Garrett County Government was recognized by Healthiest Maryland Businesses as a Silver-level recipient of the Wellness at Work awards.
The Wellness at Work Awards are sponsored by Healthiest Maryland Businesses (HBA), the Maryland State initiative to support healthy workplaces. Any Maryland employer who is a member of Healthiest Maryland Businesses is eligible to apply for the awards, and there is no cost to be a member.
Recognition criteria are based on the CDC’s Workplace Health Model and applicants are asked to describe activities and share examples of policies and tools developed and utilized in the four areas of assessment: planning, management, implementation, and evaluation.
Examples of workplace health program strategies include access to fitness activities and health education, company policies that promote healthy behaviors, insurance coverage for appropriate preventive screenings, and program participation.
Employers may earn a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or an On the Path award based on their activities to establish leadership support for wellness, create wellness committees, survey the needs and interests of their employees, set health improvement goals, and develop monitoring tools to track their outcomes over time.
Workplace health programs can lead to change at both the individual (i.e., employee) and the organizational levels. For individuals, workplace health programs have the potential to impact an employee’s health, such as their health behaviors, health risks for disease, and current health status.
A complete list of businesses recognized at this year’s Wellness at Work awards can be found here: https://www.healthiestmdbusinesses.org/awards19.
Launched in 2010 and based at the Maryland Department of Health, Healthiest Maryland Businesses helps businesses create customized wellness plans, set wellness goals, and monitor progress.
