A Healthy Workplace: Engaging businesses to support promising practices for health and safety

The average employed American spends one-third of their time at work, making the workplace a logical location for promoting healthy behaviors and introducing preventive strategies. However, there is mounting evidence that small businesses in the United States lag in the adoption of health promotion programs, despite evidence of potential benefits. The Center for Worker Health and Environment is implementing and evaluating a program aimed specifically at promoting health and safety in Colorado businesses. Employers applied to become a Health Links Certified Healthy Businesses, demonstrating they have met the research-based criteria. Health Links offers advising and funding support to organizations to help them improve the health and safety of workers, their families and the community. Health Links trained community advisors for a 1-hour advising session to create a Healthy Business Action Plan. Health Links forms affiliations with community groups as intermediaries including local public health, municipalities and economic development to hold advisor trainings, conduct business outreach and to help implement the program at the county-level. To date, 150 companies have become certified, reaching over 70,000 working adults. Businesses have integrated health and safety programs (44%), health promotion (77%), stress management (50%) and safety goals (44%). These efforts of promoting the Total Worker Health model is ongoing, prospective, longitudinal aimed to achieve the following outcomes: 1) increase the adoption of workplace health and safety; 2) improve employees' health and safety outcomes; 2) increase knowledge of health promotion and safety; and 3) enhance productivity.  Health Links evaluates adoption and enhancement of  programs over time.