Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

PoliceLatest NewsOccupational HealthWellbeing

Metropolitan Police saves £30m by managing employee health

by Personnel Today 25 Oct 2005
by Personnel Today 25 Oct 2005

The Metropolitan Police Authority has saved more than £30m in the past two years by focusing on the health and fitness of its employees.
Following the launch of a £350,000 workplace health campaign in 2003, absence levels at the Met have fallen from 10.2 days to 7.1 days at the end of September 2005.

The Met, which employs more than 47,000 staff, estimates that it saves £10m for every day cut off the average absence level, covering the cost of sick pay and employing extra officers.

The £30m savings estimate could be conservative, however, as it does not take into account the return on investment (ROI) that comes through the increased productivity of staff. New research, from wellbeing consultancy Vielife, shows that workplace wellbeing programmes can produce a ROI of nearly 400% by boosting productivity.

The Metropolitan Police Authority has taken a three-pronged approach to tackling health. It has created a sickness management procedure, with trigger points for management intervention based on the amount of time officers take off sick.

It has also designated occupational health teams to travel between different ‘commands’ across the capital, targeting areas with high absence figures, while health promotion vans tour Met areas offering free health tests for staff and officers.

Martin Tiplady, HR director at the Met, said actively encouraging staff and officers to look at their health was vital to bringing down absence figures. After officers join the service and have their initial fitness test, there are no further tests unless they are in a specialist unit.

“We have no means of doing anything for the others except offering them help,” said Tiplady.

The scheme achieved 25% take-up following a poster campaign and after managers told staff the free tests were worth £150.

How did the Met improve the health of its staff?



  • The promotion focused on physical fitness, diet, mental health (stress) and cancer-related illnesses as part of a £350,000 campaign to get officers and staff to focus on their own physical wellbeing.

  • Two health promotion vans toured police headquarters across London offering services including body mass index tests, blood tests and general health evaluations. Staff were also encouraged to try on a prosthetic stomach, weighing 21lbs, to highlight the impact extra weight has on the body. Visit the Personnel Today stand (B98) at the CIPD conference this week, to try it on.

  • The tests were carried out by occupational health nurses and physical training specialists and staff were given feedback on how they could improve their health.

Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Warnings that 24-hour opening may lead to hearing problems for bar staff
next post
Survey proves fitter employees lead to healthier balance sheets

You may also like

Nurses set to vote on strike over pay

9 Aug 2022

Former MP’s aide unfairly dismissed after whistleblowing

9 Aug 2022

Private spaces for focused work key to office...

9 Aug 2022

Top earners’ pay soars by 10% while lowest-paid...

8 Aug 2022

National Payroll Week: A compliance guide for SMEs...

8 Aug 2022

‘Pushy’ lawyer awarded £152k for sex discrimination

8 Aug 2022

Something new to get stressed about: hello Premier...

5 Aug 2022

Long Covid develops in one in eight of...

5 Aug 2022

Economic outlook slows hiring despite skills shortfalls

5 Aug 2022

ESG for HR: Emma Burrows talks to Oven-Ready...

5 Aug 2022

  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today