LGIS has launched a new resource as part of its health and wellbeing program. The resource, called ‘Healthy Intel Lunches,’ is designed to improve the eating habits of local government workers, by providing valuable nutrition tips and advice, along with a variety of easy and healthy recipes. Our main goal is to help employees in the sector maintain high energy levels throughout their busy and demanding workdays, whilst continuing to improve overall wellbeing and lifestyles among the sector via our prevention and wellbeing services.
The LGIS program aims to provide a proactive approach to improve awareness and lower risk factors in the area of health and wellbeing and assist members in creating healthy workplaces.
This in turn can help improve workers’ safety performance, general health and wellbeing as well as reduce workers’ compensation claims.
At its core, LGIS is all about local governments working together to achieve best outcomes for their organisations, people
and community. LGSAG is one such initiative where we have collaborated with member representatives to ensure they can create a safe and healthy work environment for their workforce when it comes into effect sometime next year.
The Workers’ Compensation & Injury Management Bill 2023, currently before Parliament in Western Australia, will enact major changes to WA’s workers’ compensation scheme
when it comes into effect sometime next year.
The importance of employers following internal policies and procedures and keeping accurate records can’t be emphasised enough when effectively managing a worker’s compensation claim. Our first case explores the need to follow one’s own internal polices in the context of a worker’s compensation work related stress claim.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has recently released a health research – ‘Healthy Diet Score report’, which talks about the dietary habits of Aussie adults. The research is based on the results of 235,000 participants over an eight-year period between 2015 and 2023.
It states that Australian adults scored an average of 55 out of 100.
It is interesting to note that the average discretionary food consumption by Aussies was about 28 serves per week. Alcohol, cakes and biscuits, chocolate and confectionary, and takeaway foods were among the top contributors to this discretionary intake.
“Although Australians are often perceived as fit and healthy, the low collective score shows that we just meet the pass mark when it comes to adopting the national dietary recommendations. The score is a stark reminder of the work that needs to be done to improve our eating habits and reduce the national waistline,” said Dr Gilly Hendrie, CSIRO research scientist and co-author of the report. To eat well, your diet should have a balance of good quality lean proteins, an abundance of fruit and vegetables in a variety of colours, fibre rich wholegrains or grain alternatives and healthy sources of fat.
Research has established that including all macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) in the appropriate amount and frequency may have a positive impact on our health, energy, longevity and most importantly our ability to prevent disease.
We have sourced our recipes from our monthly Healthy Intel newsletters, which also include tips and tricks to improve overall health.
James Larkin, WorkCare Services Manager at LGIS is of the view that healthy eating is an essential component when trying to improve or maintain good health and wellbeing, but lunches can be difficult to get right. Whether we are low on time, motivation or healthy food options, sometimes lunch can be the forgotten meal in our day and convenience often takes over, particularly when we get busy during the day. LGIS has been providing members with monthly recipes in our Healthy Intel newsletter for over eight years, and we have now created a new resource which helps local government staff to make healthier food choices and improve eating habits.
Our new recipe guide provides a range of lunch options and tips for getting a balanced diet whilst managing a busy lifestyle, and I encourage all members to utilise this resource for your local government.
– James Larkin, WorkCare Services Manager at LGIS
Along with the recipes, the guide also includes varied pantry solutions (like at-home and at-work pantry ideas) for workers who find it difficult to do meal preps owing to their busy lifestyle. Afterall, it’s easier to plan and prepare healthy and tasty lunches when you’re organised.
The ‘Australian Guide to Healthy eating’, is also an excellent tool that shows how much of each food group is recommended.
Each month we take your questions to one of our LGIS team members to answer.
If you want to submit a question for next issue, email us at [email protected]
Welcome to our last edition of Risk Matters for 2023. We always enjoy an opportunity to catch up with members, and in the last quarter of 2023 there’s been plenty.
It’s summer! That time of the year when everyone is ready to celebrate and go on holidays. Tourists all across the country and within Western Australia flock to popular spots to relax and enjoy our beautiful state.
A woman in her 50s lost her balance and fell while stepping up over a concrete mound within a popular caravan park. She fractured her ankle and held one of our regional members liable for the injury and loss suffered, alleged to have been $190k.
LGIS is the unifying name for the dedicated suite of risk financing and management services for WA local governments, established by the WA Local Government Association in conjunction with JLT Public Sector (part of the Marsh group of companies). LGIS is managed by JLT Public Sector (ABN 69 009 098 864 AFS Licence 226827).
Risk Matters, via this website, is designed to keep members, their staff and elected members informed on topical risk management and insurance issues and LGIS programs and services.
