First Steps to Health & Wellness for Small Businesses
How to Start Your Workplace Wellness Program
1. Make a commitment by expressing your support for workplace wellness to your employees
2. Designate a wellness leader &/or create a small wellness committee
3. Review & promote any existing worksite support or policy related to wellness
4. Seek employee opinions regarding how the company could help support a healthy lifestyle
5. Select one or more wellness activities to promote & deliver at the workplace
6. Encourage employee participation in wellness activities & be an active role model
7. Each month, ask employees for feedback on the use & effectiveness of the wellness activities
8. Each quarter, introduce additional wellness activities (see resource for additional information)
Examples of Free or Low-Cost Activities to Promote Workplace Wellness
Physical Activity □ Incorporate flexible schedules to allow for physical activity or schedule periodic physical activity breaks
□ Encourage “walking meetings” instead of sitting at a desk or table
□ Provide secure areas to lock or store bicycles
□ Put up motivating signs near stairwells to encourage the use of stairs
□ Create team challenges using fitness apps or activity trackers
□ Create employee activity or recreation groups
□ Map out walking routes inside & around the workplace (include mileage/steps)
□ Contact local gyms for reduced-cost gym memberships or provide vouchers towards memberships
□ Give incentives or prizes for active transportation to & from work
□ Provide on-site recreation activities (Wii/Kinect, ping-pong, bocce ball, basketball hoop, etc.)
Nutrition □ Provide access to clean drinking water throughout the workplace
□ Make gradual changes to add healthier options & nutritional information to vending machines
□ Increase the number of healthy food options provided at meetings
□ Provide access to a clean refrigerator, microwave, & prep-area
□ Encourage employees to bring a healthy lunch from home
□ Host healthy pot-lucks or “salad bowl” lunches & share recipes
□ Establish a fresh fruit & healthy snack bowl funded by employee donations
□ Host healthy cooking lessons or a healthy cook-off
□ Invite a registered dietitian for a lunch-n-learn session
□ Establish a community supported agriculture (CSA) drop-off point near the workplace
Tobacco Cessation □ Promote the use of the state or local tobacco quitline at 800-QUIT-NOW
□ Encourage employees to support each other’s efforts to quit smoking
□ Establish written policies for a tobacco- & nicotine-free workplace
Stress Management □ Maintain a clean work environment & remove unnecessary clutter
□ Offer a time management & personal organizational skills training
□ Connect employees with local mental health services & support groups (parenting skills, stress management, etc.)
□ Establish a quiet, softly-lit room for relaxation & meditation during work breaks
□ Support a work-life balance & encourage employees to electronically disconnect after-hours
□ Take time to volunteer in the community as a group
□ Utilize available outdoor green space & create a company garden
Additional Workplace Wellness Resources for Small Businesses
American Cancer Society
Meeting Well- A Tool for Planning Healthy Meetings and Events Guidebook to help organizations plan meetings & events with good health in mind
http://acsworkplacesolutions.com/wpsPDFs/Meeting_Well_2513.00_PRESS.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC Workplace Health Promotion Website that provides information about workplace health promotion & provides guidance in designing,
implementing, & evaluating effective workplace health programs
Indiana State Department of Health
Healthy Worksite Toolkit: For Small to Mid-Size Businesses (2 nd
edition) Toolkit that assists small- to mid-sized businesses develop policies, support environments, & create activities to
provide employees with strategies to increase wellness in the workplace
http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/16_Worksite%20toolkit%20web%20FINAL.pdf
Missouri Council for Activity & Nutrition
WorkWell Missouri Toolkit Toolkit that helps employers identify strengths & weaknesses of their health promotion policies, develop an action
plan to implement or improve worksite wellness, & to provide a payback on investment
http://extension.missouri.edu/hes/workwell/WorkWellToolkit.pdf
United States Department of Agriculture
SuperTracker Online tools to create & track personalized nutrition & physical activity plans with the option to create
SuperTracker groups for peer support & friendly competition
Wellness Council of America
Workplace Wellness Reference: Starting Small List of specific steps & activities to create a successful employee health promotion program at a small worksite
http://fitcitysa.com/files/StartingSmallWWReferenceupdated.pdf
The Small Business Criterion- Small Business Report 2-part resource that discusses how to incorporate the steps a small business should take to create a successful
workplace wellness program
https://www.welcoa.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aa_7.2_jan08_sb1.pdf (part 1)
https://www.welcoa.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aa_7.3_feb08_sb2.pdf (part 2)
An electronic version of this document & additional resources can be found at:
Contact oshr@dom.wustl.edu with any questions or to report a broken link.
Disclaimer:
Washington University School of Medicine does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of information contained on websites of non-
affiliated external sources. Read the School of Medicine’s Policy on Links to Third-Party Websites to learn more.
Last Updated: 03/27/2017http://acsworkplacesolutions.com/wpsPDFs/Meeting_Well_2513.00_PRESS.pdfhttps://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotionhttp://www.in.gov/isdh/files/16_Worksite%20toolkit%20web%20FINAL.pdfhttp://extension.missouri.edu/hes/workwell/WorkWellToolkit.pdfhttps://www.supertracker.usda.gov/http://fitcitysa.com/files/StartingSmallWWReferenceupdated.pdfhttps://www.welcoa.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aa_7.2_jan08_sb1.pdfhttps://www.welcoa.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aa_7.3_feb08_sb2.pdfhttps://oshr.wustl.edu/for-employers/workplace-health-promotion-in-small-businesses/mailto:oshr@dom.wustl.eduhttps://medicine.wustl.edu/policies/links-to-third-party-websites/