Kier's commitment to workplace health practices for its local workforce in East Durham has been recognised through the receipt of a silver accreditation in the NHS Better Health at Work programme.

The Better Health at Work scheme is a regional programme, which has been developed to recognise and endorse companies encouraging sustainable cultures of health and well-being in the workplace. Itworks to improve staff moral and increase productivity, as well as reduce absenteeism and staff turnover.

The programme recognises Kier's active promotion of workplace health & safety and encourages a partnership between companies, their local Primary Care Trust public health departments and other health improvement specialists.

To gain the silver accreditation, Kier implemented special campaigns to promote healthy eating guidelines that encourage employees to embrace healthier lifestyle choices. This included making changes to menus at meetings and corporate events to include low calorie and low fat alternatives. The company also ran local awareness campaigns around areas such as mental health and well-being, healthy eating and drug and alcohol abuse.

Kier regional director, Mike Furze, said: "It is imperative for a company of our size to have strong health & safety practices in place. We are committed to looking after our workforce and providing them with care and advice in health related issues.

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