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Dawn Robbins, program manager for the Oregon Public Health Institute’s Wellness@Work program, gave these excellent  tips to the Portland Business Journal  to promote employee health:

• Remove the candy dish. Robbins said studies have actually been done showing those chocolate kisses in the glass bowl can translate to five extra pounds per employee over the course of a year.
• Model healthy habits for your workers. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Move smokers farther away from the building. Look at all your workplace policies, including the one that specifies how close to the building you can smoke.
• Cut out the donuts and soda pop at staff meetings. Robbins said there are many free, online tools on how to offer healthier fare at meetings.
• Get workers out of their cars. A few ideas: offer free bike tune ups, pay all or part of employees’ monthly bus fares or invest in a bike rack outside the building (a place to change clothes doesn’t hurt either).
• Provide a refrigerator and microwave, so employees can bring their own lunches and avoid fast food.