Sustainable business practice can be considered broadly, in terms of five major areas of operations:

• Environmental
• Community and social
• Workplace practices
• The marketplace
• Business conduct and ethical governance.

All of these areas of operations can and do have profound impacts on our health, which is why we at the Nossal Institute are very interested in what businesses do and how they function. Businesses have an impact on our individual and collective health; the healthier their products, the healthier and safer their workplaces, and the more sustainable their work practices, the better off we will all be.

As highlighted by the study results, the direct health and wellbeing benefits of a commitment to sustainability are two-fold.

Firstly, there are the actual initiatives put in place and measured through sustainability reporting that directly improve the health and wellbeing of employees, including:

• Flexible work practices
• Mental health support programs
• Workplace design that is more conducive to health – stairs rather than lifts, healthy food in vending machines and cafes, etc.
• Encouraging activity and use of public transport.

These are already present in over 50% of reporting organisations.

Secondly, there are benefits from the reporting process itself and the commitment to sustainability that this implies:

• Over half of employees in non-reporting organisations have thought about encouraging their employer to commit to sustainability, and feel that their workplace is, or would be, healthier and more productive as a result.
• Commitment to sustainability is a potentially powerful morale booster and should not be underestimated in considering the health and wellbeing of employees who are looking for leadership in this area.

Broader than this, the environmental, community and social, marketplace and business conduct aspects of sustainability reporting have indirect long-term effects on health and wellbeing. What impact might reporting have on the following, for example?

• The tobacco industry – one in two people that consume this product on a regular basis will die because of it; this is one of the most, if not the most, unethical of industries
• Advertising junk food and drinks to children – the more we can move to marketing of healthy food and drink, the healthier our children will be
• Advertising alcohol to 13–17 year olds – the less this happens the better, particularly now that we know the dangerous impact that drinking has on adolescent brains.

The People.Productivity.Planet report reinforces the message of the National Preventative Health Strategy released last year: that the workplace, under the stewardship of business, industry, unions and governments, can become the new frontier for the promotion of good health.

We are at an important juncture, for we have an alignment of the stars:

• Businesses and governments are increasingly understanding that healthier employees are more productive.
• The insurance industry is recognising workplace health, through workers’ compensation and health insurance.
• Health promotion programs in the workplace are increasing in capacity.

So there is indeed a movement towards more sustainable workplaces that are better for  people, productivity and the planet. May it continue, for the good of us all.

Download the People.Productivity.Planet report here.

Professor Rob Moodie is the Chair of Global Health at The Nossal Institute for Global Health, a not-for-profit organisation based out of The University of Melbourne committed to improving global health through research, education, inclusive development practice and training of future leaders. Rob is also a member of the advisory board for this web forum.