C U R R E N T

A W A R D S :

1 6 G O L D

1 0 S I L V E R

4 3 B R O N Z E

3 M H

C O M -

M E N D A T I

O N

ORDER

RE-

SOURCES

ON-LINE

FROM -

RE-

SOURCES

DIRECT:

www.nhsghpc

Workplace Health D E C   2 0 1 2  Healthy 

Working 

Lives Award 

Registrations 

in Grampian: 

164 

CURRENT  AWARDS  

HELD   I N  GRAMP IAN :  

    3 1   G O L D    

 

    3 8   S I L V E R  

 

    8 1   B R O N Z E  

 

      4   M   H    

C O M M E N D A T I O N  

ORDER                    

RESOURCES      

ON ‐L INE  FROM  

 RESOURCES      

DIRECT :  

www.nhsghpcat.org 

Health Events Calendar 2012 

Register for the HWL             

National e‐Newsletter at: 

www.healthyworkinglives

.com/subscribe 

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives 

Grampian Award Ceremony took place on Wednesday 

28 November 2012 

 Congratulations to all  Organisations who received an Award 

at this Event !! 

Bronze Awards: Aberdeen Benefit Delivery Centre (DWP), Aberdeenshire 

Housing Partnership, ACE Winches, Aker Solutions (WIS), Craig Group, DOF Subsea & CSL, EPC Offshore Ltd, Hatstand Nelly, Ingen Ideas, Mental Health & Learning Difficulties Service NHS Grampian, Shell St Fergus, Sparrows Offshore Services Ltd, Tenants First Housing Co‐operative, and Transocean Prospect.  

Silver Awards: Aberdeen Airport, Baker Oil Tools (Manufacturing), Bluewater 

(Aoka Mizu), Cosalt Offshore, Denholm Macnamee Ltd, Enquest, First Group (Shared Service Centre), Fugro Survey Ltd, Langstane Housing, Moduspec Engineering Ltd, Premier Oil, Premier Oil Balmoral FPSO, and Wood Group Hummingbird FPSO.  

Gold awards:  Aberdeen College, CNR International, FMC Technologies, 

Halliburton (Manufacturing Services), RAF Lossiemouth, Scotoil, and Technip.  

Mental Health Commendation Award: Aberdeen College.  

 

PA G E   2  News 

A total of 34 organisations from across the City, Shire, Moray, and Offshore, employing more than 29,000 people awards received HWL Awards at the annual HWL Grampian Award Ceremony, for boosting health and wellbeing in their workplaces, in the Healthy Working Lives Programme. This year, successful organisations range from a hairdressing salon – Hatstand Nelly in Aberdeen – with 12 employees, to RAF Lossiemouth with some 2,000 staff. All the organisations celebrated at a ceremony at the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce in Aberdeen Energy Park. This year, North East organisations’ activities included many physical achievements, such as Tenants First Housing Co-operative, whose staff notched up 4795 miles in a pedometer challenge; a group of EPC Offshore staff who took part in a London to Paris cycle, oil support company Ingen-Ideas Ltd in Aberdeen, where staff − including one employee in Finland − took part in a walking campaign; and Turriff-based deck machinery specialists ACE Winches, who staged a mini-Olympics including races, high jump and archery. Organisations also encouraged health awareness, such as lifestyles checks for employees at Shell St Fer-gus; staff at Royal Cornhill Hospital supported ‘Movember’ and raised awareness of men’s health; and Aberdeen Airport Ltd highlighted prostate cancer awareness. Community involvement is part of Healthy Working Lives activities, and staff from safety products and ser-vices provider Cosalt have supported Aberdeen City Council Countryside Ranger Service, which works with people serving Community Service Orders. Cosalt provided waste hinged frames for CSO participants to develop technical skills, turning the frames into planters. The ceremony was led by Steve Bell, Strategic Director, Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, and the awards were presented by Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie, Director of Public Health, NHS Grampian. Presentations were made by John Colley QHSES Manager Technip and Group Captain Ian Gale Station Commander RAF Lossiemouth. Mr Bell said: “The Healthy Working Lives Team in Grampian is one of 14 teams across Scotland tasked with supporting workplaces to improve employees’ health, safety and wellbeing. The Grampian team is a consistently high performing team and currently supports 163 organisations and their 73,000 employees. The team has a range of resources and support, including an enhanced service for SMEs. I would encour-age employers to get in touch with the National Adviceline to find out more.”

HWL Grampian Award Ceremony 28 November 2012

“Contract requirements now are focusing on more Occupational Health questions and how they handle OH within the workplace. Having the HWL Gold Award gives them an advantage over some of their competitors since they can provide the necessary evi-dence to identify how they support Occupa-tional Health within the workplace.” (Technip)

The HWL programme provided a framework to ‘coral’ existing RAF policies and strategies into one promo-table vehicle. It supported a cohesive approach to delivery and ensured that the various services worked together at both a strategic and operational level, rather than working in isolation and delivering on indi-vidual targets without recognising the impact or contri-bution other services make on overall service provi-sion.(RAF Lossiemouth)

PA G E   3  

   HWL Award Winners   2012 

“Increase in physical activity in the workplace “(Ace Winches) 

“Staff are more physically fit, many now

cycle to work and use bikes more. Has helped reduce sickness absence” (Aberdeen Airport)

“Improved motivation brought the staff together for the team building. HWL participation encouraged the workplace to have a team building event and this will be repeated due to popularity increased motivation “(Denholm Macnamee)

PA G E     4  

             

    HWL Award Winners   2012 

“Staff talking and thinking more about their health and wellbeing” (MHLDS) 

“It has improved the communication system within the organisation.”(Sparrows) 

Want advice for a safe night out in Aberdeen city centre? There’s an app for that… Aberdeen City Council has produced a mobile application to help people have a safe and enjoyable night out in the city centre.  The free app, which is available on Apple and Android devices, has been developed by the council's Safer Aberdeen team and provides practical advice and essential phone numbers.  

It features five sections – Before, Out and About, Go Home, Find Me and Contacts – all of which fo‐cus on the various aspects of a night out.  

As well as practical advice, the app also features maps marked with Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's ac‐cident and emergency department, Grampian Police's headquarters and locations of taxi ranks and bus stops along Union Street. It also provides direct links to the websites of Stagecoach, First Bus and other night time services, as well as the option to call the emergency services.  

The app is live and available to download now from respective Apple and Android app stores. It was officially launched on August 17.  

Aberdeen City Council's Head of Housing and Community Safety Donald Urquhart said:   

"This has been an ambitious project and demonstrates that the council continues to be forward‐thinking by embracing new technology. Accessing information in this way is fast becoming the pre‐ferred method for people on the move and this app offers a wealth of practical advice at the user's fingertips. This is a comprehensive app covering all aspects of a night out in the city centre, includ‐ing advice on what to eat before heading out, telling family members where you are going and get‐ting home safely. It provides phone numbers, website links and directions to key services as well as the location of taxi ranks and bus stops."  

Councillor Martin Greig, chairman of Aberdeen Community Safety Partnership, added:   

"Crime and anti‐social behaviour is one of the top concerns of the people in Aberdeen. The Commu‐nity Safety Partnership has a reputation for finding innovative solutions to make residents feel safer. 

A massive and growing proportion of individuals rely on digital technology for communicating so it is entirely appropriate that this app has been developed. A key benefit of electronic media is easy access to and rapid transfer of information. This welcome project is putting the latest technology to use in the service of crime fighting in Aberdeen. The app is an excellent initiative that will have an important role to play in improving the quality of life of our city." 

 

 For IPhone:  

http://itunes.apple.com/ua/app/safer‐aberdeen/id539925194?mt=8 

 For Android:  

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=aberdeen.main 

  

PA G E   5  

A NEW Smartphone app to help people with muscle, back and joint problems has  been launched by NHS 24, in partnership with The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives. 

 Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect joints, muscles and backs and are both common and costly for patients, the NHS and employers. They also represent one in four GP consultations. The app contains a wide range of information for people affected by MSK problems, including what to do, short exercise clips and a log and reminder feature offering prompts for exercise and healthcare appointments. The development of the app follows on from the successful launch of the MSK zone at www.nhsinform.co.uk/msk in 2011.  Included in the new app is a special section on work which has been developed in partnership with The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives. The section provides information, advice and links to other useful websites for people of working age and managers. Links to occupational ser‐vices, health choices, diet and wellbeing are available in this section.  Kathleen Houston, Development Manager for The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with NHS 24 to develop this app, in what is a first for our organisation. The app is a good resource for people who develop or have muscu‐loskeletal problems. Not only can they source information on their medical condition, but they can also access information about workplace related issues.”  The new MSK app is free and can be downloaded for iPhone, iPad and Android phones from the usual app stores.  Follow the MSK app on Twitter: 

 

@MSK_app 

@Fraser_msk 

@Lesley_msk 

 

For further information please contact NHS 24 Communications on 0141 337 4501. 

New app for back pain launched

PAGE 6 

  Community Health Exchange 

  The Benefits of Workplace Walking 

Given the amount of time people spend at work it makes sense to think about the opportunities 

for increasing physical activity in and around the workplace. A more active workforce brings lots 

of benefits to both staff and your business.  

Benefits for Employees 

Walking is a cheap and effective way to promote better health and wellbeing to your workforce. A short lunchtime walk 

is the ideal ‘stressbusting’ activity and has many benefits for employees:

 

Benefits for Employers  

There are also advantages for employers who encourage physical activity within the workplace:  Increases employee commitment to work, staff performance and productivity. Reduces staff turnover or intention to leave Reduces sickness costs and absence. 

 If you are interested in a Workplace walking Toolkit or would like further information Contact Helen Wilson on  

 

07590 350390 or helen.wilson@pathsforall.org.uk  

A lunchtime walk helps people to return to work feeling refreshed and energised

Workplace walking can be a sociable activity and has the added value of providing an opportunity to network

Walking can be included as part of the journey to and from work and is easy to fit into lunch breaks. As it is a gentle activity there is no need to get changed or shower!

PAGE 7 

CHEX is short for Community Health Exchange. It promotes and support community‐led health ‐ where local communities identify the issues that are important to them and organise to take collective action to address these issues and improve their health. If you are a local group or organisation in Scotland working to improve the health of your community, or if you are in the statutory sector supporting this type of work, you can regis‐ter with chex for information, advice, networking and training opportunities. This may be of particular interest to companies thinking about and looking for inspiration around, the community element in the Silver or Gold HWL Award.  

Evidence suggests  that  social networks support health, reduce inequalities and prolong life as well as promoting successful communities. Many people in what would have previously been described as ‘deprived’ communities are rich in individual and community assets. Scotland’s insights on the assets approach have contributed to European thinking on health improvement. Of course, the NHS has a vital role to play in improving the health of our citizens but there are hundreds of organisations throughout Scotland who can make a real contribution.  

For chex news and for further information visit http://www.chex.org.uk/     

PA G E   8  

ABERDEEN COUNCIL OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS 

(for ideas for fundraising and volunteering) 

The ACVO E‐Bulletin is an excellent communication tool for Grampian and is used to increase meaningful communication and consultation across all sectors.  

To view current and past editions of their newsletter, as well as to potentially link 

your own newsletter to theirs, click on the link below: 

http://www.aberdeenccn.info/MiscPages/news.asp 

Healthy Working Lives   Ahead for health DVD  ‘Looking after the smartest tool in the box.’  'Ahead for health' tackles the subject of mental health at work. The DVD encourages workers to think about their mental health and realise that there are some simple, everyday ways to stay well. It also aims to reduce stigma by giving people the confidence to discuss mental health openly in the workplace.  Order a copy to use at formal training or toolbox talk sessions by filling out this form. 

A grant of up to £100 is available from Healthy Working Lives to support the                

introduction of a Scottish Slimmers Works class in some businesses.  

To find out if your company qualifies and how a Scottish Slimmers class can count      

towards a Healthy Working Lives award, contact the 

HWL adviceline on   0800 019 2211.

A helping hand for slimmers from Healthy Working Lives 

There are potential costs and savings to employers from encouraging and supporting employees to quit smoking using effective and evidence‐based interventions. They will also benefit from reduced sickness absence and increased productivity. Health Improvement Programmes delivered through the workplace can make a major contribution to improving Scotland’s health and reducing health inequalities. NHS Grampian’s Smoking Advice Service has a dedicated Stop Smoking Advisor for Workplaces. The advisor can visit workplaces to provide information and awareness raising sessions and to deliver face to face sessions to employees. Sessions are arranged over a 6 week period and are free of charge.  Sessions can be arranged to suit.  Organisations wishing to participate in the scheme should contact the SAS office on 

 0500 600 332 or email  grampiansas@nhs.net 

The benefits of promoting smoking cessation at work

PA G E     9  

Training 

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives in partnership with Alcohol Focus Scotland and Scottish Drugs Forum has developed a half–day train-ing programme which is designed to give information and guidance to em-ployers to help deal with workplace issues on both alcohol and drugs.

The sessions will enable employers/ managers to create a greater aware-ness around alcohol and drugs in their workplace and provide them with the knowledge and skills to deal with issues as they arise.

On completion of the training course, participants will have:

Increase knowledge of the impact of alcohol and drugs on the workforce

Increased knowledge of all forms of substances and their impact on the individ-ual and workplace

Increased awareness of the legal framework within which to implement work-place alcohol and drugs policies

Increased awareness of development and implementation of alcohol and drugs policies

Increased confidence in dealing with staff issues around alcohol and drugs

The sessions are delivered by Alcohol Focus Scotland trainers and co-ordinated by the Grampian Healthy Working Lives Team.

If you would like to book a place, for this workshop please email

grampianhwl@nhs.net for a booking form.

If you would like further information about this workshop please contact Jim Clark on 01224 558525

Tea & coffee available before and during the session.

WORKPLACE ALCOHOL AND DRUGS WORKSHOP 12 February 2013 at Summerfield House

9:30am-1:00pm

PA G E   1 0  

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID COURSE   21 and 22 Jan 2013 

One in four people in Scotland experience a mental health problem each year. 15‐20% of employees ex‐

perience mental health problems in any given year, accounting for about one‐third of all workplace sick‐

ness absence. 

AIMS 

Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid has been developed as part of a national approach to improving 

awareness of mental health problems in Scotland.  The 2‐day course will teach you to: 

Give initial help to someone experiencing a mental health problem 

Deal with a crisis situation or the first signs of someone developing mental ill health 

Guide people towards appropriate self and professional help 

A recent evaluation found that course participants improved their confidence and ability to help others, 

improved their knowledge and reduced negative attitudes they may have had about mental health prob‐

lems.  It also improved delegates’ own mental health. 

WHO FOR 

It is aimed at, and has proved successful with, members of the general public and different professional 

groups including teachers, health workers, front line public sector and care sector workers. 

DELIVERED BY  

Bill Murdoch, Mental Health Practitioner and/ or David Adam, Training Coordinator (both SMHFA Instruc‐

tors since 2005) 

WHEN 

Mental Health First Aid Courses have been scheduled as follows: 

21 and 22 January 2013 at:  Bon‐Accord Golf Club 

          19 Golf Road 

          Aberdeen  AB24 5QB 

 

Course days will last from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm and attendance on both days is required. 

 

COST is £55 per person for the general public, £65 p.p. for public/voluntary organisations and £95 p.p. 

for private sector organisations (inclusive of tea/coffee and delegate pack). A 45 minute lunch break will 

be allocated, please feel free to bring a packed lunch or there are cafés and shops nearby. 

 

PLEASE NOTE FOR THIS COURSE: To request a booking form or for further details please contact 

david.adam@nhs.net  or call    07500 940877