Coastline Housing has been recognised as the first to achieve the Gold standard at the Healthy Workplace awards.

The Camborne-based housing association has implemented a raft of initiatives to help its employees get the most out of life, and has reaped the rewards of being a proactive employer.

The award was presented to the housing association by Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, organised by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly NHS Trust Health Promotion team.

From fresh fruit and veg deliveries, bringing in healthy alternatives to the birthday cake run, and implementing flu jabs for staff, the organisation has worked with employees to make a healthy lifestyle more accessible.

Robert Nettleton, chief executive, said: “Everybody knows we’re meant to live healthier lifestyles, but some people struggle to fit this in around their jobs.  We wanted to change this.

"The initiative is two-pronged: we want to be respected as a good employer, but similarly our employees want to be involved because it benefits them.  It has certainly paid off for us as an employer – the average underlying sickness absence rate has reduced by 20%, and with more than 200 employees, that’s in excess of 400 days in all.

"We looked at the cost benefit and it has been a substantial success.  For a relatively small investment, it’s prevented us having to bring in temporary staff – essentially it could cost £20-25,000 a year to keep the business staffed for those periods – so the investment is paying off on many levels.

 “The team has been very responsive.  We now have a football team, launched a pedometer challenge to get people moving during the course of their working day, and have Coastline staff training for the London Marathon this year.”

Coastline Housing Group has already been singled out by the British Heart Foundation for a video case study following its success, which can be seen at www.behealthyatwork.org.