Healthy Working as Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

‘The working environment is a very important aspect of the living environment: about half of the Dutch population is employed’, says Anne van Putten, Coordinator Knowledge & Research, Healthy & Safe Work, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, and Core Team Member Top Sector LSH. How does the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) stimulate a healthy working environment and prevent health problems?

‘Every year, over 4100 people die due to their work’, says Van Putten, Coordinator Knowledge & Research, Healthy & Safe Work, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. ‘This is many times the number of road fatalities each year.’ This number is for a small part caused by industrial accidents, but includes many employees who die years after they retire. During their employment, they were exposed to toxic materials, such as asbestos, and so the employer did not even notice it. ‘This is, of course, very sad, and we must prevent such cases.’

So we know work can make people ill, but we can also turn it around: “Employment also provides an opportunity to create an environment in which citizens are stimulated to live healthily”, says Van Putten. ‘We know, for instance, that people who try to quit smoking are more successful when they do this together. Colleagues supporting each other is a very powerful tool to improve lifestyle behaviour.’

The role of the Ministry

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is responsible for overall public health. ‘But citizens wake up every morning and go to work: for them, there is no barriers between their health and lifestyle in private settings and the workplace’, says van Putten. ‘Therefore, our campaigns are often intertwined with other campaigns.’

An example is the recently launched campaign “Exercise more” (meer bewegen), which aims to motivate employees sitting at a desk all day to get up and exercise more often. Meanwhile, there is the campaign “Exercising is the new normal”, launched by several top athletes and VWS. The goal is the same for both ministries: stimulate a healthy lifestyle by exercising enough.

Every euro invested in prevention pays you back double. Lifestyle prevention plays an important role in this.’ – Anne van Putten

Furthermore, SZW focuses on preventing occupational diseases. ‘This includes the exposure to hazardous substances, physical overload, but also physical underload: sitting still all day’, explains Van Putten. ‘We also look into psychological problems and mental disorders, such as stress, high pressure or burnouts. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and working from home started playing a role as well.’

‘At SZW, we believe it is important to make an effort on all of these subjects’, Van Putten continues. ‘We don’t want a situation where an employer swaps the croquettes in the cafeteria with salads and feels like that’s enough: if his employees are still exposed to hazardous substances, then the working environment is still not healthy.’

National Prevention Agreement

Van Putten also sees an important connection to Top Sector LSH. ‘If we talk to companies in the context of Mission I and enter into a dialogue about prevention through a healthy lifestyle, we should include the Working Conditions Act (Arbowet) as well: they are in line with each other. Employers have a duty of care (zorgplicht), so they have to create the optimal environment for people to work safely and healthily.’

This process has already started through the National Prevention Agreement, in which the Dutch government, together with over 70 social organisations, has signed 200 agreements to make the Netherlands healthier. Different employers’ organisations have also signed this agreement and are actively participating.

Van Putten praises the attention Top Sector LSH has for mental health, its impact on our overall health, and the work that still needs to be done to improve overall mental health. This is an important theme for employers and employees tool.

‘I also think prevention is very important’, says Van Putten. ‘My appeal for all the partners of the Top Sector LSH is as follows: let’s not narrow down prevention to lifestyle alone.  Please also start the dialogue with employers too, and talk about what they have done in the workplace, on the floor and in the organisation. Only then can we really help our country to move forward, with great ambitions and great missions.’

This interview is also published in the Health~Holland Update: the Power of Prevention, which is filled with the most important developments in the Dutch Life Sciences & Health sector and brings you up-to-date on the activities on Mission I: Lifestyle and living environment. Read the Update here!