About the Award

Award Criteria

There are 6 levels to the Award – Foundation, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Continuing Excellence and Maintaining Excellence, with appropriate criteria at each stage to build into an Award Portfolio. Organisations are given up to a year per level, but there is flexibility for those who need it.

Evidence indicates that it takes a period of time to effectively establish the infrastructure that will engage employees in adopting behaviours / lifestyle changes.

This is why ALL employers are required to begin at Bronze and progress systematically upwards through the levels (It is not mandatory to complete the Foundation level before signing up to complete Bronze level - see below). Every employer/ organisation who signs-up to participate in the Award scheme is supported by a dedicated Health Improvement Specialist.

Foundation - a discrete “pre-Bronze” level for any organisations who are new to workplace health and wellbeing or have limited capacity and feel they would benefit from a lighter-touch introduction. It is not mandatory to undertake this before signing up to Bronze.

Bronze - The Bronze level lays a firm foundation to build a healthier workplace.

Silver - The Silver level of the Award builds upon the basics of the Bronze level and rewards organisations that take a more holistic view of the workplace.

Gold - This level builds upon the Silver level and requires companies to look outside their own organisation and promote health within the wider community.

Continuing Excellence - This recognises the importance of organisations sustaining the progress they have made during their participation in the Award and encourages them to use their experience to support others.

Maintaining Excellence - Achieved by employers who have been engaged with the Award for long enough to have achieved a pass at all levels via the completion of a criteria document, portfolio and full workplace assessment.

Ambassador Status - Organisations are eligible for Ambassador Status on achievement of Maintaining Excellence and with the recommendation of their designated Workplace Health Improvement Specialist. This is then passed through to the BHAWA Verification Panel for endorsement.

We joined the scheme to help us improve the health & wellbeing of our workforce not only at work but also at home. The campaigns and areas that we cover are varied and we try to include the workforces family and friends wherever possible.

The award is very well structured there is lots of information on the BHAWA website and we have lots of help at support. It has ensured that our organisations' Health & Wellbeing agenda is structured and well thought out.

- North East & North Cumbria ICB ,

A healthy workforce is a happy workforce. Grundfos puts its people first and we want to ensure all of our employees are healthy and well which is why the award is an ideal opportunity to drive this ambition and show the recognition for this drive to the workforce, our customers and the general public.

The award has provided a perfect driver for our health and wellbeing campaigns and ensures we are always kept on the right track and up to date with the latest strategies and wider community initiatives. The award website provides lots of extremely useful resource material to support our campaigns.

- Grundfos manufacturing, Sunderland

"We loved the fact that the award has a local focus about wellbeing in the North-East. The framework it provides is exceptional.

The support and network are invaluable. You don't feel like you're starting from scratch, there's always someone with an idea of what they've tried.

The portal is great. It has a huge number of resources and it's easy to use and access. It's helped us with campaigns where we've less experience, and they're now part of our annual calendar".

- Karbon Homes, Newcastle, Maintaining Excellence Level achieved 2024

We participated to provide a further structure, focus and sustainable framework to our wellbeing programme.

The Award offers full support in terms of co-ordinator and resource information including best practice ideas and structured targets to aim for – it feels like we’re working together rather than in a silo!

- Northern Housing Consortium Limited, Sunderland

"We recognise the importance of prioritising employee health and wellbeing, not just as a responsibility but as a core part of our culture and values.

The Award has really helped us to move from ad-hoc initiatives to a more strategic, proactive and sustainable approach to supporting our people and wider communities. We particularly like the sense of community and shared learning with the Award coordinators and other workplaces who make wellbeing a workplace priority".

- END. Sunderland, Maintaining Excellence Level achieved 2024

"Our goal was to promote a happy, healthy and engaged inclusive workforce by raising awareness, providing education and signposting employees to services and programmes whether in person or online, to help them maintain or enhance their health and wellbeing in both work and home environments.

The award enabled Nexus to gain recognition as an exceptional organisation in offering health and wellbeing support for staff and be recognised as an ambassador for other organisations in the North East".

- Nexus, Newcastle, Maintaining Excellence Level achieved 2024