National Grid connects field staff to Morrisons' wellness kiosks

National Grid has formed a partnership with Morrisons to enable its 4,000 field-based employees to use the supermarket's wellness kiosks.

The energy firm installed six kiosks, provided by Wellpoint, two years ago for its 6,000 office-based staff. But its field workers cannot access the kiosks regularly.

Andy Buxton, health standards manager at National Grid, said: "Three years ago we were introduced to the wellness kiosks, which we thought were a great opportunity to interact more with health across the business. We were overwhelmed by the reaction of staff who wanted to use it."

Buxton said the opportunity for the partnership arose when National Grid learned that Wellpoint was in talks with Morrisons 18 months ago. "We now have a contract that allows [employees] to access the Wellpoint kiosks in the same way they would access them in the offices," he said.

"Employees turn up at Morrisons, put in their employee number and that takes them to the National Grid version of the software that drives the process. This involves a number of questions upfront that look at lifestyle issues, as well as what they would like to see in some of our wellbeing programmes."

National Grid aims to encourage staff to use the wellness kiosks three times a year.

It has also launched its annual Shape Up National Grid campaign. By mid-May, 2,600 staff had signed up to form teams and focus on three streams: how many activities they do, how many steps they take and how much weight they can lose.