If you have walked past an optician or you have a forward thinking employer you may already have seen that we are in the middle of National Health Week. As awareness weeks go, it may not get the same attention as ones supporting working parents or equality but eye health is an issue that should matter to every employer and having this week from Sep 17-23 provides a great opportunity to bring eye health to the fore.
1 Save money and hassle by formalising your eye care provision: employers have a legal obligation to provide eye care to employees who use VDUs to do their work. While the provision of eye care vouchers are a well-established route to ensuring organisations comply with the law, there are still many who work on the basis of reimbursement on a needs basis. Moving to a voucher system gives choice to employees and saves on the hassle of administering the scheme in this way.
2 Position eye care as a wellbeing benefit: many organisations see eye care provision as a box ticking or compliance issue. Because eye care is an important indicator of general health, smart organisations use eye care as part of a corporate wellbeing programme for employees. If you haven’t got one, use Eye Care Week to as an opportunity to launch or enhance your own wellbeing campaign or programme.
3 Go the extra mile: although free eye tests only apply to VDU workers, employers in industries where optical health really matters – transport and logistics especially – are using eye health to increase workplace safety and ensure employees are fit to perform. The thinking being that the cost of eye care is saved in accident reduction and increased performance. Eye Health Week can give your organisation the springboard to think strategically about the link between vision and performance.
4 Remind your employees that eye health matters: while we all value our vision, it’s human nature for life admin such as optician’s appointments to fall to the bottom of the to do list. Use the resources at the Eye Health Week website for ideas about how you can encourage your employees to make a date with their optician – even if it is for reassurance that their eyes are in good health.
The awareness week may nearly be at an end but that shouldn’t stop your organisations from thinking and planning how you can take the message about optical health to your employees.
Andy Philpott is sales and marketing director of Edenred UK
