Over 330 organisations pledge to promote healthy workplace by signing charter (with photos)
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Officiating at the Joyful@Healthy Workplace Kick Off cum Charter Signing Ceremony, the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan, today (October 3) said, "The workplace is an ideal venue to establish a healthy lifestyle. A healthy and joyful workplace not only ensures employees' physical well-being and protects their lives, but also enhances the productivity and competitiveness of an organisation, helps to build up its positive image, and eventually leads to a win-win situation for both employers and employees.
"The DH is pleased to launch the programme jointly with the OSHC. The programme enables employers and employees to join hands to create a healthy and joyful working environment through a series of activities. It focuses on three main areas, namely healthy eating, physical activity and mental well-being."
Dr Chan said that the programme has drawn over 330 participating organisations with more than 220,000 employees since its launch in August, which is very encouraging.
Lifestyles and diseases are closely linked. In Hong Kong, almost 60 per cent of death cases have been attributed to non-communicable diseases, including cancer (30.6 per cent), heart diseases (13.2 per cent) and stroke (7 per cent). Moreover, the number of people affected by non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, has been rising in recent years. However, about 80 per cent of heart diseases, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, and 40 per cent of cancers, can be prevented by eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity and not smoking.
Mental health is also an important public health issue in Hong Kong. A survey conducted by the DH last year revealed that about 40 per cent of the respondents, aged 18 to 64, rated their mental health status as fair or very poor in the past six months. Moreover, about 5 per cent of the respondents experienced severe psychological distress in the past month.
The DH launched the Joyful@HK Campaign, a three-year territory-wide mental health promotion programme, to increase the public's engagement in promoting mental well-being and enhance their awareness and understanding about mental health in January this year.
Joyful@Healthy Workplace is one of the major programmes under the Joyful@HK Campaign to further promote healthy workplace in the wider community. A Joyful@Healthy Workplace Best Practices Award will be running from October 2016 to March 2017 to recognise companies' active participation and efforts in implementing health initiatives. The Occupational Health Award presentation ceremony cum sharing session will be held in March 2017 to commend the winning organisations for their support.
The DH launched the Health@work.hk Pilot Project and the Second Phase Health@work.hk Project in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Both projects were successfully concluded and all the staff of the participating organisations benefited from various health promotion activities. Some organisations said that the projects helped to boost staff morale, team spirit and productivity while sick leave, injuries at work and medical claims decreased. The achievements were remarkable.
Also officiating at today's ceremony, the Vice-chairman of the OSHC, Dr Alan Chan, said, "More than 300 participating organisations are from different trades including property management, healthcare services, universities, construction and public utilities. The Council will further work with these organisations to enhance their awareness and capacity to create a healthy and safe working environment."
Other officiating guests at the ceremony included the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH, Dr Leung Ting-hung, and the Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Mr Jeff Leung.
For more information about the Joyful@Healthy Workplace programme, please visit the thematic website (www.joyfulhealthyworkplace.hk).
Ends/Monday, October 3, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:36
Issued at HKT 17:36
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