15 Mar 2016

Kweneng District Council has been hailed for taking the welfare of its employees seriously.

Speaking at the second commemoration of the annual Safety, Health Environment and Wellness Day for the district in Letlhakeng on Friday, chief injury prevention officer at Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF), Mr Mompati Bontsibokae said the district was leading by example as many organisations, especially public institutions, hardly hold such events despite their importance in the wellbeing and productivity of their employees.

He encouraged councillors and staff to work together and participate in wellness days as it would help them know their health status and use the results as a roadmap to improved health.

He noted that wellness was not just the absence of illness, and advised employees to focus on factors such as stress management, weight control and diet and nutrition among others.

“The programme that you follow can be used as a tool to manage your healthcare risks in order to start early intervention and active engagement,” he said.

 He added that in the past, health, safety and wellness were only associated with mines until 1991 when the then Ministry of Local Government and Lands established HIV/AIDS groups in the workplace programme.

Mr Bontsibokae informed the gathering that workplace wellness has a lot of benefits such as increased productivity, reduced sickness and absenteeism from work and decreased employee terminal benefits.

“Periodic health screening can help identify health problems early when treatment can still be successful. 

An environment outside the office facilitated by an employer makes a big difference on an employee’s social life,” he said.

Mr Bontsibokae said in their pursuit to deliver quality service to customers, the council has realised that healthy employees make for sustainable productivity.

He implored other government institutions to show commitment to occupational health and safety. Ends