Informing the masses

Amabhubesi Conferencing and Training held a successful Corporate Employee Health and Wellness Conference on August 29 and 30 at the Sinosteel Plaza in Sandton.

SHEQ MANAGEMENT attended the second day and found it an enlightening experience, with speakers such as Dr Lerato Motshudi, medical advisor at Health Management Solutions, Alexander Forbes Health. Motshudi shared her insights on how to measure success within organisations – while profit is one way to quantify a company’s success, engaged and supportive employees are seen as the measurement of victory for the workforce.

Retha Watson, national trauma and suicide prevention manager for the South African Police Service (SAPS), shared her insights into how a health and wellness support structure is being built within that organisation, where many are exposed to a psychologically as well as physically threatening environment. Delegates were shocked to hear that South Africa ranks nearly twice as high as the African continent on the violence scale.

The day ended on a lighter note as Lizette Jooste, head of wellness at Discovery Health, shared the 2012 Healthy Company Index Survey results. Jooste showed that the number of employees with a Discovery “Vitality” age greater than their actual age went up from 72 percent to 92 percent when the 2011 and 2012 results were compared. Good news was that employees who don’t meet the recommended physical activity guidelines went down from 81 to 68 percent.

The two days were filled with speakers and topics that definitely expanded the knowledge of those who attended.

Amabhubesi will be holding a Wellness in Mining workshop on November 28 and 29. Be on the lookout for the report-back in our next edition.