Stephanie Vanstein (Communication Officer), Anne-Marie Morell (Live Together Alderman) and Marijke Van Ash (Health Coordinator). – © rr
500 employees of the municipality of Bourse-Saint-Amands are on a health tour. The municipal council launched the #GezondeMedewerkers project this week, through which it is taking a number of initiatives focused on the well-being and health of employees.
Ward Busmans
Initiatives range from fruit at work to encouraging bike use to get to work. Samenleven alderman Ann-Marie Morel (CD&V) sees municipal employees as human capital. “Because they make our organization work, we believe it is important for them to feel good in the workplace. We have set out a vision of what health at work means, and it is supported 100% by the College of Mayor, local council members and the management team. This way we ensure that we are working on a healthy working climate. And not just on individual actions. Within the vision, we work around four axes: exercise, nutrition, skills and well-being.”
One of the first initiatives is to introduce a fruit basket in different workplaces. The municipality also pays registration fees for some municipal sporting events and CC Binder organizes a health lecture for all residents three times a year.
proud ambassadors
In addition, there are also campaigns such as “Bike to Work”, where cycling employees receive a surprise. According to Alderman Morel, the intent is for employees to also contribute ideas themselves. “For example, we regularly organize a healthy lunch where everyone can provide feedback on past actions and brainstorm on future ideas. But employees are not obligated to participate in the #GezondeMedewerkers initiatives. We do not charge anything, they choose whether they use the options we offer.” At the moment, we only notice a lot of enthusiasm. For example, employees can win a sports jersey, which seems to be in demand. We receive a lot of photos from colleagues who play sports with our jerseys. They clearly feel proud as ambassadors.” (wabu)
