Incorporating work organisation into occupational health research: an invitation for dialogue (original) (raw)
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Arbetslivsrapport, …, 2006
This report is presenting the methodological designs of different studies aiming at the investigation of the relationship between organisational characteristics and individual working conditions and health. The theoretical background to this line of research is summarized in Härenstam and collaborators (2006). The report displays methods, samples and designs of three studies. Three different methods were used in the studies and different focal units were chosen.
I welcome the reader to the inaugural issue of the Newsletter of the Soci-ety for Occupational Health Psychology. The Society for Occupational Health Psychology has been recently organized, as an article in this issue describes. Like other organizations, the Society needs a newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to communicate important information to the members and to other interested individuals. OHP is an emerging, cross-disciplinary field that includes scientists and practitioners; I expect that the newsletter will help add to the growth of the field and the membership of the Society. I anticipate that the Society will publish the newsletter one or two times per year. I thank the contributors for their efforts. I thank the associate editors, Joe Hurrell and Kizzy Parks, for their work in making the newsletter possible. And I thank Janet Barnes-Farrell and Kim Davies-Schrils for their work on the layout of the newsletter. A few years ago, the company I worked for merged. O...
Creating a Future for Occupational Health
Objectives: Economic, social, technical, and political drivers are fundamentally changing the nature of work and work environments, with profound implications for the field of occupational health. Nevertheless , researchers and practitioners entering the field are largely being trained to assess and control exposures using approaches developed under old models of work and risks. Methods: A speaker series and symposium were organized to broadly explore current challenges and future directions for the occupational health field. Broad themes identified throughout these discussions are characterized and discussed to highlight important future directions of occupational health. Findings: Despite the relatively diverse group of presenters and topics addressed, some important cross-cutting themes emerged. Changes in work organization and the resulting insecurity and precarious employment arrangements change the nature of risk to a large fraction of the workforce. Workforce demographics are changing, and economic disparities among working groups are growing. Globalization exacerbates the 'race to the bottom' for cheap labor, poor regulatory oversight, and limited labor rights. Largely, as a result of these phenomena, the historical distinction between work and non-work exposures has become largely artificial and less useful in understanding risks and developing effective public health intervention models. Additional changes related to climate change, governmental and regulatory limitations, and inadequate surveillance systems challenge and frustrate occupational health progress, while new biomedical and information technologies expand the opportunities for understanding and intervening to improve worker health. Conclusion: The ideas and evidences discussed during this project suggest that occupational health training, professional practice, and research evolve towards a more holistic, public health-oriented model of worker health. This will require engagement with a wide network of stakeholders. Research and training portfolios need to be broadened to better align with the current realities of work and health and to prepare practitioners for the changing array of occupational health challenges.