The research covering nearly 25,000 employees across 82 companies in the UK* analysed lifestyle, behavioural and clinical risk factors to assess employee health and understand what companies should focus on to improve workforce wellbeing. The factors analysed include weight, diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, mental health, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and blood pressure, as well as how often people attend health screenings.
The findings show that the North East has the highest proportion of employees (31%) at risk of developing health problems across a number of categories. Within this region, 28% of employees have an unhealthy body composition (BMI), 45% are not doing enough physical activity, 6% show symptoms of depression, 26% consume too much alcohol, and 29% have elevated blood pressure. The North East also has the highest proportion of employees with four or more risk factors that may affect their health (22%).
Conversely, London is home to the healthiest employees with 24% the capital’s workers at risk of a health issue. London employees top the tables in terms of nutrition (48% at risk compared to Northern Ireland at 60%), physical activity (28% compared to 45% in the North East) and BMI (12% compared to 28% in the North East).
Overall, 87% of British workers have a Vitality (health) Age** that is older than their chronological age, with an average difference of three years and 10 months older than their real age due to unhealthy lifestyles. In comparison, workers in London have a Vitality Age of three years older than their actual age, while those in the North East are five years and one month older. These figures are mainly attributable to lifestyle choices.
Table 1.
Greg Levine, Director of Corporate Healthcare at VitalityHealth, said:
“Health and wellbeing is playing an increasingly important role in how businesses maximise the productivity and happiness of their workforces. Clearly there are some areas across the UK where companies need to do more but if businesses are able to develop a culture in which wellness programmes are integrated into day-to-day life, the benefits for both employees and the company itself will be quickly realised as productivity is improved and the cost of absenteeism is reduced.”
Welsh employees are the most likely in the UK to be current or past smokers (45% of employees) and are also the least likely to have had a health screen in the last twelve months (88% admit to not having a screen over the last year). Northern Ireland has the largest proportion of employees at risk of health problems due to poor nutrition (60%).
Table 2.
Britain’s Healthiest Company
Britain’s Healthiest Company is the largest national study of employee wellbeing in the UK, giving employers valuable insights into the wellbeing of their workers, benchmarking their results against other participating companies, and celebrating those companies that exhibit best practice in supporting health in the workplace. Companies with at least 50 employees are invited to sign up to participate in the survey which comprehensively evaluates the effectiveness of workplace wellness programmes and the health of the workforce.
The study evaluates lifestyle, behavioural and clinical risk factors at the employee level to assess the health of the workforce, as well as looks at the type and effectiveness of wellness interventions on offer in the workplace. Employees are presented with their Vitality Age and a tailored report for health improvement, while employers are provided with an aggregated view of the health risks of their employees, the productivity impact of those risks, benchmarking information and recommendations to enhance the health of the workforce. The output of Britain’s Healthiest Company can therefore help inform future HR strategies going forward.
While these findings are based on a particular set of companies, they are broadly in line with other health survey findings that have shown regional disparities.
The results of Britain’s Healthiest Company 2015 will be announced in September 2015.
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