Definition - What does Assessment mean?
An assessment is a process used to evaluate all of the factors affecting a particular situation. For example, individuals may have a personal health assessment performed to determine how well they are managing their ongoing health.
As it relates to workplace health and wellness, an assessment involves a comprehensive evaluation of the workplace to determine each condition that positively or negatively affects worker health. This type of assessment is called a workplace health assessment.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that employers conduct workplace health assessments to identify not only those factors that have an impact of workers' health but also steps that can be taken to improve the wellness status of the organization.
This assessment is often the first step that a company will take before creating a workplace wellness program. Later assessments may be used to improve and expand an existing workplace wellness program.
SureHire explains Assessment
An assessment is much like a situational analysis. During a workplace health assessment, the current state of the workplace's health and wellness environment is examined. The assessment will also identify and quantify available resources.
A workplace health assessment should evaluate the population health of the company's workforce, the support and resources available in the surrounding community, the current structure and health culture at the organization, and environmental factors in and around the workplace that affect worker health. Access to healthcare and the cost of that access should also be considered.
When conducting a workplace health assessment, information including workplace injury reports, health care costs measurements, and absenteeism and presenteeism rates may be considered. Other ways to collect information include employee surveys and onsite visits.
Both for-profit and non-profit organization offer workplace health assessment services that provide companies with detailed reports and a workplace health score. For example, the American Heart Association offers employers a self-assessment scorecard called a workplace health achievement index that can be used to conduct a workplace health assessment.
