DS Smith, Bristol Newbridge, puts health at the heart of the company

The Bristol Newbridge site of DS Smith has been awarded a Bronze Healthy Heart Mark by national charity Heart Research UK for encouraging healthy lifestyle habits among its employees.

By choosing to take on the healthy heart checks run by Heart Research UK, the packaging and supply cycle specialist provides employees with the opportunity to have their blood pressure, cholesterol levels, BMI and waist measurements checked and ask questions about their lifestyle habits.

The Healthy Heart Mark award is an accreditation that shows how an organisation values its workforce by making positive contributions towards employee health and wellbeing.

Following the healthy heart checks the company has brought in initiatives at the site that include providing free fruit and water bottles to all employees and encouraging people to stop smoking and cycle to work.

Barry Woodward, Plant Manager at the Bristol Newbridge site, said: “New additions such as the free fruit and water bottles have been welcomed by all and it’s great to see our employees inspiring each other to lead healthier lives. We’re excited to see the existing initiatives develop and to introduce new incentives and benefits in the future.”

DS Smith offers the Heart Research UK healthy heart checks at its 31 sites – from Livingston to Launceston - with many receiving Bronze and Silver Healthy Heart Marks over the year. This latest award will support DS Smith’s aim to achieve a Healthy Hearts Mark (HHM) employer award next year.

Brian Wark, HR Director, at DS Smith’s UK Packaging Division, said: “Health and safety is extremely important in the packaging and manufacturing industries, but often most of the focus is on safety and not on health.

“We have a duty of care to our employees and we are committed to supporting initiatives that lead to a healthy and happy workforce. In fact, this campaign originated from one of our sites and when it proved to be very popular we secured support from the senior team to roll out the programme at all of our locations.

“We’re looking forward to finding new and innovative ways to encourage staff to make positive lifestyle changes.”

Barbara Dinsdale, Lifestyle Manager at Heart Research UK, said: “The team at Bristol have shown great commitment to helping hearts in the workplace through the provision of free fruit and promotion of active lifestyles at work. We’re pleased to award DS Smith with their Bronze award to recognise their achievements so far, as they work towards Healthy Heart Mark status.”

Heart Research UK funds pioneering medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.

To find out more about Heart Research UK and healthy heart initiatives in the workplace visit: http://heartresearch.org.uk/