Secondary school is tops at National Workplace
By Brendan Grehan
CLONDALKIN’S COLÁISTE Bride was one of the winners at the inaugural Nutrition and Health Foundation National Workplace Wellbeing awards.
The awards recognise employers that make a significant contribution towards improving the health and wellbeing of their employees.
Coláiste Bríde won the award for the best medium-size organisation. The school was one of the first in Ireland to introduce an annual wellbeing week, a joint event for its 100 staff and 970 students.
Each day of their wellbeing week has a specific theme e.g. Fitness and relaxation; Think Positive and Healthy Eating. In addition staff participated in a wide variety of wellbeing events and initiatives including the Cycle against Suicide, after school basketball and yoga, expert talks as well as a mentoring programme for newly qualified teachers.
The awards were among a host of activities taking place across the country to mark Ireland’s second National Workplace Wellbeing Day, which is organised by the Nutrition & Health Foundation (NHF).
Dr Muireann Cullen from the NHF commended the winning companies for their creative and inclusive approach to employee wellbeing. She said: “We hope these companies will inspire more employers to do more in this area. Employee wellbeing is central to staff retention and productivity levels.
“Our recent study showed that seven in ten (69%) employees are more likely to stay longer with employers who show an interest in their health. Employers are responding.
“More employees have access today to health and wellbeing initiatives within the workplace than they did in 2014, but more can be done.”
Hundreds of employers from the public and private sectors, supported National Workplace Wellbeing Day, which aims to improve employee health by promoting better nutrition and exercise in the workplace.
They organised activities including health checks, exercise and fitness classes, nutrition talks and cookery demonstrations. Thousands of employers and employees also completed the “Lunchtime Mile” – a one-mile cycle, jog, run, or walk – in the vicinity of their workplace.
