More than 500 team members of WPM Waste Management Limited received free health services at a staff wellness fair held at the entity’s Ironshore Industrial Estate headquarters in St. James on Tuesday (April 15).

Under the theme ‘Better Health, Better Life’, the event featured a wide range of health services such as blood pressure checks, cancer screenings, pap smears, blood sugar testing, dental examinations and HIV testing. It also included a mental health workshop, nutrition talks, team fitness challenges, and on-site consultations.

Beneficiaries included drivers, sidemen, street sweepers, supervisors, and zonal monitors.

WPM Waste Management’s Regional Operations Manager, Edward Muir, told JIS News that the health fair is in keeping with the National Solid Waste Management (NSWMA) Limited’s ongoing investment in staff welfare.

He said the agency has a duty to ensure that employees remain in good health mentally and physically to meet the demands of their jobs. “Over the years, we have requested a lot from our staff. The public also demands more from our staff, so we have to ensure [they] are in the best shape to maintain the standards and the well-being of the region,” he said.

Muir noted the Government’s commitment to improving the conditions under which staff operate, through the provision of proper uniforms and the relocation of administrative staff to the current facility.

He said that steps have been taken to secure additional garbage trucks to better enable WPM Waste Management to execute its mandate. Muir said that the plan is to have the staff wellness fair annually. “So, we invest in them, and they ensure that the public is satisfied with the work that we do,” he noted.

WPM staff members welcomed the initiative, with many taking advantage of the opportunity to get health and wellness checks.

Sideman Linford McIntosh, who has been with the company for more than 23 years, told JIS News that the event is both timely and necessary.

“What is happening today is very good because everybody is getting their health checked… everything nice,” he said.

His colleague, Rohan Campbell, shared similar sentiments, noting that while he typically takes advantage of his health insurance for annual checkups, he welcomed this additional opportunity. “Having something like this today is very important because we (staff) are on a job where we face great dangers every day, so we have to check up on our health,” he said.

WPM Waste Management Limited, which is a subsidiary of the NSWMA, has direct responsibility for the collection and disposal of solid waste within the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland.