Worksite: health at the workplace through physical exercise

The word “Worksite” refers to a multidisciplinary approach aimed at promoting and improving people’s health and well-being (particularly that of workers) implemented at the workplace.

It dates back to the mid-1970s when various programs to encourage people to take physical exercise at the workplace were implemented in response to a growing interest in physical fitness. The key concept behind the development of physical fitness programs inside companies is to exploit the benefits of physical exercise as a potential “drug” (perhaps the only without side-effects) for preventing certain illnesses, notably cardiovascular diseases.

Worksite projects were introduced to reconcile the desire expressed by workers to stay healthy through physical exercise and the benefits for businesses of promoting well-being among their workers. Nowadays anybody working for Mapei SpA has the good fortune of being monitored as if they were a professional athlete. And since 2004 experts from the Mapei Sport Research Centre run health programmes inside corporate fitness centres in the company offices in Milan and at the manufacturing plant in Robbiano di Mediglia (in the outskirts of Milan), where anybody working for the company can take part in the Worksite Program.

People working at the production plant or behind a desk in the administration centre have the chance to “stretch their legs” and keep fit without leaving their workplace by simply following the advice of instructors with degrees in the Motor Sciences, who also train top athletes on a day-to-day basis.

Thanks to its own cutting-edge Mapei Sport Centre specialising in research applied to sport based in Olgiate Olona in the province of Varese (Northern Italy), Mapei SpA has highly qualified sports technicians who can provide extremely useful advice for colleagues who want to keep healthy and improve their fitness through training.

The Mapei Sport Worksite Program was first set up 15 years ago based on a combination of the experience and know-how Mapei Sport had gained working with top athletes and also the needs of people interested in improving their quality of life through sport.

CUSTOMISED FITNESS PLANS FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

“The Worksite Program is basically divided into three parts: a yearly medical check-up, including such key examinations as blood tests and a stress ECG test, a fitness check-up and proper training plan”, so the head of the Mapei Sport Research Centre, Dr Claudio Pecci, told us. “A detailed medical history is vital: we need to take a careful look at the individual’s state of health, fitness, physiology and diet. As well as the case history and medical check-up, further tests may be required after visiting the clinic. Nowadays a person’s health is not just a matter of being illness-free, it also concerns their lifestyle, habits and diet, all factors taken into consideration”.

At the end of the check-up, a fitness plan is prescribed to prevent illness and improve psycho-physical fitness.

Mapei Sport trainers use the information from the health-check to customise the right fitness plan for each individual training at the Mapei Group’s corporate fitness centres.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO

Those taking part in the Worksite program include people who are involved in amateur sport on regular basis, people who train occasionally, and people who do not do any sport but would like to benefit from a more rational and conscientious approach to improving their health.

Movements is not just good for your mind and body, mens sana in corpore sano as they say, physical exercise can also help improve interpersonal social relations and individual motivation at the workplace.

Promoting health through physical exercise is not just important for staff, it can also boost the company’s productivity, since long-term data show that the more active people are, the more productive they are. They will be absent from work less, because they are less likely to be ill. So, benefits for the individual also cascade down right through the company. The statistics also confirm how effective this project is: over the last 12 months there have been 7000 accesses to Mapei SpA's fitness centres, which have approximately 200 members.

It is hoped that projects like this will catch on even more in the future, so that people’s health can really be improved. Health which, as the World Health Organisation points out, must be seen as a combination of physical, mental and social well-being and not just being free from illness.

Along similar lines, several Mapei Group's subsidiaries are introducing various fitness programs at the workplace or other kinds of sports activities, acknowledging the benefits for workers and the company in both the short and long term.