June1, 2017

Good Day!

Thank you so much for signing up to receive the Health at Work 4 All! e-update newsletters!

I hope you find them useful, interesting and maybe even a little thought- provoking at times.

Please copy and paste the following questions into an email and return them to me. I will do a random draw on Friday June 9th for a Health at Work 4 all prize package from the email responses I receive back.

It is my hope that you are sharing the newsletters with your colleagues, employees, management/leadership teams, wellness committees and anyone else you feel could benefit from the information contained in them.

The newsletters are one very important part of a large healthy workplace program so I need to get your feedback in regards to how you are using them to ensure we are meeting your needs.

Please take a few minutes and answer the following quick questions for me….

1. Do you share the newsletter with anyone? Yes____ No ____

2. If so, who? ______________________________________________________________

3. Please estimate how many people receive it ___________________________________

4. Do you share the whole document ______________or just parts of it_______________?

5. Do you use it to support your internal company newsletter? ______________________?

6. What information do you find most helpful? ___________________________________

7. What information is least helpful to you? ______________________________________

8. What additional information would you like to see in it? __________________________

9. What position do you hold in your organization? ________________________________

10. Any additional comments you would like to pass on are most welcome.

_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks very much for your feedback!

Play ball!

How to take this break Keep a play box of simple sports activities in the office: Frisbees, foam balls, basketballs, soccer balls or even balloons. Take your breaks during the day to "play" for 10-15 minutes outside or if space allows inside during colder months. Why this counts - Energizing Finding time for playing together can energize a team and help to build camaraderie through healthy competition. Go to Workplace Strategies for Mental Health for more ideas, tools and resources to help with the prevention, intervention and management of workplace mental health issues.

Ideas for this activity were contributed by, Duff McCutcheon, Human Resources Professionals Association; Kathy

Nolan, Health & Benefits Consultant, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Anne Winters, Manager, Interior Health;

Sharon Stodel, Accounting, New Vista Society; Tracey Hawthorn, Work Re-Integration & Accommodation Program

Coordinator, UBC Okanagan; Mirjana Jotovic, Return to Work Coordinator, University of British Columbia.

TakeYourBreak activities should be approved by your employer/leader prior to initiating them. TakeYourBreak activities are

provided for general information only and are not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your

physician or appropriate health care provider with respect to your particular circumstances.

Release of the Changing Workplaces Review Final Report May 23, 2017

"The Government of Ontario released the Changing Workplaces Review final report May 23rd, 2017.

This is Ontario's first independent review in more than a generation to seek recommendations for

legislative changes to the province's Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Act.

Read the full report here…Changing Workplaces Review final report

CONTACTS

Janet Deline, Communications Branch - 416-326-7405 For media inquiries only: MOLMedialine@ontario.ca Michael Speers, Minister’s Office - 416-325-6955 Ministry of Labour http://www.ontario.ca/labour Ontario News newsroom@ontario.ca

May 24, 2017 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF        

When's the last time you praised an employee?

The monthly volume of people quitting their jobs suggests that too many

employees go unrecognized for their hard work, says S. Chris Edmonds in

this blog post and video. Remember that employees need regular praise

and encouragement to continue doing their best. SmartBrief/Leadership

You can't ignore rumors

Leaders need to manage workplace rumors, not ignore them, writes David Grossman. Make sure

your responses are consistent and even, be open without causing panic, and ask direct reports

about what they're hearing. LeaderCommunicator Blog

Catch the emotion in customer experience

Emotion is an important -- and measurable -- component of the customer service experience, writes

Martin Powton. This article offers advice on defining metrics, measuring emotion in real time and

using the results in conjunction with net promoter score. CustomerThink

Ontario Helping New Businesses Succeed May 29, 2017

Province Launches New Program to Support Entrepreneurs

Ontario is helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed by launching a program that offers training, mentoring and grant opportunities to start, expand or buy a small business. Starter Company Plus provides Ontario's entrepreneurs aged 18 and older with comprehensive and targeted services to help them start and run their own business. The program will help more entrepreneurs launch new businesses or grow existing businesses by providing:

