Healthy Workplace Model

Building Blocks of Change

Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion can be defined as “an approach to protecting and enhancing the health of employees that relies and builds upon the efforts of employers to create a supportive management under and upon the efforts of employees to care for their own well-being” (Shain, M., Suurvali, H. 2001).

As outlined, our Vision is that all Ontario workplaces will recognize that employee mental, physical, and psychosocial health is fundamental to organizational success, and will therefore adopt and implement a comprehensive approach to healthy workplace as an integral part of their business strategy and operations.

To provide a framework we promote an evidence based recognized model:

The Comprehensive Workplace Health (CWH) Model

• Has four elements – occupational health & safety, health & lifestyle practices, organizational culture, and organizational social responsibility
• CWH approach includes awareness, skill building, and creating supportive environments

The Implementation Process

• Plan – an ongoing and recurring process
• Do – implementing the steps of your program
• Check – evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness and impact of action taken
• Act – periodic review of the CWH program by management

Occupational Health & Safety: Reducing work-related injury, illness and disability by identifying and controlling hazards in the physical environment and in work processes, such as:

Health & Lifestyle Practices: Creating an environment that is supportive of and encourages health enhancing personal lifestyle practices, such as:

Organizational Culture: Focusing on the psychosocial issues in the workplace that affect the interaction between people, their work and their organization, such as:

Organizational Social Responsibility: Participating in the community to improve the health of workers, their families and other members of the community, such as: