Integrating occupational health, safety and worksite health promotion: opportunities for research and practice.

BACKGROUND

There is emerging evidence that coordinating and integrating worksite health promotion and occupational health and safety enhances the effectiveness of efforts to promote and protect worker health, and growing attention internationally to the importance of integrating worksite health promotion and occupational health and safety.

OBJECTIVES

(1) To present the rationale and scientific evidence for coordinating and integrating worksite health promotion and occupational health and safety as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of efforts to promote and protect worker health; and (2) to discuss recommendations for research priorities and future directions.

METHODS

Review of the literature, drawing mainly on studies from the United States and Europe.

RESULTS

The strongest evidence available supports the efficacy of this intervention model in promoting smoking cessation, particularly among blue-collar workers; some evidence additionally indicates significant effects for other health behaviors. Little evidence is available to date documenting the impact of these programs on occupational health and safety outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Priority research directions include: social epidemiological research to identify key work-related factors associated with hazardous occupational exposures and risk-related behaviors, and to identify the underlying causes of social disparities in worker health; methods development research aimed at developing both appropriate measurement tools and new intervention approaches; efficacy and effectiveness studies to examine the effects of integrated interventions on both occupational health and safety outcomes as well as health behavior changes; assessments of the process of intervention implementation, including intervention implementation evaluation, cost assessments, and process-to-outcome assessments; and dissemination and durability studies, to identify strategies to promote the sustainability and dissemination of evidence-based programs.