Almost 20 North Sea oil and gas companies were recognised for the work they’ve undertaken to ensure healthier working lives for staff at the NHS Grampian Healthy Working Lives Awards.
Of the 21 organisations awarded, 17 of those came from the oil and gas sector, either as operators or supply chain firms.
CNR, Stork, Transocean, Endeavour Energy and Seatronics were all granted either gold or silver awards for the work they’ve undertaken to ensure a healthier workforce.
CNR Tiffany platform, a gold award recipient, organised an Offshore Olympics in the summer of 2017 and participated in a cycle challenge against CNR employees in their Canadian office, as staff used stationary bikes in the gym to cover the distance between Aberdeen and Calgary.
Steve Bell, health and work director for the Scottish Centre Healthy Working Lives at NHS Health Scotland, said: “The big advantage of the programme is that everybody recognises the need to invest in the health and wellbeing of your staff and in their safety. It was in this part of the world that the forerunner of the Healthy Working Lives Awards was kicked off, in Aberdeen. A big part of that was because was because of the importance that the oil and gas sector places on the safety of its staff. If you want to get the most out of people, if you want to motivate them, then you’ve got to invest in them more generally. What you want is a healthy, fit, committed workforce.
“Clearly things have been difficult recently for the oil and gas sector and society as a whole. It’s a real testament therefore to the importance of health in work that the industry has continued. Even in the toughest times they’ve continued to invest in their workforce. I’m here today to say a huge thank you to all of those in the local economy of the north-east today.”
The awards, held on Friday at Hazelhead Park, were presented by NHS Grampian’s Director of Public Health, Susan Webb.
She said: “Quite a large proportion of our population spend a long time in the workplace. The environment that you work in and the people that you work with can have a major impact on your health and how your feeling, your ability to balance the pressures of work with the pressures of home life.
“So with the Health Working Lives Awards we work with a range of companies to see how they can create environments for their staff which allows them to enjoy coming to work, feel supported, but also recognising that all of us in our working lives experience stress. So, part of what we do is look at how people can manage stress in their working lives.”
