Health, safety and wellbeing are all at the core of Smurfit Kappa Lurgan’s approach to their employees. Since 2020, the corrugated plant located in Northern Ireland, has increased its focus on employee wellbeing, an important element of employee engagement and their health and safety.

The plant has a dedicated wellbeing committee and health champions who innovate and implement ideas to improve the wellbeing of their employees. The Lurgan plant offers to all its employees additional wellbeing benefits and has trained mental health and physical health first aiders throughout all shifts.

In 2023, the site introduced a new initiative to welcome new members to the team. It’s Time to Talk is a monthly interview with a colleague on their life outside work. These interviews create a sense of knowing the colleague on a personal level and as importantly a sense of belonging.

The site has created a wellbeing room on-site that functions as a hub that is accessible for all employees to find materials on health and wellbeing, a mindfulness area, quiet zone, an inspirational corner, book swap and a community notice board. The room has been well received.

The efforts towards our employee wellbeing haven’t gone unnoticed outside the Lurgan plant either. In 2023, the site was awarded the Best Wellbeing in the Workplace Strategy award at the Irish Workplace and Employment Awards.