3M - Working for Health

The 3M Aycliffe site, which has some 400 employees, has set up a special sub-committee for health as well as others specifically for safety and the environment. Each of these sub-committees is dedicated to its subject area, and each report their recommendations to the site's safety, health and environmental committee.

"We take an holistic approach to health and wellbeing" explained the site's occupational health adviser Pat Hardy. "It is not just about the eight hours that people spend in the workplace, but also concerns their home and recreational life as well."

"There are a wide range of health improvement activities put on for employees from organised lunchtime walks for gentle exercise to smoking cessation and healthy heart programmes. Many of these special events are run in response to employee requests and this has led to a very good uptake as we are directly answering their needs.

"We are also concerned about raising awareness of gender-related health problems and are increasingly encouraging employees to think preventively about issues such as breast and testicular cancer."

3M Aycliffe also plays its part in protecting the safety of workers worldwide through its product range of innovative personal respirators. Developed and manufactured at the Heighington Lane plant, the respirators protect against the risks caused by dust, fumes and vapours.

The plant is one of a number of UK manufacturing sites for the global 3M company, whose well-known brands include Scotch, Post-It, Scotchgard, Thinsulate and Scotch-Brite.