Worksite checklist
As part of the Blue Zones Worksite Pledge, employers are required to follow guidelines that nudge people into healthy habits.
The pledge encourages offices to change aspects of their workplaces, such as focusing on employees’ sense of purpose, making the physical environment of the office more health-conducive, establishing a stronger sense of social connection, and examining flexible work policies and benefits.
The Blue Zones Worksite Pledge Actions are what determine if a worksite can qualify for designation. Of the 52 different items on the pledge, only two thirds of the actions have to be completed. Each pledge action ranges from one to three points, and to become a designated worksite, an employer must earn 78 points. Worksites also need at least 25 percent of their employees to complete one action item on the Blue Zones Personal Pledge. Currently the City of Redondo Beach, the City of Manhattan Beach, as well as King Harbor Marina, ZICO Coconut Water, the Aerospace Corporation, the Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) and the risk-assessment firm Bliss and Glennon have been designated.
The worksite pledge allows employers to choose actions that best suit their environment. Many of the actions are small, like giving employees the option of sitting or standing at their desk and encouraging micro breaks several times a day. According to Carrie Anne Blevins, the Organization Lead for the Blue Zones Project, each change can make a big difference in the health and well-being of an employee.
In order to become a designated Blue Zones Workplace, Blevins stressed the importance of employers including employees in the planning process and providing input as to how the project proceeds.
“It can’t just be the leadership, the employees need to do it too,” said Blevins. “That will help it gain traction, because the ideas are coming from the employees.”
She also said that worksites can start small and do just one thing that promotes well-being, like having a walking meeting, providing healthy snacks or allowing for a flexible schedule.
ZICO Coconut Water, now based in El Segundo, was one of the first companies to embrace the program. When they moved offices from Hermosa Beach to El Segundo, they decided to implement the program fully in order to have a healthier work environment for their quickly expanding company.
Founders Maura Rampolla and her husband Mark heard about the Blue Zones Project and knew it was a perfect fit for their lifestyle brand.
“That’s why we launched ZICO in the first place,” said Maura Rampolla. “It just works with our brand, and makes a lot of sense. It’s where we want to go as a company anyway.”
For ZICO, the structure and guidelines to become a Blue Zones Worksite helped them guide their company to become a designated Blue Zones Workplace.
