Physical Activity in the Workplace

Bruce LockieCornwall Sports Partnership

Health & Physical Activity

Session Outcomes

• Overview of Cornwall• Chief Medical Officers Guidelines• Make Your Day Harder• NICE Guidance - Promoting Physical Activity in the

Workplace• Local Initiatives

Overview of Cornwall

Cornwall Economy

Chief Medical Officers Guidelines

Adults (19 – 64 Years)1. Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a

week, activity should add up to 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week.

2. Alternatively, comparable benefits can be achieved through 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week or combinations of moderate and vigorous activity.

3. Adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week.

4. All adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.

Make Your Day Harder

A review of some of the science around how our typical days have shifted with technology and culture and the impact on our health. It is also a call to action

to “Tweak your Week” and make small changes to improve your healthhttp://www.evanshealthlab.com

“TWEAK YOUR WEEK”

How can you make small changes to improve health of your organisation?

Physical Activity At Work

Morris, JN & Crawford, MD (1958) “Coronary Heart Disease and Physical Activity of Work” BMJ 2 (5111): 1485 - 1496

Promoting Physical Activity in the Workplace

Implementing NICE guidancePublic Health Guidance 13

• Focuses on activities either based in the workplace or outside of the workplace but initiated or endorsed by the employers.

• Small, medium and large organisations• Public Private and voluntary sector organisations• Benefits to employers:

– Better staff retention– Increased staff loyalty– Reduced sickness absence

NICE Recommendations

• Policy and planning• Physical Activity

Programme– Implementing a

physical activity programme

– Components of a physical activity programme

• Supporting Employers

Policy and Planning

Develop a Physical Activity Plan or Policy that:

• Maximises the opportunity for all employees to participate

• Involves staff in planning and development• Has dedicated resources• Sets organisational goals• Links to relevant national and local policies

The Physical Activity Programme (1)

The programme could include:

• Flexible working policies• Policies to encourage walking, cycling or the use

of other transport involving physical activity• Dissemination of information, for example, on

local opportunities to be physically active• Ongoing advice and support• Confidential, independent health checks

The Physical Activity Programme (2)

The programme should:

• Encourage employees to walk, cycling or the use of other transport involving physical activity to travel to and from work

• Help employees to be physically active during their working day

• Encourage employees to set physical activity goals

• Take account of the nature of the work and any health and safety issues

Supporting Employers

Organisations with responsibility for increasing physical activity or for occupational health should provide support to employers who are implementing this guidance. This should ideally be in the workplace and include:

• Advice and information on local resources• Resources, for example, the services of physical

activity experts

If initial demand exceeds resources a targeted approach is suggested

Costs and Savings

• People are essential in any business

• Implementing a workplace physical activity scheme will incur some costs

• The benefits are significant and far outweigh any initial costs

Discussion

• What physical activity programme do we have?• How is it evaluated?• How are staff involved in it?• If we introduce a physical activity programme,

how will we measure the return on our investment?

Get Active Cornwall

Cornwall Beach Games

Get Active Challenge

This Girl Can

THANK YOU