Erickson Living Receives ACOEM’s Corporate Health Achievement Award
National developer and
manager of senior living communities honored for its outstanding health, safety
and environmental practices
Citing the company’s success in nurturing an innovative
culture of health and safety for its workers, the American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has awarded Erickson Living of
Maryland its Corporate Health Achievement Award (CHAA). ACOEM made the
announcement as a part of its observation of national Workplace Wellness Week
and as it celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the CHAA.
The CHAA recognizes quality occupational and environmental
health programs, identifies model programs and outstanding practices with
measurable results, and encourages organizational self-assessment and
continuous improvement. Recipients of the annual award are judged on the
strength of their health and safety programs for individual employees, their
comprehensive programs to protect the environment, their strong leadership and
management, and for their sustainable efforts to create an overall work culture
that emphasizes healthy lifestyles and safety consciousness. Only organizations
with the most exemplary health and safety practices are considered for the
award.
Erickson Living’s programs include reiteration of the key
strategy to encourage and maintain an organizational culture that embraces
safety, health, and wellness. “When we speak of “a culture of health and
safety” we mean “health and safety” in the true sense of the words – a
condition in which employees’ physical well-being and safety is optimized by
the environment and philosophy of the company they work for,” said ACOEM
President Mark Roberts, MD.
“Erickson Living exemplifies this approach through its
outstanding health, safety, and environmental programs that seek to maintain
and optimize a productive, motivated, and creative workforce. This level of
achievement makes the country’s third-largest independent living provider a
logical choice to be recognized through the CHAA.”
Erickson Living is a leading national developer of senior
living communities, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and managing 18
large-scale campus-style retirement communities in 10 states: Colorado,
Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Texas and Virginia.
Its biggest community, located in Silver Spring, Maryland, is
the largest Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in the United States.
Erickson Living communities are home to more than 24,000 senior adult residents
nationwide and provide meaningful work to more than 8,000 full-time dedicated
workers who share a commitment to exceptional service. In addition to its progressive
approach to employee health and safety, ACOEM chose Erickson Living for a CHAA
award because it has targeted for response specific health issues impacting its
employees. This puts it at the forefront of companies that are recognizing that
addressing specific health issues within an employee population can improve
organizational performance.
The Corporate Health Achievement Award was established in
1997 as way of encouraging healthier and safer work environments. The ACOEM
award program is considered the most rigorous and comprehensive of its kind,
requiring extensive documentation from companies of their programs and
practices and an onsite visit by a team of ACOEM evaluators.
Applicants receive detailed feedback from ACOEM on their
programs regardless of whether they receive an award, which is helping raise
awareness of best practices and, in the long run, improve standards for
employee health and safety, according to Dr. Roberts. “Safer, healthier
workplaces mean increased productivity, more job satisfaction, less harmful
environmental impact and enhanced community relationships,” he said.
To learn more about the Corporate Health Achievement Award,
call ACOEM at 847-818-1800, or visit www.CHAA.org. To learn more about Erickson Living, visit www.ericksonliving.com.
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About ACOEM -- The American College of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine (ACOEM) represents nearly 5,000 physicians specializing in
occupational and environmental medicine. Founded in 1916, ACOEM is the nation’s
largest medical society dedicated to promoting the health of workers through
preventive medicine, clinical care, disability management, research, and
education. For more information, visit www.acoem.org.