North Somerset Healthy Workplaces Programme
Expected completion February 2027
At a glance
The North Somerset Healthy Workplaces Programme supports local employers to improve staff health and wellbeing through a free, award‑based framework. With higher‑than‑average levels of physical and mental health conditions among the local workforce, the programme aims to create healthier workplaces, reduce sickness absence and strengthen productivity. This evaluation will explore how employees experience the programme, what influences engagement, and which elements are most effective or challenging in practice. Findings will help refine the offer for different types of organisations and provide learning for other areas developing similar workplace health initiatives.
What does the evaluation mean for Local Government?
The findings will give Local Authorities clearer insight into how workplace‑based health and wellbeing initiatives are experienced by employees and what factors most influence engagement, equity and impact. Understanding what works well – and where barriers persist -will help strengthen local strategies to improve workforce wellbeing, reduce sickness absence and support inclusive economic growth. The research will also highlight how the programme can be refined to better meet the needs of different types of employers and employees across North Somerset. These insights will support evidence‑based decision‑making and provide learning that can be shared with other areas developing or enhancing similar workplace health programmes.
How are the public involved in the study?
The public, whether they live or work in the local area or are employees of programme member workplaces, will play an important role throughout this evaluation. A PHIRST public member has been part of the study from the very start, ensuring that public input was continually considered. At an early stage we sought the views of the public on what our evaluation could focus on, at the North Somerset Healthy Workplaces Programme awards event. We will recruit a member of the public to join our regular study meetings, as well as creating a Public Advisory Group (PAG), who will meet to input on key study milestones. We will also conduct workshops with member organisation representatives, to maximise the acceptability of the research methods, and will work with local community groups to make sure our research is best placed to include a diverse range of participants.
Evaluation details
In the U.K. there are high rates of both working days lost due to employee sickness and people leaving the workforce each year due to health conditions. North Somerset in particular has higher than average rates of employee physical or mental health conditions. The North Somerset Healthy Workplaces programme is a free offer to help support workplace-led staff health and wellbeing offers and services in businesses in the area. Businesses are encouraged to work towards achieving bronze, silver and gold awards. The programme aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the working-age population in North Somerset, whilst also benefitting local businesses through lower sickness absence rates and having happier and healthier employees.
This research will look at the experiences of employees of workplaces involved in the Healthy Workplaces Programme. The results will provide information on what works well and less well in the programme, leading to recommendations on how to develop the programme to better improve employee health and wellbeing.
To do this we will consider:
1. Employees health and wellbeing needs and if these are supported by their workplace.
2. Employees experiences of the support for health and wellbeing and the culture provided by their workplace.
3. Employees awareness of their workplaces being members, and perhaps award holders, of the programme.
4. Differences in employee experiences of the programme.
We will use a mix of methods to explore these areas: Data routinely collected within the programme.A survey with employees of member organisations.Interviews and focus groups with employees of member organisation. The findings of this evaluation will allow the Local Authority to understand the views of employees of organisations that are involved with the Healthy Workplaces Programme. This will provide a better understanding of what works well and less well, leading to improvements within the programme and recommendations for other areas in the U.K. undertaking similar workplace programmes. This will help to further improve the health and wellbeing of employees.
Local Government / Partner(s)
North Somerset Council
Healthy Workplaces | Better Health North Somerset
PHIRST Insight research team
Key contact: Dr Jemma Hawkins, HawkinsJ10@cardiff.ac.uk
NIHR Funding Award: NIHR177209