Mark Keating (left) and Bill Flynn with a copy of the Blokes Book on site at Pan Pac
Mark Keating (left) and Bill Flynn with a copy of the Blokes Book on site at Pan Pac
The Hawke's Bay Blokes Book, produced and distributed late last year across Hawke's Bay is seeing an increase in demand, this time from local workplaces, with a focus on their employers' wellbeing.
Recently, Pan Pac Forest Products provided a copy of the Blokes Book for each of their on-site staff,including their female employees, with a note for them to pass onto a significant male in their lives.
Pan Pac health safety and wellbeing co-ordinator Wendy Chittock says with 405 staff working at Pan Pac, 376 were male. Wendy felt on seeing a copy of The Blokes book, it was an affordable resource with great impact for their organisation to obtain. The publication will be useful as a reference for staff who may seek guidance from one of the on-site peer supporters, with a possibility to integrate the book into the Pan Pac app for off-site staff to access, she said.
The Blokes Book has now circulated 10,000 copies into the Hawke's Bay and CHB communities.The book's first run was printed in September, with all copies circulated within six weeks through major supporter AMI, individual sponsors' own businesses, cafes, gyms, and council services including libraries.
Project manager Shayne Jeffares says with a focus in workplaces on wellness initiatives and staff wellbeing, he was seeing a sudden demand from organisations for their own in-house version of the book, particularly given the last few months.
"As with Pan Pac, while the book promotes men's wellbeing and local support agencies, it is not a men's only publication. So for a workplace to circulate it to all its staff, it is having a wider reach to also include staff members' own family."
Alongside Pan Pac, other organisations such as EIT, Port of Napier, HB Airport Authority and NCC have had the resource created with their own branding on the front cover, creating their own in-house copy of the book.
"I am really happy to see this happen, from individuals seeing the book out in the community and taking it back to their workplace to show to their employers. It was always planned to be able to offer it to workplaces and to offer their own personalised version."
He says the book is a simple resource supporting the message "Happy and Healthy Hawke's Bay Men".
"Having The Blokes Book 'working' for itself, is seeing a number of enquiries from workplaces wanting to ensure firstly all their staff are cared for and safe which then also contributes to improved health and safety onsite and improved workplace performance."
■ For more information about The Blokes Book for your workplace or service contact Shayne Jeffares at galleryhb@me.com, www.bbhb.nz
