The best practice employers from the finance, hospitality, construction, healthcare and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors were announced last night at the Daman Corporate Health Awards, held at The Westin, Abu Dhabi. The awards, organised by MEED, are now in their third year and honour UAE employers for success in corporate health initiatives.

Atlantis, The Palm took home the CSR Employee Engagement of the Year Award for its success in implementing health and wellness initiatives that have gained substantial employee support. Atlantis, The Palm encourages its 3,200 colleagues to participate in 60-80 sports and wellness events every year.

CH2M won Communications Campaign of the Year Award. The firm identified driving as the highest risk to their employees and subsequently developed a communications plan to deliver safety messages, which focused on specific driving hazards.

Nabil al-Alawi, CEO of Al-Mansoori Specialized Engineering, was honoured with the Corporate Wellness Leader of the Year Award. He was recognised for his outstanding leadership as a senior professional who has inspired colleagues and peers with corporate wellness initiatives. Al-Alawi developed the company’s Health Monitoring Management System. A sample of 350 current employees was taken and the data showed that 34 per cent have reduced their weight, 35 per cent have improved their blood sugar levels, and 57 per cent have decreased their cholesterol levels.

The Corporate Wellness Team of the Year Award went to TECOM Group. Judges were impressed with how the team gathered and analysed information through surveys, medical and insurance claim data collection and focus groups before planning appropriate wellness programmes or initiatives.

ABB UAE won the Health & Safety Initiative of the Year Award due to its ongoing drive to improve health and safety throughout the organisation. ABB UAE believes that employee participation is key to the success of their wellness initiative. The firm’s CEO launched the “Don’t look the other way” campaign to remind everyone that they have a personal responsibility for their own and others’ safety.

Tawam Hospital won the Innovation in Work Culture Award for the excellent way it has used innovation to improve employee performance and service to clients. Tawam Hospital’s executive leadership realised that the best way to enhance patient safety was to build a culture of safety at the hospital. This culture of safety has significant linkages to clinical outcomes, and has successfully reduced hospital-acquired infections to zero, cut costs and prevented extended hospital stays.

For the third year in a row, Lamprell Energy won the Daman Award for Improved Corporate Health and Wellness Performance. Each year, new improvement goals are set by the senior management team in order to strengthen the safety culture among the workforce and prevent all avoidable incidents. Lamprell Energy’s Jebel Ali and Dubai facilities achieved major milestones by operating for three years without any lost-day incident.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to this year’s winners on their impressive achievements,” said Michael Bitzer, CEO of National Health Insurance Company (Daman), headline sponsor of the awards. “The awards recognise the immense efforts of these highly respected organisations in championing the cause of workplace wellness. We hope others will see the incredible business benefits that arise from actively encouraging employees to make important changes to their lifestyles. Healthier employees are more engaged and productive and this translates to better performance – at both an individual and organisational level.

“We at Daman hope that winners from current and past years continue to inspire other organisations to adopt corporate wellness practices and share our goal to create healthier communities across the UAE.”

The Daman Award for Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative was given to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry for taking up the challenge to improve health and wellness among their staff.

Sehhati, meaning ‘’My Health’’ in Arabic, is an innovative 10-week wellness programme designed and run in-house to help staff build sustainable good habits and create a healthy culture. The excellent results, including a 56 per cent drop in absenteeism, shows the positive business impact of the chamber’s initiative.

Finally, the highest accolade, the Daman Award for Corporate Health and Wellness Organisation, went to Mashreq. It launched Sahtak, a wellbeing initiative, in early 2015 to instill a healthy living culture in its employees. Sahtak, an Arabic term for “Your Wellbeing”, was initiated to help Mashreq become the employer of choice by creating a healthy, happy, dynamic environment.

“It has been a great pleasure to be part of Mashreq’s wellness journey and see their impact and performance evolve,” said Becky Crayman, programme director of awards at MEED.