Firms should give free fruit and counselling to staff according to new government health strategy
1 min read
Companies should give workers free fruit, bicycle loans and counselling to “help improve the health of their staff and of the nation,” according to a new government strategy.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said firms should also do more to help sick employees return to work by learning from the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers in the military.
The Government hopes its new preventative health strategy will help ease pressures on the NHS and help people live five years longer in good condition by 2035.
The plan will outline ways to improve health through environmental changes, housing and the use of technology - as well as through workplace schemes.
It says the workplace is a “great setting for reaching people with messages encouraging healthy lifestyles, including advice on smoking, eating healthily and staying active,” the Sunday Telegraph reports.
And it adds: “Many businesses are already taking action in this space… More employers should follow suit to help improve the health of their staff and of the nation.”
Mr Hancock suggested in an interview with the paper that employers could learn from the military - which has an 85% return to work rate after serious injuries.
Just 35% of civilians return to work after a serious illness, the Health Secretary said, adding: “The lesson is that employers need to be more engaged when people aren’t well, getting them back to work.”
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