Participating in CDC’s Work@Health® Program

According to Marisa Mansfield, SEPI’s human resources manager, 

the company’s CEO is health conscious and a strong advocate for 

worksite health promotion. She supported Mansfield’s efforts to 

develop and set up worksite health activities as part of her role in 

Human Resources. When Mansfield heard about the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Work@Health® program 

from her insurance carrier, she signed up for the hands-on training in 

Raleigh, North Carolina, in June 2014.

The Work@Health® program is designed to teach employers how to 

improve the health of their workers (and workers’ families) by using 

prevention and wellness strategies that focus on chronic health 

conditions. Well-designed, science-based, and comprehensive 

workplace wellness programs can improve the health of individuals 

and companies, lower health care costs, and increase worker 

productivity.

Employers who were selected to participate in the 2014 training 

were assigned to one of three models, all of which delivered the 

same comprehensive workplace health curriculum. After the training, 

participants received 6 to 10 months of technical assistance in the 

form of coaching, webinars, and interactions with peers. The 

Work@Health® training 

emphasized the importance 

of setting up a wellness 

committee and recruiting 

“champions” to promote 

worksite wellness.

During the training session 

in Raleigh, Mansfield said she 

found it especially helpful 

to talk with other employers 

about what they were doing 

to promote employee health 

in their organizations. Afterwards, she was motivated to recruit more 

of her coworkers to help her “bump up” SEPI’s wellness program. 

Because she was the only Human Resources manager for a company 

with more than 200 employees, she realized that she needed help 

with every aspect of developing and setting up worksite health 

promotion activities. 

Building a Healthy 

Environment 

at SEPI: Case Study

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 

Division of Population Health

With training and effort, 

employers of all sizes and types 

can plan and implement a 

workplace health program. 

Employers can learn from 

the experiences of employers 

like SEPI about how to plan 

strategies and anticipate 

implementation challenges.

Organization Background 

SEPI Engineering & Construction

« Established in 2001

« Private firm

« Industry sector: Professional, 

scientific, and technical services

« Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

« 210 Employees

« 15% women, 85% men

SEPI is a mid-size, full service civil 

engineering, surveying, planning, 

remediation, and construction 

management firm that provides 

services to private and public clients. 

SEPI works to improve the quality of 

life at the community level and help 

its clients in education, private sector, 

and local, state, and federal markets 

be successful. SEPI’s organizational 

culture is dedicated to building great 

environments, including its own 

working environment.

Marisa Mansfield is head of Human 

Resources at SEPI, and she is 

also in charge of worksite health 

promotion at the company. When 

she took the position in 2012, SEPI 

had no worksite health promotion 

program in place. Because 

Mansfield is passionate about 

leading a healthy lifestyle, she set 

up worksite health activities like 

weight loss challenges and lunch 

CS257190B
Employers selected to participate in Work@Health® 

were assigned to one of three models, all of which 

delivered the same comprehensive workplace health 

curriculum. 

1. The hands-on model was an on-site, instructorled, one day training workshop held in one of six 

regional locations. 

2. The online model allowed employers to move 

through the curriculum independently over 

several weeks using a web-based learning 

platform.

3. The blended model included a combination of 

hands-on and online learning strategies.

Page 2 of 5

and learn sessions with nutritionists from a local hospital soon after she arrived. She also organized 

a running club, on-site flu shots, and a $25 monthly reimbursement for gym membership. SEPI also 

began offering up to $250 in reimbursement costs to employees for smoking cessation treatments 

approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. 

The newly carpeted stairs at SEPI.

Photo provided by SEPI. 

Program Overview

Assessing Needs and Interests

After participating in the Work@Health® training, 

Mansfield created a small wellness committee of 

three people to help keep current activities going and 

to build momentum for a more comprehensive and 

sustainable program. To develop a more systematic 

plan, she applied what she had learned about the 

importance of assessing your worksite. For example, 

although Mansfield had done some assessment 

of employee interests before the training, the 

wellness committee now does formal surveys on a 

routine basis. Mansfield also uses SEPI’s annual open 

enrollment period for benefits to survey employees 

about their wellness needs and interests, because she 

knows she has their attention. The company supports 

this effort by giving employees $250 in a health 

savings account if they complete the survey.

Creating a Healthier Environment

The wellness committee has used the results of its 

assessments to find ways to help employees be 

healthy at work. For example, they identified a need 

and interest in increasing physical activity levels 

and reducing stress. To promote physical activity, 

the committee worked on changing the work 

environment. Mansfield applied for seed funding 

from Work@Health® and used part of the money to 

make the staircases in SEPI’s buildings more attractive 

and appealing 

so people would 

use them more. 

The company 

put carpet on the 

stairs and posted 

signs with 

inspiring quotes 

and information 

about how many calories employees would burn by 

using the stairs. The committee also posted signs in 

the elevators encouraging stair use. 

To help employees reduce stress, the committee 

invited massage therapists to provide on-site chair 

massages for employees who signed up and paid 

out-of-pocket. The first time the therapists came, 

all 10 slots were filled, so the committee decided 

to make it a recurring event. The committee also 

invited a certified yoga instructor to provide onsite classes in yoga and meditation. In addition, 

the committee is continuing to offer SEPI’s other 

health promotion activities, including the weight 

loss challenges, running club, gym reimbursements, 

smoking cessation reimbursements, and flu shots. 

The level of participation in these activities varies 

greatly depending on staff schedules and availability 

to attend.

“Going through the training, it gives you that 

push. I’m doing this reporting and taking 

time to do this—I need to bump up my 

program. That pushed me to do this more.” 

