The winner of the Yakult Healthy Workplace Awards 2008 has been awarded to Arup Consulting Engineers, which has offices in Cork.

Crowned the healthiest place to work in Ireland, Arup beat strong competition from across the country The Healthy Workplace Awards were launched to help identify those organisations that actively support staff wellbeing.

According to research published by Yakult, over a third (40%) of the Irish workforce admits to suffering from work related stress. However, companies such as Arup are going a long way to ensuring staff have a healthy and stress free place to work.

Arup's commitment to a healthy workplace can be traced back as far as the 1970's. Today its policies are evident from office layout and desk design, to HR and communication policies, to out of office activities including activities and club memberships.

All the entrants in the Yakult Healthy Workplace Awards were nominated by employees and then evaluated by a top panel of judges comprising Jim Ronan, Managing Director at Stresscare, Muriel Johnson, Occupational Physiotherapist, and Peter Hatton of Yakult.

According to Peter Hatton, Marketing Manager, Yakult Ireland, this year's list of entrants was particularly strong. "It's clear from the awards that companies in Ireland are increasingly thinking about workplace environments which is great news for Irish employees as a whole. Arup is a leading example but we had a variety of companies enter the awards this year demonstrating numerous healthy workplace initiatives. We hope this trend continues among Irish companies."

Some of the healthy workplace initiatives and policies Arup has in place include ergonomic office / furniture layout, including desks, internal spaces and outside landscaping, subsidised social events for staff and their partners, family and friends, flexitime, incentive/bonus scheme and subsidised travel to work, regular business briefings/updates and an open door policy with senior management, access to company bicycles during work hours, Weight Watcher classes, subsidised yoga and club memberships, flu vaccinations, group medical aid and time off to make blood donations.

Clem Hussey, Head of HR, Arup Consulting Engineers added, "Creating a healthy and stress free environment has always been central to our operations so to be recognised for that achievement is great news. This is a unique award which we hope will encourage other businesses in Ireland to create a healthy work life balance".

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