One-on-one guidance from a Small Business Enterprise Centre advisor

Access to business workshops and networking events on topics from creating a business plan and budgeting to executing a marketing campaign

Training and business skills development

A grant up to $5,000 to kick off a new business or expand an existing business

Helping new businesses succeed is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

http://www.workflexibility.org

5 Connections Between Mental Health and Flexible Work Options Our mental health and our work lives are intertwined, whether we realize it or not. And often times, it takes some fairly serious consequences to make us see just how connected they really are. As an entrepreneur, I’ve built companies around two things—ideas that I deeply believe in, and people. I want to talk about the second part of that equation. Read more here…

BUSINESS CASE: CROSS-GENERATIONAL BENEFITS OF WORK FLEXIBILITY Can’t we all just get along? When it comes to generational conflict in the workplace, that can be easier said than done. Fortunately, however, there may be at least one thing that can help all generations find common ground: flexibility. Read more: The Business Case: Cross-Generational Benefits of Work Flexibility >>>

May 31, 2017

Does your vison include having fun?

I'm not sure the world needs more vision and mission statements and here's why: The vast majority of

them are uninspiring and meaningless. Of the hundreds of vision statements I come across each year,

maybe two get my motor running, and you'd think if it's something as important as defining a vision for

the future of your company (or your own career for that matter) it should be, you know...inspiring!

When facilitating leadership workshops where the leaders are from a range of companies I've

sometimes done a very revealing exercise: I've printed out their respective vision statements and

challenged them to go find their own...and sadly, many leaders couldn't!

While we don't need more uninspiring and meaningless vision statements, we most definitely do

need visionaries. We need leaders who can co-create an inspiring vision for the future and passionately

articulate and champion that vision in a meaningful way. And why not, as many companies have done,

encourage all employees to create their own personal inspiring vision declaration defining how they

want their own life and career to evolve? And when we do put pen to paper to define our vision, make

sure it speaks to the heart using everyday language...which is why I love Virgin Airline's mission

statement:

Everybody wants the next great thing.

Even us.

So we are a music store, who became an airline, who became a soft drink company, who became over 200

different businesses all over the planet united by one simple common thought:

We want to do what's never been done before.

We want to create stuff that's valuable.

And honest.

And is worth making in the first place.

We want to have fun while we're doing it.

And we want our competitors to find us really, completely irritating!

Does your vision include having fun? http://archive.aweber.com/humor_at_work/BiStK/h/Inspiring_Workplaces_Does.htm

Video time…. Think about the way we talk to people who are suffering with, dealing with, living with mental illness or poor mental health…we are often not kind or understanding or w e may be just ignorant to the facts …but, it is time to change this! Watch this You Tube video for an eye opener! What if we talked about physical health the absurd way to talk about mental health?

Hiring students this summer?

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has a podcast for you to watch… http://ccohs.libsyn.com/keeping-both-young-and-new-workers-safe-this-summer

Are you a young worker or is someone in your family entering the work world? CCOHS also has a section on their website with great information for the young workers you are hiring or your child who will be entering the world of work! https://www.ccohs.ca/youngworkers/

Leadership Moments

What We Can Learn from Fairy Tales From: Goins, J. (2015). The art of work: a proven

