Stronger national systems for data collection and analysis are needed to design effective workplace wellness programmes that truly benefit employees and employers alike, the head of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council has said.
TVET Executive Director Henderson Eastmond made the call during the media launch for the TVET Council Barbados Health and Wellness Conference and Open Day.
The conference is scheduled for March 25–27 with the Open Day set for March 28 at the National Botanical Gardens. Organisers said the initiative is intended to inspire healthier lifestyles while encouraging meaningful conversations about wellbeing in the workplace.
Eastmond said that although many businesses across Barbados have introduced wellness initiatives for staff, the absence of accessible data remains a major limitation when it comes to evaluating their true impact.
“We have not collected any data on that, but by observation, any business – public or private – when you have a staff that is unwell you feel it. The sick days, the low productivity. So any employer should be interested in the health and wellness of its employees.”
Eastmond noted that the TVET Council itself has implemented several initiatives to encourage healthier habits among staff members.
“We at the council, we are in a health and wellness programme, where people check their blood sugar and other indicators of health,” he said. “There’s a walking competition to keep people moving. I know a lot of other companies across Barbados are involved in that programme. I can say it just from anecdotal evidence that companies are interested.”
But anecdotal observations are not enough, Eastmond stressed, pointing to what he described as a wider regional challenge in gathering and analysing reliable data.
“Part of the problem in the Caribbean is that we don’t place enough emphasis on collecting and analysing data. The TVET Council is looking in that direction… we have to move towards Barbados and the Caribbean in general [of] trying to make evidence-based decisions, and that requires data and data analysis.”
The council is seeking to strengthen national capacity in statistics and analytics to better support data collection and policy development.
“To help that, the council is trying to push applying statistics and analytics to strengthen the capacity in the island to be able to collect and analyse data. Of course it costs money, so we are pushing the government to invest more towards research and data analysis.”
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Training and Tertiary Education Patrick McCaskie said the government has already been taking steps to improve workplace environments across the public sector.
“From the perspective of government, we have been making steps to improve the quality of workspaces, having more, for example, ergonomic facilities,” he said.
Attention has also been placed on maintaining cleaner working environments, McCaskie added.
“In terms of environmental issues, we ensure that the offices are cleaned regularly, normally four times per year – every quarter.”
He further indicated that health awareness forms part of the ministry’s broader development agenda.
“There are six mission goals, and one of these missions speaks to health awareness. I recognise that there has been a reduction in absenteeism and sick leave, which clearly is an indicator that we are improving when it comes, as a government, to health and wellness.”
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