Staff at Aberdeen based, First Shared Services (FSS), the financial processing centre for transport operator FirstGroup, have been crowned one of the healthiest workforces in Scotland.
Just two years after being awarded the Healthy Working Lives Bronze Status, FSS were this month awarded Silver status in recognition of the company’s efforts to create a healthier workplace.
The Healthy Working Lives Awards, administered by the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, encourage employers to promote a healthier workforce and covers a wide range of topics including health promotion, mental health and wellbeing and occupational health and safety.
Staff at FSS have been involved in a number of initiatives to help gain silver status. Many have taken on marathons, 10ks and duathlons whilst others have taken up a new sport. The FSS team also went on a collective orienteering adventure recently.
Nearly half of FSS’ 65 employees have taken advantage of the discounted gym membership available for FirstGroup employees at Aberdeen Sports Village.
“Badminton, football, squash, fitness classes and gym sessions seem to be the most popular pursuits at the Sports Village,” said Richard Emslie, FSS Controller, himself a regular on the football pitch. “In addition most of my colleagues have signed up for the ‘Stay Active’ challenge - each of us wears a state of the art pedometer that converts activities into points and calories burned.”
The emphasis in achieving Silver status has not solely concentrated on physical exercise as Richard explained: “We’ve had presentations from cancer charities highlighting some of the early warning signs. All our notice boards promote mental health campaigns and healthy eating, while our vending machine now offers healthy options. We also now receive a large weekly delivery of fruit which we make freely available to all our staff.”
He continued: “Securing the Healthy Working Lives Silver Award makes us one of the healthiest organisations in Scotland. I’m very proud of our collective achievement – we have a fantastic team with a fantastic team-spirit which has been strengthened by our commitment to Healthy Working Lives. We are looking forward to tackling the Gold status.”