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Performance Pipe Employees raise the gold
flag for their health and wellness achievements.
"If you’ve got a safe
and healthy employee, then you’ve got a productive employee. In this thought
process, you help your employees and do what you can to keep them safe.
We’re giving them healthy choices and hope they take that home to their
family.”
Jeff Walters
Performance Pipe |
By Aimee Nielson
WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky., (Dec. 21, 2005) – Several Grant County businesses and schools
are making strides toward healthier lifestyles at work and at home. Those
efforts recently earned one business and two schools gold and silver status
respectively from Fitness for Life around Grant County.
FFLAG initiatives target obesity, depression and tobacco use. If a school or
business meets criteria in those areas, FFLAG presents them with a flag to fly
on their property that shows the community that place supports a healthy
lifestyle.
Performance Pipe, a division of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, reached
gold flag status for meeting FFLAG criteria. The plant manufactures pipes used
in underground gas distribution and has nearly 80 employees at its Williamstown
location.
“We are very safety oriented here,” said Jeff Walters, Performance Pipe
management team. “We are very focused on what we are trying to do for our
people. We not only want to keep them safe, we want to keep them healthy. If
you’ve got a safe and healthy employee, then you’ve got a productive employee.
In this thought process, you help your employees and do what you can to keep
them safe. We’re giving them healthy choices and hope they take that home to
their family.”
Performance Pipe initially formed a work site wellness committee to implement
ideas from the Grant County Cooperative Extension Service’s “Get Up, Get Out,
Get Fit” program. They wanted to raise awareness about physical activity and
nutrition for their coworkers.
As part of the plan, food options at all company meetings must now include
healthier food choices. In the company vending machines, 25 percent of the food
options are healthier, lower-calorie products. They have installed showers in
men’s and women’s restrooms so employees who exercise during breaks can shower
afterwards. Performance Pipe is not only implementing this program in its
Williamstown location, but also in 10 other factories throughout the U.S.
Performance Pipe employees also participate in community events such as Relay
for Life, boasting the largest corporate team in 2005 for its area.
“It sets a great role model for other companies,” said Patty Poor, Extension
agent for family and consumer sciences in Grant County. “We had about 23 people
come to the initial work site wellness training and as of today, we have three
that have achieved some kind of goal. We hope that the other people will see
this and also other members of the chamber of commerce and will make that their
goal next year.”
Poor said she and her Extension colleagues will be able to enhance FFLAG
participation by offering newsletters from the University of Kentucky’s Health
Education through Extension Leadership initiative as well as specific programs
about nutrition and wellness that could be conducted on site for employees and
students.
The FFLAG committee presented a gold flag to Performance Pipe in a flag-raising
ceremony. At the same ceremony, Mason Corinth Elementary and Crittenden-Mt. Zion
Elementary in Grant County achieved silver status for their efforts to meet
FFLAG criteria.
Writer:
Aimee Nielson
859-257-4736, ext. 267
Contact:
Patty Poor 859-824-3355
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