The Promotion of Health and Well-Being at Work

The Promotion of Health and Well-Being at Work
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The Promotion of Health and Well-Being at Work
The primary reason for promoting health and wellness is to enhance the wellbeing of those at work. Responding to the health and wellness needs of employees play vital roles in improving their abilities to respond to the demands of the organization. Reliable evidence links higher productivity to a healthier workforce (O’Donnell, 2001). Employers who have programs that are concerned with the wellness of their employees reflect a positive culture and reputation to prospective employees outside the organization. The direct costs of poor health and working environment are reflected through workplace diseases and injuries. Creating health and wellness programs play critical roles in impacting the physical and psychological health of workers. The work of the police involves a lot of stress and situations that expose them to health problems. The creation of a policy that seeks to promote wellness amongst officers is critical in enabling them to attain the objectives of their work. Wellness programs offer a platform upon which the officers can promote healthy lifestyles and make healthier life choices.
The occupational fatality rate is considered at three to five times greater than that of the average working nation (Senjo, 2011). The risks that the officers face imply that the respective states in the European Union must put in place relevant initiatives to protect officers against being incapacitated emotionally, mentally, and physically against the hazards that they face at work.

Officers also need to be in good health to enable them to respond the demands of their work. Critics argue that a majority of the governments only focus on the well-being of officers at the time of their hiring (Arena, Guazzi, Briggs, Cahalin, Myers, Kaminsky & Lavie, 2013). During the process, supervisors evaluate the physical and mental health of policies to ascertain their capacities to perform as is recommended. Governments spend thousands of dollars during such training and evaluations. Unfortunately, the governments fail to put implement relevant structures that are meant ensure that the wellbeing of the officers is maintained after recruiting them. In fact, evidence indicates that the officers take part in poor eating habits. The work of the police involves a lot of strenuous physical and mental work (Gabriel & Liimatainen, 2000). Working overtime also compromises with the state of health of a majority of the officers. When combined with poor eating habits, most of the officers suffer from the deteriorating effects of their health and wellness. To this effect, their contribution to the workforce is significantly affected. A reliable workforce can only be maintained when the officers are in good shape and health
It is universally accepted that law enforcement is one of the most stressful occupations throughout the world. The police have to work in long shifts and also interact with stubborn citizens who at times identify them as enemies. The dangers of working as a police include frequent confrontations with the public as well as law breakers. Their chances of being injured in such confrontations are significantly high. Moreover, the exposure of the police to harsh environments puts them at risk of infections and being ill. In addition to handling stress at work, police officers are known to battle with fatigue. Stress and poor sleep jeopardize the capacities of the officers to make sound decisions while at work. The study conducted by Navarro (2009) identified that a majority of the officers’ resort to alcohol when they are incapable of managing fatigue and stress. Working for long hours without sleep makes the police highly susceptible to making mistakes even when at work. Evidence indicates that a majority of the mistakes made by police officers are done when under the influence of alcohol or are battling with fatigue (Arena et al. 2013). Similarly, reliable studies indicate that fatigued officers are more likely to die when in their line of duty. To this effect, the creation of safety and wellness program that addresses the needs and concerns of officers is inevitable. A program that would ensure that officers remain alert and alive while in their line of duty will arguably play an influential role in enabling them to respond to the needs of citizens as is expected.
The Center for Disease Control indicates that multiple studies support the need for employers to promote health and wellness programs. Because evidence indicates that healthier employees tend to be happier and more productive. The program will reduce incidences of falling ill and hence the high rates of absenteeism experienced by a majority of the officers. Moreover, the wellness program would be ideal in enabling the government deal with liability costs that occur because officers have to deal with on-job injuries (Kuoppala, Lamminpää & Husman, 2008). Officers will appreciate the efforts of a wellness program that looks into their needs and hence reduce the turnover experienced on law enforcement departments.
One of the components of the officer wellness program would be work positive initiative. The work positive initiative aims at ensuring that officers are provided with a platform upon which they can manage their stress. Stress is a major challenge for officers who have to deal with varying situations at home and in their work environment. The program will ensure that it supports an all-round and healthier lifestyle option for its officers. Ensuring that there is adequate funding in deprived sectors would play a vital role in the creation of a more relaxed environment for the officers. For instance, in regions with few officers and fewer resources to do their work, the provision of adequate resources and more staffs would play a vital role in motivating officers to value their work
The state must put in place training programs to create awareness amongst the officers on the essence of living healthier life options. The training must furnish the police with relevant knowledge concerning healthy eating choices, the importance of staying fit and maintenance of healthy relations with close family members and colleagues. The people that the police interact with form a critical pillar upon which they could always seek help when overwhelmed with responsibilities at work. The creation of a training area and support fitness activities within their work places may also help the police in managing their stress levels. Upgrading of resources and facilities in the working area of police plays a vital role in the creation of an ideal environment for the working of the future workforce. In fact, Dollard, Winefield and Winefield (2003), cite that it would be an ideal platform to create an easy transition for new recruits at the time of hiring. The stress levels for newer generation police would much lower consider that the facilities will be efficient for their job needs.
The employment of a “person-job-fit-analysis” may also play a vital role in enabling the state to improve the wellness and health of officers. Officers are required to handle vast responsibilities ranging from traffic department, burglary control, patrol and enforcing law and order at various levels. However, the state should consider employing new recruits based on their capabilities and capacities. It should highlight specific requirements for different classes of employees within every department (Senjo, 2011). To this effect, specific employees will be recruited to handle particular tasks according to their physical, mental and personality qualifications. Moreover, posting officers in positions that suit their personality and physical abilities will play an influential role in contributing to better job satisfaction. Employees will not be exposed to tasks that they cannot handle. Contrariwise, the officers will work towards the completion of specific workloads according to their skills and capacities. Most importantly, Basińska and Wiciak (2012), emphasizes that after such categorization, it would be ideal to staff every department with the recommended number of employees such that no sector is overwhelmed by particular responsibilities over another. Finally, the remuneration program adopted by the government should commensurate the type of work handled by the officers. Ideally, officers have to meet several obligations for their families as well. As a result, an ideal motivation aspect to help reduce the biting stress levels would be to ensure that the officers are well compensated for the job they do.
The creation of a wellness program is critical for the attainment of organization objectives. A health and wellness program ensures that an employee has the desired strength to respond to the demands of the job. Officers are always overwhelmed by their work because of its nature. However, governments should put in place relevant structures to support the wellness of the officers because of the roles they play in safeguarding their nations. To this effect, police officers will embrace a program that eliminates the stress and fatigue of officers.

