Canada's Healthy Workplace Week is Now Canada's Healthy Workplace Month
Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month (CHWM), Sept. 29 - Oct. 26, is a celebration designed to introduce workplace health to organizations and support those who are already promoting healthy workplaces.
CHWM is presented by Great-West Life and managed by the National Quality Institute in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. GoodLife Fitness is the official fitness provider.
The theme for 2008 is: Take the Healthy Workplace Challenge. Each week, organizations will be challenged to participate in an activity based on NQI’s Healthy Workplace® elements. The weekly challenge themes are Fit@Work, Support@Work, Green@Work, and Champions@Work. CHWM will announce winners for each week, so organizations are encouraged to step up and take the challenge.
Organizations can register at www.healthyworkplacemonth.ca to participate in some or all of the challenges.
National Quality Institute officials said that studies show that healthcare costs are increasing at twice the rate of inflation. In Canada, more than 50,000 strokes and 75,000 heart attacks occur every year. Eight percent of workers are taking medication to treat depression and other mental-health conditions. Mental illness costs the Canadian economy $51 billion each year. What are companies doing about this?
“We hope that employers and employees will take advantage of the challenges and activities each week of the month,” says Allan Ebedes, president and CEO at NQI. “Experiencing the joy and sense of well-being from this celebration will hopefully encourage workplaces to initiate and sustain a healthy workplace strategy that incorporates NQI’s three critical elements: healthy lifestyle practices, occupational health and safety and the physical environment, and a culture of fairness and respect.”