Wellness
Our vision is to create a global culture of health
Our vision is to create a global culture of health, where our people and their families become responsible for their individual well-being through informed, active participation in health and wellness activities.
Supporting this vision is our goal to have active wellness programs at 100% of our facilities globally by 2025. In 2019, 70% of our locations with 50 or more employees had a wellness program.
We have encouraged and supported the creation of local wellness programs for two decades to:
- Foster greater employee engagement in the process;
- Provide a mechanism for active disease management;
- Reduce health care costs in the United States;
- Reduce the incidence of chronic diseases among our people;
- Lower productivity costs;
- Provide ways for our people’s families to become involved and educated;
- Keep our people healthy and productive; and
- Improve quality of life after retirement.
Our approach to wellness is based on our Four Wellness Absolutes – nutrition, exercise, health screenings and mindfulness/stress management – that research identified as key to our people’s overall well-being. Every wellness program and tool we offer addresses one or more of these absolutes to help our people benefit from lifestyle improvements.
Each of our sites is encouraged to have a wellness committee, wellness program and wellness champion to communicate our wellness messages and implement the various global, regional and local programs. The corporate PPG Wellness Council and the wellness subcommittee to our corporate Sustainability Committee set the overall strategy and track our progress globally.
Employees of PPG Turkey hiked Uludag Mountain, which is the highest peak in the country’s Marmara region at 8,343 feet (2,543 meters). The hike was sponsored by the company’s Young Professionals Organization.
Guiding our sites to wellness excellence and recognizing superior performance is the following suite of tools:
- Wellness Catalog: This collection of wellness programs offered at our sites around the world allows our people to share successful ideas and describe how best to implement them. The catalog features sections for each of the Four Wellness Absolutes. Program examples include grocery store tours (nutrition), onsite fitness classes (exercise), know your numbers (health screenings) and massage therapy (mindfulness/stress).
- Wellness Scorecard: Our sites can register their wellness activities and track progress over time using the scorecard, providing accountability through visibility. A point value is assigned for each wellness program offered, such as a weight-loss challenge, health screening, fitness class and better sleep program. Some programs receive extra points for higher participation rates. In 2019, approximately 60% of our locations achieved the highest level – diamond – on the scorecard scale.
- Wellness Awards: These annual awards are based on the scorecard points a site earns in each calendar year.
Empowering our locations to determine the best wellness initiatives for their employees, sharing their successes globally within PPG and recognizing their achievement are the cornerstones of our culture of wellness.
Well done
It might be easier to list the activities that our location in San Juan del Rio, Mexico, does not offer as part of its award-winning wellness program.
The location offers onsite nutrition counseling, weight- and cholesterol-control programs, a relaxation room, yoga classes, various fitness clubs, a cancer prevention program, healthy dining options, a mental health program, a vaccination program, wellness-oriented workshops and more.
Between October 2018 and October 2019, 90% of the location’s 600 employees participated in at least one wellness activity. As a result, 20% reduced their cholesterol levels, 30% reduced their triglyceride levels and 10% reduced their glucose levels.
“The wellness program has helped me eliminate stress, maintain a healthy weight and get into good physical condition,” said Alfredo Rodriguez Rivera, laboratory technician. “It has allowed me to perform better at work and puts me in control of my health and wellness.”
In 2019, the location received the National Chemical Industry Association award in the wellness program category.
252 million steps to wellness
At more than 100 PPG locations, employees took an active step toward improved wellness through participation in our first Global Activity Challenge. During the eight-week competition, participants logged a combined 252 million steps – equal to almost four trips around the globe. Average steps per person totaled 336,600.
We also recognized employees in India and the U.S. who maintained or lost weight from Sept. 2 to Jan. 16 during our annual Not One Ounce program. More than 3,000 employees accepted the challenge.