GE Oil & Gas, based at Bridge of Don in Aberdeen, Scotland has won a coveted Gold Award from the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, recognising it as one of the safest and healthiest employers in Scotland.
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND - November 5, 2009 - Tasty, healthy food on the menu and an online personal trainer have helped GE Oil & Gas, based at Bridge of Don in Aberdeen, Scotland to win a coveted Gold Award from the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives and to be recognised as one of the safest and healthiest employers in Scotland.
GE Oil & Gas won the award after developing a range of programmes to help the health of its 600 staff at the Silverburn House site, Bridge of Don in Aberdeen. All staff benefit from regular fitness testing and onsite health checks including measuring blood pressure, weight, blood glucose and cholesterol levels. One initiative in the GE Oil & Gas canteen was 'chef theatre' -- where fresh, hot food was cooked in front of staff to encourage healthy food choices. In addition, the sports centre hosts quarterly health exhibitions and twice a year becomes a Blood Collection Centre.
The Healthy Working Lives awards encourage Scottish employers to promote a healthier workforce and cover a wide range of topics including health promotion, occupational health and safety, mental health and wellbeing, community involvement and health and the environment.
Matt Corbin, Vice President and Region Leader UK and Continental Europe, GE Oil & Gas said: "We are delighted to have won this award. We have had a worksite health programme in place for nearly 10 years and this award reflects the commitment of the management and staff to stop smoking, eat healthily, be more active and maintain healthy weight. Silverburn House is also very lucky to have an on-site sports centre with equipment and services to suit everyone from the beginner to the dedicated athlete."
Aberdeen based company Fitnut Ltd was responsible for coordinating and delivering the initiatives that contributed to the award. Penny McIntosh, Director of FitNut, said: "The 'Health Manager' personal trainer, which provides each employee with a personal assessment tool to analyse and track their health online, has been a great success. The canteen has also been a hive of activity with a range of low salt, low sugar and low fat options on offer, and the 'chef theatre' days. Our aim is to provide staff with interactive ways of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and coupled with the support and enthusiasm from everyone at GE, it's been an extremely successful programme of activity."
GE Oil & Gas also achieved a Gold Award in Scotland's Health at Work programme in 2004.
The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives was established in April 2005 and is playing a key role in helping to reduce work-related ill health by 20% and days lost to ill health by 30%.