In environmental health and safety we use and apply a variety of consistent principles to protect employees and others. We can use and apply the same principles to our organization's (and/or our own) wellness, health education, and health promotion programs (HPPs).
This paper (and the original conference presentation) is designed to provide EHS practitioners with 26 of these consistent principles for their use in their organization's (and/or their own) wellness, health education, and/or HPP. Each "principle" is listed and discussed from both the EHS and wellness perspectives. Examples are given (where applicable). The wellness principles are written in the second person (apparently to you the reader) but they are also meant to be conveyed to employees for their wellness. So, without further ado – on to the principles!
One of the first steps in an EHS evaluation is to do a "walk-around survey" to assess the work process. We observe processes, workers, materials, equipment, and practices to assess the potential for hazards.
In wellness we do the same – we take a look in the mirror. We ask ourselves, "What shape am I in? Do I have too much weight in my belly? What are my hazards to myself?"
We study the assembly lines, processes, etc. for the hazards inherent to them (e.g., perhaps musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), etc.). The hazards of your industry are likely your organization's as well.
Study your family history (i.e., your parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, and children). It's a question that we all answer on the paperwork at our Doctor's office – "Has anyone in your immediate family had any of the following diseases?" Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancers (a wide variety), etc. The list seems to go on – one after another organs/systems. The diseases of your family members are likely yours as well.
If we wish to objectively assess how we're doing with our organization's EHS one way to determine is to be audited. We solicit and get a 3rd party, independent audit. They'll give us an objective opinion on how we're doing with recommendations on where to focus our attention.
Want to know how you're doing health-wise? Go see your doctor. You'll get an unvarnished viewpoint. In wellness and HPPs a baseline evaluation is the HRA. You get your weight, pulse, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. as an independent assessment. It gives us a "starting point" to focus our attention for helping employees be healthy.
If we want to know how we're doing relative to healthy air, we test for a variety of hazardous chemicals – solvents and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals and other inorganics, etc.
