IAWHP’S 2013 LAS VEGAS ANNOUNCEMENT
ON WORKSITE HEALTH

March 12, 2013

In today’s environment of rapid change and challenges to balancing personal and work lives, resilience is an increasingly sought-after resource for both employees and employers.

Stressors can come from work (e.g., work organization, realignment, downsizing, expectations, promotion, demotion, transfers, etc.) as well as from home (e.g., marriage, divorce, family health, personal health, child issues, etc.) and may result in employees being distracted, easily overwhelmed, irritable, and depressed. Building resilience through analyses and activities in both the physical and psychosocial work environment can be viewed as a holistic activity that makes the workforce stronger, more flexible, and adaptable, and in so doing, strengthens the company as well.

A Healthy Company is a Resilient Company
A resilient company may be viewed as an organization that has an ability to adapt to and mitigate stressors and pressures coming from its internal and external environments. A healthy workplace is one in which employees and managers collaborate to use a continual improvement process to protect and promote the health, safety, and well-being of all workers, and to create the conditions for a healthy, productive, and resilient workforce that operates at peak performance. This partnership involves employees in the decision-making process, is transparent, and engages the workforce so that reasonable disagreements can be overcome.
“IAWHP considers resilience to be a central characteristic of a healthy company and healthy employees. Healthy companies recognize that:

• Employees are a critical asset to the organization
• Employees and employers need to work together to create, adopt, and maintain the behaviors and conditions that lead to resilience
• Whole person health is a key ingredient of resilience
• Analyzing the psychosocial work environment is imperative for creating healthy and high-performing workplaces
• Resilience protects the company
• Resilience is about minimizing disruptions and optimizing performance—which is linked to health and well-being.”
References
1. Business in the Community; Business action on health and Business in the Community; WorkWell. www.bitc.org.uk
2. World Health Organization. Healthy Workplaces: A global model for action. See: http://www.who.int/occupational_health/healthy_workplaces/en/index.html

This Announcement was adopted by the IAWHP International Board of Directors and presented to attendees at the 2013 Annual IAWHP Global Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.  For additional information and resources, visit www.iawhp.org.