active travel and healthy workplaces rachel bromley, sustrans
TRANSCRIPT
Active travel and healthy workplaces
Rachel Bromley, Sustrans
“In the UK, 25 million people travel to work every day and most – around 71% - choose to do so by car.”
Travel to Work factsheet, Department for Transport, 2007
Travel to work contributes to decline in physical activity levels
over 10 miles
2-5 miles
1-2 miles
under 1 mile
20%
7%
18%
34 %
5-10 miles
22%
Source: NTS 1999/2001 Update, Department for Transport (July 2002)
A quarter of all car trips are under 2 miles
So most car trips could be
walked or cycled
Inactive lifestyles contribute to a huge range of diseases•Obesity
•Coronary Heart Disease
•Diabetes
•Cancer
•Osteoporosis
•Mental health problems
•Arthritis
Predicted growth in obesity-related disease by 2030From “Our health, our care, our say” white paper
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Stroke Angina Heart Attack Hypertension Type 2 diabetes
+5%
+12%
+18%
+28%
+54%
Source: Living in Britain 2004: Results from the 2002 General Household Survey; National Food Survey 2000 Table B1
Absenteeism• 172 million working days lost
to the British economy
• costs £20 billion to the
business and public sector
• and £100 billion to the wider
economy.
Source: CBI/AXA 2008 Absence and labour turnover survey, and Black, 2008 Working for a healthier tomorrow: Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population
The CMO’s recommendations
“For most people, the easiest and most acceptable forms of physical activity are those that can be incorporated into everyday life. Examples include walking or cycling instead of travelling by car…..”
At least five a week; the Chief Medical Officer’s report on physical activity, 2004
“The top five policy responses assessed as having the greatest average impact on levels of obesity [include]:
- increasing walkability / cyclability of the built environment…..”
Foresight Tackling Obesities report, Government Office for Science 2007
Making healthy living possible
Healthy employees benefit the employer• reduced absenteeism
• lower turnover rates
• improved productivity and
employee morale
• lower health care costs
Source: Sustrans, 2008 Active travel and healthy workplaces information sheet
;
NICE Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity in the Workplace
NICE guidelines call on employers to invest in strategies that encourage all staff to be more active, with active travel to work playing a crucial role.
NICE Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity in the Workplace
• encourage employees to walk
and cycle• provide information about walking
and cycling routes• introduce and monitor an
organisation-wide programme to
increase physical activity• set organisation goals for physical
activity levels
Active travel and healthy workplaces information sheet
Addresses the role of walking, cycling and other forms of physical activity in reducing levels of sickness absence from work.
Download from www.activetravel.org.uk
www.activetravel.org.uk
Further information