Make 2021 a healthy year for your workplace

Working environments that promote the health and wellbeing of workers can also reduce the risk of injury and illness.

This can be achieved by changing the modifiable risk factors that contribute significantly to chronic health conditions. These factors are physical inactivity and sedentary work, unhealthy eating, harmful alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity and overweight, and poor mental health.

The Report of the Chief Health Officer Queensland reveals that last year, adult daily smokers averaged 12.1 unhealthy days compared to 7.3 unhealthy days for non-smokers. Obese Queenslanders experienced 6.1 physically unhealthy days, 6.5 mentally unhealthy days and 3.9 days with limited activities compared to 3.1, 4.5 and 2.1 days for healthy weight adults. Similar relationships were found for physical inactivity and risky levels of alcohol consumption.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland can help you plan and deliver evidence-based strategies to support the health and wellbeing of your workers. The Work health and wellbeing toolkit and resources looks at ways to address risk factors and our advisors can be contacted via healthyworkers@oir.qld.gov.au.

Further information

Read Work health and wellbeing interventions for ideas on what you can do in your workplace to support workers or read more about worker health and wellbeing.