels, and a nutritional analysis, which are tracked in progress reports.
Wellness Education
They can host orientations and seminars on topics such as smoking cessation, stress management and nutrition.]Since everyone’s health and wellness needs are different, a wellness coach can offer one-on-one education, goal setting and creation of action plans for individual needs.
Contact us to learn more about how SMS coaches can create a customizable health and wellness plan for your company.
