 
Healthy eating at the workplace can positively influence the health of your employees. A comprehensive workplace nutrition programme goes a long way towards ensuring that they eat right!
At the recent 2008 Singapore HEALTH Awards, NatSteel Holdings bagged the Platinum Award while BD Medical (Singapore) won the Gold and Nutrition Sub-Category Award. We look at how small changes made by both firms greatly benefited their employees.
One change was as simple as having a healthier canteen.
In support of the ‘Healthier Food Declaration’, Natsteel’s top management integrated a healthier canteen policy into their contract with the canteen operators, making it easier for them to offer healthier food options. Timely and regular feedback from their employees has also resulted in tastier and more nutritious meals. BD Medical has a similar policy with its ‘Good Food Programme’, where healthier canteen guidelines have been put firmly in place. Surprise checks are conducted by canteen committee members to ensure that standards are met.
Another change was to establish a ‘traffic-light’ food coding system. This has helped employees at both Natsteel and BD Medical select healthier food. A ‘green’ code represents a very healthy dish while an ‘orange’ or ‘red’ code would mean a less healthy dish. Employees are encouraged to go for healthier set meals and dishes from the ‘green’ code category. As an added incentive, they get to enjoy attractive offers on the meal options should they do so!
Besides selling snacks and drinks that are lower in sugar or have the HCS logo, the canteens are also equipped with water- cooler dispensers.
Apart from having a healthier canteen, BD Medical designates the 22nd of every month as ‘Fruit and Vegetable Day’ and holds monthly salad promotions to encourage staff to fulfil the daily recommended serving of 2 fruits and 2 vegetables while Natsteel Holdings distributes fruits to employees during their ‘Healthy Eating’ Campaign in March.
For corporate functions, BD Medical avails healthier food options to their employees by selecting menus from HPB's certified healthier caterers. To raise awareness and educate employees about healthy eating, the company places tent cards on its dining tables that carry short messages on nutrition. Quizzes, games and exhibitions are also organised to engage employee interest.
At Natsteel, hands-on activities such as healthy cooking competitions and recipe-sharing, form part of the awareness-building initiatives. The company also taps on existing infrastructure, like its intranet kiosk and on-site television screens, to convey healthy eating messages to its employees’.
As each workplace is unique, tailoring the initiatives and activities to suit an organisation’s needs and business processes, is vital to a successful nutrition programme.
Both Natsteel Holdings and BD Medical face their share of challenges, such as multiple work shift patterns, a diverse ethnic workforce and employees preference for hawker fare over the healthier versions to be found at the canteen. However, despite these challenges, both companies are keen to strive harder. As Ms Tan Bee Kuan, occupational health nurse at BD Medical claims, “We should persevere to continually improve the food at the canteen, through creativity and innovation.”
Reaping the benefits of a workplace nutrition programme far outweighs the toil.
Ms Melissa Goh, health facilitator at Natsteel Holdings shares, “Our productivity rate has improved through the years. Employees are happier that we have provided a clean and healthier canteen for them ...”
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