Health and Safety

07

Health and Safety

The Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation is committed to protecting and nurturing the physical and mental wellbeing of all people in its workplace by providing a healthy, safe and positive place to work.

Our Health and Safety Committee includes staff and management who work together to share responsibility for instigating, developing and actioning measures designed to safeguard the health and safety of our employees.

As part of our health and safety responsibilities we have health and safety representatives who attend monthly Health and Safety Committee meetings, fire wardens who carry out bi-annual fire drills, and first aid officers at all three of our sites – Head Office in Eleventh Avenue, Health and Wellness Services in First Avenue West, and our Eastern Bay base in Whakatāne.

All new employees receive a health and safety induction and a workstation assessment. We are members of the Vitae Employee Assistance Programme, New Zealand Institute of Safety, and the Employers and Manufacturers Association.

All staff were again involved in the national ShakeOut

2020, which reminds people of the action to take

during an earthquake – Drop, Cover and Hold.

Physical and Mental Wellness

FITNESS CHALLENGE In February, staff were issued a fitness challenge where, for one month, staff recorded their biking, running, active walking or swimming in kilometres. As well as spot prizes and a gift voucher for one lucky winner, the CEO added an additional challenge of purchasing an electric bike for the workplace if our combined distances reached 4000km. This total was achieved, and we now have an electric bike as an additional resource for commuting between local venues.

WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE Several staff from Health and Wellness Services worked together and issued a 12-week weight loss challenge in February, which provided support, healthy eating education and weekly weigh-ins for those who wished to participate. Unfortunately, the initiative had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GNOME MORE Our Gnome Competition, which commenced last year, continued to provide entertainment and a collegial work environment as teams were challenged to photograph their gnomes in the most unique locations while trying to kidnap and photograph other team’s gnomes for additional points. It turned out to be highly competitive, with most joining in the spirit of the light-hearted competition, while others were worthy of a Charles Dickens protagonist with cries of ‘bah humbug’ and plots to destroy the delicate gnomes.

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2019 The staff at Head Office in Eleventh Avenue took part in a Rugby World Cup Challenge in September 2019 where teams decorated their work pods in their allocated team’s colours and shared kai in the form of their team’s national dishes.

GAMES EVENINGS Two games evenings were held to celebrate the end of lockdown and to celebrate the end of winter. Participation was encouragingly high, with fun and laughter being shared by all.

GLASSES REIMBURSEMENT POLICY A little-known historic Glasses Reimbursement policy was resurrected, formalised, and communicated to all staff. The policy allows for a biennial reimbursement of eye tests and 50 percent reimbursement of glasses up to the value of $250. The policy was maintained as it was recognised that consistent computer work can place strain on an employee’s eyes.