Business Sector Successes to Date

The Business Sector has been very successful in identifying, advocating, promoting, and supporting health policy initiatives within businesses in Windsor-Essex County. The Business Sector worked extremely hard to impact change and have a positive influence on the health of employees, retirees, and their families.

Below are just a couple of the successes the Business Sector has achieved to date.

Working Toward Wellness Program (WTW)

An important part of the Business sector is the Working Toward Wellness Program. The Business Sector was able to incorporate this program within its mandate through the incorporation of the Workplace Wellness Committee. The Workplace Wellness Committee spearheads this program with tremendous support from the Windsor-Essex County Health unit. The goal of the WTW Program is to improve the health and well-being of all Windsor-Essex County residents. The program is based on a comprehensive set of workplace wellness strategies that each have important role to play to encourage and support employees, retirees, and their families to take steps to improve their health. Workplaces in Windsor-Essex County are encouraged and supported in developing policies that support employees in improving their overall health and well-being at the worksite and beyond. The major components of this program include:

The Working Toward Wellness Healthy Workplace Awards Program

The purpose of the awards program is to honour local workplaces that provide comprehensive workplace wellness programming. Award recipients must demonstrate a strong commitment to improved health by promoting and supporting a comprehensive approach to wellness programming for employees, retirees, and their families. This program is available to all workplaces in Windsor-Essex County, regardless of the company size or how established the Workplace Wellness Program may be. The WTW Healthy Workplace Awards Program has a strong focus on workplace environmental supports and policy.

Executive Breakfast Series Forum

The purpose of this forum is to target key decision makers, and front line staff to identify, advocate and develop policies that support employees in improving their overall health and well-being at the worksite and beyond. The Executive Breakfast Series proved to be successful year after year. The high number of attendees and excellent evaluations key decision makers and front line staff provided demonstrate the benefits this program offers.

Collaborative Agreement with the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce

Recently, Go For Health Windsor-Essex (GFH) lead by the Business Sector initiated a collaborative agreement with the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of this collaboration was to work together to improve the health and wellness of employees, retirees, and their families through health policy initiatives. The collaboration outlines four strategic policy initiatives. These initiatives are:

Go For Health Business Briefs Column

Strategy - Chamber is publishing articles regarding policy change/health promotion in the workplace in their Business Briefs Newsletters. To access the full articles click on the titles below:

Go For Health / Chamber Luncheon

Strategy - GFH to hosted a Luncheon on March 24, 2011 for key chamber decision makers and leaders within the Windsor-Essex business community. The luncheon attracted approximately 60 business leaders within the community. It was a huge success with presentations from DJ Galvanizing and Spectra Energy (Union Gas) on their Workplace Wellness Programs. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit also presented their nationally recognized Workplace Wellness Program. To access the luncheon presentations please click on the links below.

DJ Galvanizing Presentation Spectra Energy Presentation

Working Toward Wellness Presentation

Working Toward Wellness Healthy Work Place Awards: Advocacy and Application

Strategy - The Chamberis currently promoting and advocating the Working Toward Wellness
Healthy Workplace Awards program to its network of members, while simultaneously
applying for an award itself.