References
Arena, R., Guazzi, M., Briggs, P. D., Cahalin, L. P., Myers, J., Kaminsky, L. A., … & Lavie, C. J. (2013, June). Promoting health and wellness in the workplace: a unique opportunity to establish primary and extended secondary cardiovascular risk reduction programs. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 88, No. 6, pp. 605-617). Elsevier.
Basińska, B. A., & Wiciak, I. (2012). Fatigue and professional burnout in police officers and firefighters. Internal Security, 4(2), 265-273.
Dollard, M., Winefield, H. R., & Winefield, A. H. (Eds.). (2003). Occupational stress in the service professions. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.
Gabriel, P., & Liimatainen, M. R. (2000). Mental health in the workplace: Introduction, executive summaries. Retrieved Online from http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/gladnetcollect/223/. On 8th December 2016.
Kuoppala, J., Lamminpää, A., & Husman, P. (2008). Work health promotion, job well-being, and sickness absences—a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 50(11), 1216-1227.
Navarro, V. (2009). What we mean by social determinants of health. International Journal of Health Services, 39(3), 423-441.
O’Donnell, M. P. (2001). Health promotion in the workplace. Boston Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.
Senjo, S. R. (2011). Dangerous fatigue conditions: A study of police work and law enforcement administration. Police Practice & Research, 12(3), 235-252.