How do you decide whether to adopt a new process for your work? You may want to consider the following:

Fitness

You could compare your enterprise with your own body. The better you treat the important parts the better it will respond. Eat better food and you find you can do more. If you are overworked, you cannot cope as well. There is a balance to be found. A lot of attention is now being paid to individual fitness. Can this be translated to organisations?

If you are physically fit, you are better able to deal with all sorts of burdens put on you. If you can get your organisation fit, it too should be able to cope with the ever-changing demands of modern business life. HES provides a step-by-step process for getting your organisation fit - physically fit, fitted to the environment and fit to work in.

At one time, it was enough to follow the laws on safety. At one time athletes ran in boots.

Now, life at work is ever changing, with new technologies, new methods, new problems, and new stress. There are now demands for better environmental protection coming from inspectors, insurers, customers and clients. Now people are starting to ask about health too - not just a few specific occupational diseases but the overall health of everybody.

If you see the benefits of improved physical exercise or better diet, you may well find there are many benefits of introducing such schemes in terms of working practices and improved effectiveness.

Smaller companies may find it more difficult to prove the benefits, compared with larger corporations. This Health, Environment & Safety System Guidance makes the benefits achieved more visible.

©World Health Organisation 2002
Authors: Dr Charlie Clutterbuck & Dr Bogdan Baranski