Two local health boards and the a fire service are leading the way in Wales in protecting and promoting the health of their staff. Bridgend and Wrexham Health Boards and the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service have received gold awards to mark their achievement.

Local authorities and NHS trusts were among eight other organisations which received silver and bronze awards as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s “Corporate Standard: Health at Work” initiative, which is designed to encourage employers to commit themselves to improving the health and well-being of their workforce.

The Assembly’s Health minister Jane Hutt said avoidable ill health led to the loss of income and skills to organisations, and cost Wales about 500 million pounds each year. The Corporate Health Standard had been developed to tackle the issue by making employers more aware of the factors that caused ill health in the workplace. It was not simply an award scheme but a way of helping to develop policies and procedures that improved the health and well being of staff.

In addition to the three gold winners, silver awards went to Bridgend Borough Council, the Health and Safety Executive for Wales and the South West, North Glamorgan NHS Trust, the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Williams Medical Supplies of Rhymney in Gwent. Blaenau Gwent Borough Council, West Glamorgan Housing Consortium and Anheddau Cyf from Bangor took bronze awards for their work.