Local business, Legal Island in Antrim, had some serious concerns about the toll that the pandemic has taken on the physical and mental health of its employees.

Determined to make a positive change and to put staff health first, Legal Island signed up to Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke’s Work Well Live Well programme.

Work Well Live Well, a Public Health initiative, is a free health and wellbeing support service run by Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS). NICHS health professionals help to identify health risks in the workplace and work with you to create and deliver a bespoke action plan to help improve employee wellbeing.

Changes made through the plan can be as simple as greater access to healthy snacks or incentivised exercise, but the programme also concentrates on improving mental health and sleep, managing stress and reducing risk factors associated with heart disease.

Fidelma Carter, Director of Public Health at NICHS, explains; ‘There’s never been a more crucial time to check on your employee’s health – the pandemic will have affected people, both mentally and physically, in ways you may not have considered. The average worker will spend almost 85,000 hours at work over the course of their career. It is vital that those hours are safe, happy and healthy.’

Office Manager of Legal Island, Donna Kirkpatrick, is a strong advocate for the employee health programme;

“Health and wellbeing has always been incredibly important within Legal Island. We believe that it is our responsibility to look after the whole person of the employee from top to toe. Having 5 Health Champions within the company has enabled us to tailor a bespoke Health and Wellbeing Action plan and this has been made a reality by being involved with the NICHS Work Well Live Well campaign. It has been such a worthwhile move and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to other companies”

Ask yourself - how well are your employees? Commit to improving the health and wellbeing of your staff today and register your workplace for Work Well Live Well. Visit www.nichs.org.uk/workwelllivewell or email healthpromotion@nichs.org.uk.