Exercises for drivers

Having healthy and energetic staff members often receives much attention in companies' staff policies. This is particularly the case for those doing jobs that mostly involve sitting at a computer or behind the wheel, as is the case in transport services. Munckhof also sees this as a relevant issue and focuses a lot of attention on it. Why do we do this and how do we go about it?

Who's responsible

Of course, everyone is responsible for his or her own health. However, companies also play an active part in this respect. At Munckhof, we do this because we as a company feel a social responsibility to ensure our working conditions are healthy. Alongside this, having healthy staff members means less absenteeism and lower staff turnover, in turn enabling day-to-day activities to run more smoothly. Driven by these objectives, having healthy staff members has risen to be one of our top priorities.

Various actions

These objectives can be realized in a variety of ways. For instance, we are part of projects such as the Sociaal Fonds Taxi Vitaliteitsprogramma, a programme by the Dutch taxi driver foundation (SFT) to encourage healthy staff members in the Dutch taxi branch. As part of this project, we monitored a number of colleagues for six months to find out how healthy they were and how their health could be improved by influencing their sleep, stress and eating patterns. The results from this pilot test were positive, so the programme will now be rolled out across the sector by SFT.

A welcome incentive

Munckhof itself organizes a range of activities to improve the health of its employees. An example of this is Munckhof's running and walking teams, both of which have been going strong for years now. While it's enjoyable to take part in training and races with fellow colleagues, it's also a welcome incentive to get to grips with your own health. You don't want to lose to a colleague and then hear about it at the office non-stop for weeks!

The importance of having healthy staff members cannot be underestimated, either from a business or a social perspective. How do you make sure that your employees are healthy?