Government Celebrates Healthy Workplace Week 2006

The Nova Scotia government is making good on its promise to provide a healthy, safe and supportive environment for public servants, Ernest Fage, Minister of Human Resources, said today, Oct. 24.

"This week (Oct. 23 to 29) is National Healthy Workplace Week, an ideal opportunity to think about how our commitment to creating a healthy workplace will benefit our employees and our province," said Mr. Fage. "Research tells us that healthier employees are more satisfied and are more productive. As well, a focus on health supports our recruitment and retention efforts and is in line with government's agenda to improve the health status of Nova Scotians."

The Public Service Commission, with support from a healthy workplace advisory committee that includes representatives from all departments, provides corporate direction and government-wide healthy workplace programs.

Some examples of healthy workplace activities include:

• Most departments have established wellness/healthy workplace committees;

• An eight-week Caregivers in the Workplace support program was successfully piloted in the winter of 2006, and is now available to other employees who are caregivers at home;

• A Take Back the Lunch Break awareness campaign;

• A draft manual entitled Eating Healthy at Work;

• A draft healthy workplace policy for all of government; and

• A new healthy workplace website, <a href="http://www.gov.ns.ca/psc/healthyworkplace">www.gov.ns.ca/psc/healthyworkplace<a/a> .

The Public Service Commission has set a goal in its 2006-07 business plan to achieve certification from the National Quality Institute for a healthy workplace.

"Our vision is not only to improve work life within government, but it is to set an example for other Nova Scotian and Canadian employers," said Mr. Fage. "Our interest is in seeing that all Canadians have access to healthy, safe and supportive workplaces."

To help strengthen the research that supports healthy workplaces in both public and private settings, the province is working on further initiatives.

The four-year Healthy LifeWorks project at the Department of Justice (2004-08) is the first of its kind in Canada and will generate data on the benefits of implementing a program called Comprehensive Workplace Health. The research is being conducted by the Atlantic Health and Wellness Institute and is sponsored by the Nova Scotia Public Service Commission, Pfizer Canada Inc., AstraZeneca Canada Inc., and Sun Life Financial. The project includes programs aimed at personal, organizational, and musculoskeletal health.

The Department of Health has created a working group that will focus for the next several years on mental health in the workplace, and, specifically, on depression for public and private sector employees. In 2006-07, the working group will pilot awareness and education materials and other tools with volunteer groups within the public and private sectors.

In November 2005 the Department of Health Promotion announced that it would lead the development of a provincial comprehensive workplace health strategy in close collaboration with private and public sector partners. The department is ready to release the strategy in the spring of 2007.