As some of 24/7 emergency response organisation the Coal Authority’s employees work in the field, its aim is to provide easily accessible support and benefits to encourage them to take responsibility for their own health.
The organisation responds to public safety and subsidence incidents caused by historical coal mining, and operates more than 80 mine water treatment schemes. It employs 400 employees based at its main office in Mansfield and regional civil engineers or construction experts who project manage remediation work in the field across the UK.
Its range of health and wellbeing initiatives include enhanced sickness absence leave, a network of mental health first aiders and an employee assistance programme, as well as awareness days, fitness challenges and other health-focused events.
It also offers a 24/7 GP service and health assessments, provided by Bluecrest Wellness, which provide employees with a picture of their health so they can see if there are any areas they need to work on. The employer then receives management information so it can better target its health initiatives.
These health assessments have offered peace of mind to some, as well as a kick-start to move more, eat better to control cholesterol, or drink more water for others, says Kevin Halpin-Rose, people and organisational development business partner at the Coal Authority.
“It’s been life saving for two employees who got a red flag on their prostate test," he explains. "Both had early stage prostate cancer that they wouldn’t have spotted otherwise. One had already been back and forth to his GP, and his consultant told him that if he’d left it six to 12 months longer, he probably wouldn’t be here. Both of them are now in remission.”
When deciding on health and wellbeing support for the entire workforce wherever they work, the Coal Authority knew there would be little point in providing a benefit its regional employees had to travel hundreds of miles to access. Every employee can attend a clinic within 20 minutes of their place of work or home for their health assessment and are able to take time out of their working day for it, using a wellbeing code on their time sheets.
The overall results identified that blood pressure is an area for the organisation to focus on, especially as it has an older workforce that sometimes put themselves under pressure. This will be a key area over the coming months and the subject of some of its health events and initiatives as it considers how to address it, help staff know their health numbers, and look after themselves in general.
The Coal Authority extends its belief that it is its job to fix things and make them better for its workforce too, adds Halpin-Rose.
“Keeping them fit and well is in our best interests, but we genuinely care about our people, because they genuinely care about their work. We don’t want to wait for our people to get ill, we want to keep them well. The health outcomes we’ve seen so far speak for themselves,” he says.