—Marisa Mansfield, Human Resources 

Manager
Page 3 of 5

Program Success

Like all of the employers participating in the 

Work@Health® program, SEPI used the CDC Worksite 

Health ScoreCard to assess the extent to which it had 

evidence-based health promotion strategies in place 

before it started the program in 2014 and again at 

the end of the program in 2015. The ScoreCard is a 

free tool that employers can use to assess their health 

promotion and disease prevention programs, identify 

gaps, and set priorities across health topics.. 

Strategies assessed by the ScoreCard include health 

promoting counseling services, environmental 

supports, policies, health plan benefits, and 

other worksite programs shown to be effective in 

preventing heart disease, stroke, and related 

health conditions. 

SEPI increased its total ScoreCard score from 137 

to 179 out of a possible 264 points. The company 

showed 

the biggest 

improvements 

in the number 

of evidencebased strategies 

it offered that 

focused on stress

management, 

depression, high 

blood pressure, 

and high cholesterol. 

Examples of evidence-based strategies SEPI put in 

place during their Work@Health® training using the 

ScoreCard that it did not have in place in

 2014 include:

• Providing a dedicated space that is quiet where 

employees can engage in relaxation activities, 

such as deep breathing exercises.

• Providing training for managers on identifying 

and reducing workplace stress-related issues.

• Providing access to online or paper selfassessment depression screening tools.

• Providing one-on-one or group lifestyle 

counseling for employees with depression.

• Providing free or subsidized self-management 

programs for cholesterol/lipid control. 

In addition to increasing its overall score, SEPI also 

increased its score in the Organizational Supports 

module, which assesses the extent to which 

organizations have a foundation in place to support 

and maintain a worksite health promotion program. 

After the Work@Health® training, SEPI began setting 

annual objectives for its wellness program, and it 

uses multiple data sources to conduct ongoing 

evaluations. 

The key to SEPI’s success is support from upper 

management, according to Mansfield. She stated 

that the CEO of the company is very supportive of 

wellness and personally practices meditation. In 

2014, before SEPI participated in the Work@Health® 

training, Mansfield was given an annual budget of 

$8,000 for wellness activities, including the 

gym reimbursements.

Learning from Work@Health®

In a survey after the Raleigh training session in 2014, 

all of the participants said they understood how to 

apply what they had learned, and 95% said they 

would be able to use what they had learned at their 

jobs. After they completed the technical assistance 

portion of the program, participants were asked to list 

the top three lessons they had learned. Mansfield said 

she had learned the following:

1. How to get more employees to participate in 

worksite health promotion activities.

2. How to use other resources available through 

vendors, insurance plans, and community 

agencies to maximize her efforts.

3. How to develop a worksite health promotion 

committee.

0 5 10 15 20 25

Stress

Depression

High Blood Pressure

Cholesterol

Organizational Supports

Physical Activity

2015 Scores 2014 Scores

CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard Overall Score 

in Wellness Programming, 2014-2015

SEPI employees dress in red for the American Heart 

Association’s National Wear Red Day.

Photo provided by SEPI. 
In November, 2014, at the end of the technical 

assistance period, participants were also asked 

what they had done with the information they had 

learned in the training. Most had started sharing the 

information with others in their organizations and 

collecting data to set up or enhance their worksite 

health promotion programs.

Mansfield said she has always appreciated the support 

for worksite health promotion that she has received 

from SEPI’s CEO that has existed since before her 

training. Work@Health® provided her the structure 

and skills to effectively plan, implement and evaluate 

evidence-based approaches to worksite wellness so 

she could build on this leadership support to make 

measurable employee health.

Page 4 of 5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Shared with others at work

Collected data to develop worksite

health program

Engaged leadership for support

Developed worksite health plan and

began to take action

How Work@Health® Trainees in Raleigh, NC Hands-On Model 

are using the Information They Learned in the Program

Challenges 

Although SEPI employees say they like the changes 

made to support worksite health, Mansfield reports 

that keeping employees enthusiastic about some 

activities has been hard. She also noticed that male 

employees, who make up 85% of the company’s 

workforce, are typically less likely to be involved 

in worksite health activities. For example, most 

participants in yoga classes were women. Mansfield 

is using the results of the survey of employees’ health 

needs and interests to find activities that will appeal 

to different members of SEPI’s workforce. 

Another challenge is that about 100 of SEPI’s 150 

employees work on off-site construction projects 

across North Carolina and Virginia, and they don’t 

come into the office regularly where programs are 

offered. Mansfield works to overcome this challenge 

by communicating with employees through e-mail 

and by making sure there are ways for off-site staff 

to participate in as many activities as possible. For 

example, some activities are held after work, and 

on-site flu clinics start at 7 a.m. to accommodate 

employees who work in the field. Off-site staff can call 

into lunch and learn sessions, and all employees are 

eligible for gym membership reimbursements with 

local facilities that are closer to where they work.

SEPI conducts a lunch and learn session on ergonomics for employees. 

Photo provided by SEPI. 

SEPI employees pose together after a group workout session.

Photo provided by SEPI. 
What’s Next?

Mansfield’s long-term wish list includes an on-site gym and a dedicated person, like a health coach, to work with 

employees. Over the next 12 months, SEPI is planning the following activities for worksite health promotion: 

• Conduct a biometric screening at the start of the open enrollment period for benefits and offer lower 

premium rates to employees who participate.

• Expand its tobacco policy to include lower insurance premiums for nonsmokers to encourage employees to 

stop smoking. 

• Continue lunch and learn sessions and invite people working in naturopathic health to speak.

• Conduct surveys to find out if employees are interested in meditation and yoga classes. 

The Work@Health® employer-training program is an initiative of the U.S. Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote workplace wellness through 

employer education, training, and technical assistance. Work@Health® training 

provides employers with knowledge and tools through a comprehensive curricula 

to promote good health in their work places to prevent or reduce chronic illness and 

disability, and improve productivity

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