At the RHA we are working on a number of wellbeing projects including our partnership with the Diabetes Safety Organisation to reduce the stigma attached to having Diabetes and to support prevention of type 2 Diabetes in the workplace.
We recently launched our pledge to support the road transport industry to become the first Diabetes Safe Industry.
Employers have a business and moral imperative to address the risks of diabetes in their workplace. They are uniquely positioned in terms of the influence and potential impact they have on the lives of their employees and the motivations of individuals for preventing diabetes and diabetes complications.
In a Diabetes Safe workplace, there is clear support by leadership and management for effective management of diabetes in the workplace and a culture which encourages disclosure. In a Diabetes Safe workplace, employees with diabetes experience understanding and support for their condition rather than feeling it is a private responsibility for which they must compromise effective diabetes management to ‘fit in’ at work.
Diabetes is a complicated and frequently misunderstood condition. Type 2 diabetes is often not considered as serious a condition as type 1 diabetes or other conditions such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. Most employers are not aware of the prevalence of diabetes in their workplace, how their workplace might be contributing to diabetes, or the threat of the type 2 diabetes epidemic on business performance, growth and sustainability.
To drive the campaign for change we have collated data from the road transport industry on the prevalence of diabetes in organisations which we will be presented back to leaders of our membership organisations on a webinar during November. We are also partnering with DSO on a roundtable with industry leaders to highlight the need for action.
DSO have also launched Hypokits - a simple way to immediately improve Diabetes Safety in the workplace. Like a first aid kit, a hypo kit is a compact, easy to use kit equipped with three 60ml glucose shots, ready to tackle hypoglycaemic episodes head-on. They come with a QR code, giving all staff free access to a training video on how to use the kit.
See attached link for more information on the kits and to buy yours: https://diabetessafety.org/hypokit/
As part of our advocate partner membership with Women in Transport we were delighted to join Shireen Ali-Khan on her latest podcast series to discuss diabetes in the workplace and how this can be prevented through increased awareness and support from employers on healthier lifestyles.
Our partnership packages are a flexible and accessible way to support Women in Transport and your organisation's equity, diversity and inclusion objectives. Learn more about our partnership opportunities here and contact us if you would like a meeting to discuss how we can work together.
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