Queensland’s Fraser Coast is seen as one of the happiest regions in Australia and staff from Fraser Coast Regional Council are keen to keep it that way, especially within their work environment.
The Council’s People Development team recently organised its second annual Health and Wellbeing Expo for Council staff who enthusiastically participated in activities from compost making, retirement planning and nutrition to cooking, tai chi and vehicle maintenance.
Fraser Coast Regional Council CEO Lisa Desmond said Council proudly promotes itself as a workplace of choice and it is keen to live up to its reputation for encouraging personal and professional development within a healthy balance of work and leisure.
"We are fortunate to have more than 600 dedicated and talented staff and we want to encourage them to live a healthy, active lifestyle and remain happy and motivated in their work," she said.
"The pilot expo last year proved so popular that we decided to make it an annual event. Most employees participated in the health checks such as blood pressure and fitness and we all enjoyed the fun sessions that included story telling techniques and belly dancing."
Ms Desmond said "that many staff had continued with activities they had found at the first expo."
Queensland Health provided information on stroke awareness, organ and tissue donation, at-work exercises and healthy cooking workshops.
Other information providers included the Red Cross Blood Centre, Breathe Health Club, the Council’s horticulture crew, Wide Bay TAFE, Commonwealth Bank, Bunnings Warehouse, Queensland Cancer Council, The Muses Dance and Drums, Healthy Foods/Health Devine and Fraser Coast Libraries. Most offered give-aways and prizes.
The expo was held over two days – one day in Maryborough and the other in Hervey Bay (the two main centres on the Fraser Coast) so all staff could easily participate.
While feedback from staff was overwhelmingly positive, the People Development team is already considering introducing even more lifestyle information and demonstrations into next year’s program.
In the meantime People Development is about to introduce a 10,000 Steps Workplace Challenge in which teams compete to clock up the most steps and lose weight through healthy eating and exercise.
Last year, the People Development Team was presented with a Council Customer Service Excellence Award for its 2010 expo.