path to discovering what you were meant to do. Nashville: Nelson Books

"At the beginning of every story, we see something that looks a lot like normal life. Long before the protagonist slays a dragon or embarks on a quest, we see her in some unsuspecting place, dreaming of something more. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle sings of wanting more than "this provincial life. In Star Wars, Luke can't wait to escape the boredom of a farmer's life and in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy sings about life "somewhere over the rainbow." Our lives are haunted by the ghosts of what could have been. It's easy to dismiss such people as dreamers or even downright crazy. But are they really? Before a chain of events sets the hero on course to his destiny, there is a sense that there should be something more to life than this. You may be feeling this right now. At an important moment, everything makes sense. This is what story-tellers call the "inciting incident," the moment when everything changes and the tale of an average person living an average life becomes one of mythic proportions. But something must occur for this to take place. The person must enter the story, either by choice or because she's forced into it. Belle goes to find her father. Luke leaves home with Obi-Wan. Dorothy gets swept up in a tornado. In any great narrative, there is a moment when a character must decide to be more than a bystander. It's an important moment that always seems to happen in the mind before in real life. This choice, though is always preceded by something deeper, a nagging feeling that there must be more. This is why when people are called to great task, they know it. Immediately they recognize the prompting to step up and do something significant, because they have been waiting for it. Before the call comes, we must possess some sense that awakens us to our purpose. Awareness, then, is what prepares us for the call." Learn More

May 2017

Media release: Systematic review updates evidence on workplace-based RTW

programs

February 21—To effectively help injured and ill workers return to their jobs, workplaces should

offer different kinds of help that simultaneously aim to improve worker health, coordinate return-

to-work (RTW) activities and modify the work. This is according to a systematic review of the

research on the effectiveness of workplace-based programs designed to help injured and ill

workers return to work, co-led by the Institute for Work & Health and just published in the

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.

Share now: New video on effective RTW programs for workers with MSDs

May 12—What workplace-based interventions are effective in helping workers with

musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) recover and return to work? A team of researchers from the

Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery

Research (ISCRR) in Melbourne, Australia, set out to answer this question in a systematic

review. The key findings are now summed up in a new one-minute video short. Watch it and

share.

At the Aging Workforce Workshop, several people requested the link for Take a Break Activities

and videos for doing stretches.

The Take Your Break activities can be found on the Healthy Break Activities section of the

Workplace Strategies for Mental Health website. It provides healthy break activities that are

ready to go. Activities fall under three categories: calming, energizing and relaxation. A new

activity is provided each week and you can subscribe to receive it directly. Using breaks to

improve mental health can have a positive effect on wellness and productivity, as well as

interrupting sedentary time.

https://workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com

Videos for doing stretches at your desk can be found at the

Alberta Centre for Active Living – Physical Activity @Work

https://sites.ualberta.ca/~active/workplace/trr/tools.htm

Do you have your next vacation or day out planned? Even if you can’t plan a vacation – just knowing where your next day out or time out will take you is very important to our physical and mental health. Recently on a weekend trip to our daughter’s home in Collingwood we had the opportunity to Hike up the Cascade Trail…it was a beautiful site to see the waterfall that winds all the way down the trail, feel the cool mist from it, relax my mind and exercise my entire body … all while enjoying time with family members and grandkids. Unplug… it will do you good!

May 7 – 14th was Nursing Week in Canada.

One of the initiatives we did at MLHU was to feature different nursing positions within the heath

unit and promote what we do as Registered Nurses in these roles. The Workplace Program was

featured and this is my picture that appeared on our social media sites that week – thought I

would share my pride in nursing and my program with you!

REMINDER…

Don’t forget to copy and paste and answer the 10 questions I posed to you

at the beginning of this email.

I rely on your feedback and input to ensure we are meeting your needs. If

we are not, I need to know what will so we can change/adapt the program

and resources to meet your needs!

If you want to add anything to the questions I have sent, please do so…

…and please feel free to send feedback anytime you feel you would like to

…. not just when I am asking for it!

Enjoy the sunshine today!

Sandy Richardson R.N. B.Sc.N. CCHN (c) Public Health Nurse Health at Work 4 All! program lead Healthy Communities and Injury Prevention Team

Middlesex London Health Unit 50 King Street, London Ontario N6A 5L7 Tel: (519) 663-5317 ext. 2412 Fax: (519) 663-9276 Email sandy.richardson@mlhu.on.ca

www.healthunit.com/workplace-health