In celebration of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month, October 1 to 31, 2009, Health Action Windsor-Essex and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit hosted the 8th Annual Healthy Workplace and 4th Annual Bike Friendly Workplace Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, October 21 at the Ciociaro Club.

The Healthy Workplace Award recognizes workplaces in Windsor and Essex County that demonstrate a commitment to employee health by promoting and supporting healthy lifestyles for employees and their families. The awards are presented annually to workplaces meeting the required criteria for Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of workplace health promotion programming.

To attain a Healthy Workplace Award, these workplaces implemented one or more workplace wellness activities (e.g., healthy eating, smoking cessation, physical activity, responsible drinking, etc.) that included all of the following health promotion strategies:

Awareness Raising, Education and Skill Building, Environmental Support and Policy

St. Clair College received our second Gold Award for assisting 103 staff members to quit smoking in the past year.
These comprehensive programs can make a positive difference in the health and well-being of our St. Clair College staff. A major part of the success of our college is directly linked to the health of its employees.

Congratulation to those who have quit smoking this year. A special thank you to our staff Elyse Maindonald, Patti France, Dave Nugent, Rebecca Demchuk, Linda Jahn and Cindy Crump. There were over 20 workplaces recognized with awards of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum from Windsor and Essex County. Some award winners included Enwin Utilities, City of Windsor, Windsor Regional Hospital and Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital.