Craig Wallwin, Wallwin Electrical Services

bh IN BRIEF

Wallwin Electrical Services is a full-service electrical contracting business. Located in Barrie, ON and established in 1951, it has about 100 employees. Craig Wallwin, President & CEO, talks about how a recent event profoundly changed his attitudes on health for himself, and for his employees.Program participation is very high, and employees are adopting healthier behaviours. Simply ‘doing the right thing’– developing more energetic, satisfied, and customer-friendly employees – is enough to start.

Q: Craig, what motivated you to get involved in a workplace health initiative?

It was actually very personal. I had a collapsed lung in February 2001, but the consequences really didn’t sink in until it re-collapsed a year later. After starting a personal rehabilitation program, I began feeling much better and had a lot more energy. I realized what was good for me might also be good for my employees.

Q: How did you get started? Were there any obstacles?

I worked with a local health care provider, who happened to be a chiropractor, to pilot a program that focused on testing and educating employees who wanted to become healthier. Initially, there was some suspicion and confidentiality was an issue. To overcome this, we ran a pilot with four of our employees. That helped – those employees began to talk to others about the benefits of the program.

Q: What role was your health benefit advisor able to play?

Actually, our original advisor wasn’t much help. We have since changed advisors and now have someone who we think will be able to help us with our health-related issues and bring in new ideas that will allow us to progress to the next level.

Q: How important was your personal commitment to this program?

Very important. It was only after being confronted personally with the reality of my own health issues, that I was able to see the benefits both for myself and the company. Now that we are beginning to see the results of people changing their lives, that original decision to focus on health seems so obvious! Two of our employees recently ran in the Ottawa marathon. One year ago, neither was a runner. We have a 40-year-old, long service employee who was reluctant to get involved, but she’s now participating and is starting to get control of her health. It’s great to see! I was the original champion for our organization, but now our controller has taken on this role and the enthusiasm continues to spread.

Q: What has been the impact on costs? What have been the benefits?

Well, initially I was not concerned about costs. We are a service-oriented business, so how our employees interact with our customers is crucial to our success. I felt that making an investment in health would result in healthier, happier, and more productive employees. Although we intend to do more measurement of absenteeism, injuries, and illnesses, I am convinced that we are on the right path based on our current level of satisfaction among employees and strong business results.

Q: What do you see as the future of workplace health in your organization?

I am firmly convinced that our workplace health initiative will only get better. Although we’ve achieved a 30% participation rate, I’d like to see that grow substantially. I am confident that if we continue to look for new ideas to promote health, we will reach more people and see more and more positive results.

Q: What is the one thing that makes you most proud of the initiative you have taken?

I am most proud that the change in my own health has been an example for other employees. It is very satisfying for me to see people take more responsibility for their health and to know that Wallwin Electric has helped encourage that change. I hope that other employers in this community take a stronger interest in the health and well-being of their employees. Our families and our businesses and the whole community depends on it.

When confronted with the consequences of their actions, kids will usually repeat a time-tested mantra: “He started it!” For once, being told you started it could be a life-saver! Here are three steps you can take to get involved:

Look at your own organization’s record on safe and healthy workplace environments. How do you measure safety? What accidents or injury trends are emerging? Do your employees, or their representatives, believe you have a safe workplace? Have you communicated safety effectively? Your benefits advisor may be able to help you ask the right questions and identify relevant data.
Download free and read the Baker-Norton report of The Canadian Adverse Events Study, at: www.cmaj.ca. These first two steps may inspire you to move to Step 3.
Find out what patient safety facts, figures, and processes your local hospital has compiled. Beware this is an extremely sensitive issue for hospital management and Boards. Constructively approach the issue through your local Chamber of Commerce, where the issue can be de-personalized. Be prepared to give hospitals time to respond: many know they do not have all the information they need readily available.