Good facilities for cyclists, a decent canteen, free body MoT checks and managing stress are among the innovative ways that Siemens in Lincoln is helping boost the health and productivity of its workers.
The Healthy at Siemens accolade recognises businesses in the Siemens family globally that excel in the areas of occupational health and the wellbeing of employees.
And an assessment of the good work being done at Siemens in Lincoln helped the company win the title for all of its operations in the UK.
People are encouraged to walk away from their desks to take breaks or eat, colleagues are involved in ‘step challenges’ and bike rides for charity, and ‘wellbeing kiosks’ show a person’s weight, body fat, heart rate and heart ‘age’.
And 200 employees in Lincoln have been through training to recognise work-related stress and what tactics can be used to help people cope.
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Adrian Pick, head of health and safety and environment at Lincoln, said: “Siemens recognises that if we are engaging pro-actively in health promotion we can reduce absenteeism, long term sickness and staff turnover by increasing employees’ morale and productivity.
“There are three areas: physical activity, health and nutrition and emotional wellbeing.
“Here at Lincoln our health promotion programme started in December 2015.
“Siemens in the UK was awarded the Healthy at Siemens label in 2016 – assessment of the Lincoln site contributed to this.
“We wanted to make it part of the everyday business, not a bolt on extra.”
A health promotion committee was set up at Lincoln, made up of 20 wellbeing champions concerned with health promotion.
And the Sit Less Move More campaign was launched in March this year to get people moving.
Mr Pick said: “Since then we have created a network to encourage people to post what they have done as a way of encouraging others. People also post activities like forthcoming dates for walking clubs.
“More than 40 people including myself did the 100-mile Castle to Coast to Castle bike ride on June 20 to support St Barnabas.
“Then in September we took part in the Siemens UK step challenge. We entered six teams of 10 and a total of 644 people took part across the UK for a month.
“We had one individual who did 657,000 steps and came fifth overall in the UK.”
Mr Pick said that its wellbeing kiosks had been used more than 1,000 times in the past 12 months.
He said: “As a result we’ve had people stop smoking or change their diets and take more exercise.
“We gave 1,260 people at our sites in Lincoln and some of the roles are physically demanding but a good proportion of people do office-based jobs.”
According to the 2011 Census, the proportion of people who cycle to work in Lincoln is double the national figure.
Almost 2,700 people (six per cent) commute by bike in the city, compared to 742,675 (three per cent), in England.
Siemens in Lincoln is committed to making it as easy as possible for its workers to travel on two wheels.
Mr Pick said: “At Teal Ppark we have just expanded our cycle shelter, we have dedicated shower blocks and changing rooms and there are facilities to dry wet clothing.
“We provide D-locks and pumps and tools so that repairs can be made and punctures fixed before people go home.
“We also have Dr Bike visit us to do service checks. We are planning to have lights to supply to people in case their lights pack up.
“At the main site in Lincoln there are some electric bikes and the aim is for people to ride them to get to the other sites.”
The company, which employs about 1,500 people in the Lincoln area, is also serious about encouraging healthy eating.
Mr Pick said: “We encourage people to eat healthy options in the canteen we discourage eating at desks.
“We think its important for people to take breaks and walk away from their work stations to have a coffee.”
