窪蹋勛圖厙

 

Healthy Workplace Award winners work hard, play hard

Information Technology Services takes home this year's prize

- November 5, 2012

Representatives from ITS accept their Healthy Workplace Award. Left to right: Bryan Utas, Louise Smith, Paula Beed, Cali Smith, Bev Hubley, Dwight Fischer. (Bruce Bottomley photo)
Representatives from ITS accept their Healthy Workplace Award. Left to right: Bryan Utas, Louise Smith, Paula Beed, Cali Smith, Bev Hubley, Dwight Fischer. (Bruce Bottomley photo)

In accepting Dals Healthy Workplace Award on behalf of everyone in Information Technology Services (ITS), Dwight Fischer held up a little yellow circle.

It all started here, said Fischer, Dals assistant vice-president, Information Technology Services. This is the inner ring of what we used to put on disc backups. Our guys in the basement of the Killam, the data centre guys, they work hard but with an abundance of these things, they started a friendly competition thats gone on for 30 years or more.

Nowadays, the annual ITS ring toss showdown is a big deal one of the largest events that the department hosts each year for its more than 150 employees.

People train for this, said Fischer with a laugh. Its serious.

The ring toss is just one of the countless activities and initiatives that made ITS a worthy recipient of this years 窪蹋勛圖厙. The prize recognizes departments, units or areas that demonstrate a commitment to the health and wellness of their employees.

The winner is chosen by Dals Healthy Workplace Collaborative, which includes representatives from across the university. The nominations from various departments are evaluated along six dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, interpersonal/social, spiritual and environmental.

Making a difference


In the case of ITS submission, all of those areas were covered. From the departments dedicated cyclists, to its ping pong showdowns, backyard BBQs, Hurrahs to ITS shout-outs, food bank donations, curling events, softball team . . . the list of team-building and support activities seemed to go on and on.

We play together, we work together, said Fischer. Our jobs require us to spend a lot of time sitting. Therefore, it is vital, in everything we do, to get up and move around more during the day, to keep the blood flowing, more to the brain and to the heart. It makes a difference in everything we do and to those around us.

Eight other departments received certificates as runners-up this year. They include:

Ⅹ Facilities Management
Ⅹ Faculty of Management
Ⅹ Faculty of Science, Deans Office
Ⅹ Faculty of Dentistry
Ⅹ Faculty of Health Professions, Deans Office
Ⅹ University Secretariat
Ⅹ 窪蹋勛圖厙Medicine New Brunswick
Ⅹ Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre

These nominees will be profiled in upcoming editions of , the universitys employee newsletter.

We had such terrific submissions this year, said Janice MacInnis, coordinator of organizational health at Dalhousie. They were truly inspiring.

I just want to say how terrific this is, added Dal President Tom Traves. To hear about all the initiatives that go on, and the fun thats obviously had, the good spirit, it makes me proud about 窪蹋勛圖厙as an institution that we have so much commitment and engagement happening across the university.