COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, March 14, 2016
QUESTION NO. 9
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
To ask the Chief Executive in relation to the recent report in the Irish Times which noted that access to fitness programmes in the workplace improve the overall health and well-being of employees and that many employers are now offering free fitness regimes to their staff, will he state if he has any plans to introduce such a programme in this Council in view of his sector leading approach to overall health and well-being initiatives.
REPLY:
South Dublin County Council currently run a number of iniatives designed to encourage health and wellness in our staff
Healthy Workforce Challenge
HR organise a Healthy Workforce Challenge every year, in 2016 60 staff members participated in this 8 week challenge, it is currently in its 7th week, teams of 5 get points for every challenge that they achieve with weekly prizes and on overall prize to the team who tops the leader board at the end of the 8th week. Teams receive weekly emails with information on exercise plans, recipes, healthy food blogs etc.
Staff Health Screening
A Health Screening Programme was rolled out to staff in January 2016, 564 staff members availed of this free service. A report on the general health of the workforce based on the findings of the health screening programme will be presented to the Management Team shortly.
Health & Wellbeing week
A Health and Wellbeing Week is organised by the Council's Community Department which sees various sessions organised throughout the week for staff members to avail off i.e. Reiki, work life balance techniques, breast cancer awareness, meditation sessions, how to deal with stress etc. This is usually held annually in September.
South Dublin County Council will continue to examine opportunities to encourage health and well-being in our staff.