Eat Right. Exercise. Don’t Smoke. (EREDS)
There are three things all of us need to do to obtain and maintain good health. We need to follow a healthy diet, exercise regularly and avoid tobacco products. These three simple guidelines form the basis of the Cobham health promotion program we call EREDS (pronounced ee' reds).

Launched in 2003, EREDS provides employees with information, tactics, and strategies to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles. To keep the subject matter lively and interesting, each calendar month features a different health-related topic. Using exhibits with handouts along with local experts who conduct 30-minute “Lunch and Learn” sessions, employees are exposed to a wide variety of topics that appeal to men and women of all ages.

The Cobham Café
The “Eat Right” portion of our EREDS program gets a powerful assist from our full service cafeteria. Offering a hot breakfast and hot lunch daily, the café has become the hub of nutrition and employee camaraderie. In addition to traditional fare, there are daily, well advertised, EREDS choices. Healthy staples in the food line include salads, fresh fruit, milk, and juices. The café eliminated trans fats from all foods we serve (including vending machine fare) in early 2007.

Eating right at Cobham is further enhanced by the produce from The Cobham Culinary Garden. Summer menus include vine ripe tomatoes, peppers, peas, fennel, lettuce and herbs. This sustainable, organic garden is environmentally friendly, reduces food costs and improves the overall quality of our menus.

The Cobham Café is managed by Chef Tom, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.

Fitness Center
As all of us know, exercise is the cornerstone of a healthy body. Cobham boasts an on-site fitness center, open to employees 24/7. The center includes weight machines, dumbbells, elliptical trainers, treadmills, and an exercise bike. Satellite TV, a water station and showers are also provided for employee use.

Personal Training
Personal training services are available (on request) for those employees who are unfamiliar with fitness center equipment.

Indoor Fitness Trail
Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, so we’ve provided an indoor walking trail for those employees who are dedicated to getting their exercise come rain or shine. Mapped through our production facility, this trail includes it’s own hill (okay, well those are really the stairs to the fitness center, but still...). The layout of this indoor course provides an adequate warm-up before the stairs come into play and in about 10 minutes, you can get a pretty good workout.

Pedometers
To take your walking to “the next level”, employees may obtain a pedometer for a $5 fee from the HR Department. You may use the pedometer for as long as you like. If it breaks or needs a new batter, we will replace it free of charge. If you wish to return your pedometer, bring it to the HR Department and your $5 will be returned to you.

Employees are encouraged to walk 10,000 Steps a Day. This nation-wide initiative is designed to promote walking as a way of obtaining and maintaining good health. To complete 10,000 steps a day, employees need to achieve 30 minutes of walking exercise daily. The rest of the steps can typically be accomplished during the normal work day; we have over 205,000 square feet under one roof.

Smoking Cessation
This feature of EREDS was the first formal incentive-based program offered to employees (and their spouses). It was the first and most successful. More than 15 employees and/or their spouses have been smoke-free for at least a year, with a core group of five employees who stopped smoking over four years ago.

Employees may use the quit smoking method they prefer and the company will pay for 50% of the cost up front. If the employee becomes a non-smoker for a year, Cobham reimburses the employee for the remaining 50% of the cost to quit. Employees have successfully used hypnosis, nicotine patches, a book titled The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, nicotine inhalers and other “prescription only” methods.

This program is open to all employees and their spouses. Employees may participate in this program (with company reimbursement) once a year.