Manufacturing organisation NSG Pilkington has had to adapt to the health concerns that come with having a workforce unable to work from home.
In November 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, many employees were worried about their physical and mental health due to the uncertainty that the current environment presented.
In response to this, NSG Pilkington installed a health monitor kiosk, provided by Wellpoint, for six weeks to support the health of employees. The kiosk, free of charge, provided employees with health-related information about their cardiovascular fitness, blood pressure and weight. Nick Wilson, health and safety manager at Pilkington Glass, says: “The health information has been really helpful to check in on how employees were feeling. We installed this across two sites and saw every employee use this at least once during its instalment. An extra positive about the service is that it offers mental health information as well – previously this has never been a part of the service.”
Employees can see their results on screen and the analysis of their health can be printed or emailed to an email address of their choice. The organisation was provided with the information to analyse the collated data. The kiosk can also aid users in setting health challenges, such as step goals or diet targets. There is a wide range of questionnaires that users were able to choose from to find out more about their health like sleep or alcohol insights.
Wilson continues: “There have been concerns about both physical and mental health around the industry due to a lack of remote working ability. It is our role to support employees in the best way we can, especially during a global pandemic. Getting instantaneous health results has been really helpful and we have already seen improvements to how employees are approaching to their health.”
In addition to the kiosk, the organisation has ensured that the workplace is safe and secure for employees to continue their operations. Face masks have been made available, along with hand sanitising stations and social distancing measures.
Following on from a successful period of the kiosk station, the organisation has planned to install this across more sites for six-week periods per establishment. Although this is only available to employees for periods of time, employees are able to access and participate in questionnaires and assess themselves by using the app on their phones.