Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung in mittelständischen Unternehmen

Background

Various studies have found the profitability of small and midsize enterprises (SME) to be related to their ability to innovate. Investing in human and social capital can help these companies increase their ability to innovate.

Research question

This study looked at how the level and type of workplace health promotion (WHP) programmes differ among larger, leading SME when they are actively managed by the businesses’ owners and their competitors.

Method

Structured interviews were conducted with six owner-managed enterprises, as well as with four competitors from the chemicals and metal industry.

Results

All businesses offer WHP programmes. Two of the businesses participating in the study have enrolled an employee in an in-house WHP programme. The organizations taking part in the study spend around €83 per employee per year on WHP programmes. By comparison, owner-managed enterprises clearly spend less than their competitors. One weakness stands out: “Controlling” or “active management” of the WHP programmes was found in only two of the businesses taking part in the study. The differences between the owner-controlled businesses and the management-controlled businesses are, on the whole, minor. Innovative potential by the owner-managed businesses is indicated by the fact that they focus much more strongly on the needs of their employees, as well as possess a perceptiveness and responsiveness to certain groups of employees. In conclusion, it is highly recommended that all businesses enroll more staff and more actively manage their WHP programmes.     

Betriebliche Gesundheitsf?rderung f??r Berufskraftfahrer

Background

Because driving takes place outside of company premises, access for professional drivers to workplace health promotion (WHP) is hindered. In the following cross-sectional study, we surveyed WHP experiences and needs from the viewpoint of entrepreneurs in order to gain insight into necessary preventative measures.

Material and methods

Managers of transport companies were asked for their opinion, knowledge, experiences and plans regarding WHP. Additionally, we obtained information about their willingness to participate in a pilot project. The 10% random sample was taken from the list of a statutory accident insurance association. The results were correlated with the likely predictor variables company size, engagement in long- or short-distance traffic and WHP experience.

Results

Of the responding entrepreneurs (n=598, =11% response rate), 22% had prior experience with preventative health measures for their workers; the rate depends on the company size. One third of the respondents signalled a general willingness to participate in a prevention project and detailed their preferences.

Conclusions

The current practice of WHP in transport companies is deficient. However, at least a small percentage of transport entrepreneurs are receptive to information campaigns and need-based WHP offers.     

Social context for workplace health promotion: feasibility considerations in Costa Rica,Finland, Germany,Spain and Sweden

We constructed a simple, flexible procedure that facilitates the pre-assessment of feasibility of workplace health promotion (WHP) programmes. It evaluates cancer hazards, workers' need for hazard reduction, acceptability of WHP, and social context. It was tested and applied in 16 workplace communities and among 1085 employees in industry, construction, transport, services, teaching and municipal works in Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Spain and Sweden. Social context is inseparable from WHP. It covers workers' organizations and representatives, management, safety committees, occupational health services, health and safety enforcement agencies, general health services, non-government organizations, insurance systems, academic and other institutions, regulatory stipulations pertaining WHP, and material resources. Priorities, risk definitions, attitudes, hazard profiles, motivations and assessment methods were highly contextual. Management preferred passive interventions, helping cover expert costs, participating in planning and granting time. Trade unions, workers' representatives, safety committees and occupational health services appeared to be important operational partners. Occupational health services may however be loaded with curative and screening functions or be non-existent. We advocate participatory, multifaceted WHP based on the needs and empowerment of the workers themselves, integrating occupational and lifestyle hazards. Workforce in irregular and shift work, in agriculture, in small enterprises, in the informal sector, and immigrant, seasonal and temporary workers represent groups in need of particular strategies such as community health promotion. In a more general framework, social context itself may become a target for intervention.     

Occupational safety and health promotion: competition or cooperation?

Between 1988-1998 in Germany Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) rivalled with Workplace Health Promotion (WHP). Now that European legislation has influenced modernisation of the German OSH, both can embark on useful cooperation. Safety Services and personnel are required to evaluate risk assessment accurately; the results can be helpful for WHP. Safety communication and workers' participation will explore and ensure new avenues in WHP and--in consequence--scientific knowledge concerning work. This knowledge, in turn, can now support modern OSH.     

La promozione della salute nei luoghi di lavoro

«Workplace health promotion». Workplace Health Promotion (WHP-Workplace Health Promotion) is aimed at improving the workers’ well-being and health, so as to guarantee conditions of greater psycho-physical well-being and work capacity for a future elderly population. Cost-benefit analysis studies indicate that the return of profits compared to the invested capital (Return of investment - ROI) can be very good. To conduct WHP’s activities successfully, the continuous and convinced commitment of all corporate subjects is required. WHP interventions must not represent alternative paths to those of Prevention and Safety, nor represent “discount” tools with respect to regulatory obligations. It is essential that there be clarity in the roles played by public institutions operators (USL / ASL / ATS) who, in various capacities and in various sectors, are involved. At the moment, in terms of WHP, the regions have responded differently and in any case the difficulties in applying the WHP to SMEs have become evident. Whatever the approach, WHP’s actions must take into account the end-point, ie the health gain of the workers involved due to the specific effect of the action promoted and for this reason the programs must provide an adequate follow-up, which becomes an element indispensable for any proposal. Health promotion in the “work” context has, with respect to more traditional contexts (such as school or community), undoubtedly peculiarities, which require a specific training of “health promoters” engaged in this field.Key words: Health promotion, workplaces, assessment     

A cultural economy approach to workplace health promotion in Australian small and medium sized workplaces: a critical qualitative study

Workplace health promotion (WHP) is advocated to progress the health and well-being of employees. However, research findings on its uptake and impacts are equivocal, particularly in smaller workplaces. This paper describes managers’ and workers’ responses to a WHP programme in the Australian Capital Territory. Informed by a cultural economy framework, in-depth interviews were conducted with 44 workers and managers from 10 small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Examining their availability and acceptability to workers and managers, we found a limited array of health promotion activities were adopted; a caring environment, provision of healthy foods, occasional health checks and health advice. Physical activity programmes during work hours were unlikely to be accepted by managers due to time costs, and workers were reluctant to spend their non-paid time on them. Casual workers were often excluded from WHP activities because their work times did not synchronize with other employees’ hours. This study illuminates how WHP is shaped by a complex of employment regulations that stress individual performance, associated limits on employer and worker time and resources, and organizational, cultural norms and practices regarding healthy work environments. We conclude that SMEs are implementing a limited array of behaviour change initiatives reflecting a particular view of health promotion. While organizational change may expand adoption of health practices during the workday, there are impediments to workers adopting wholesale changes in their health practices given a national culture of long hours, and intense job demands embedded in Australia’s neoliberal employment system.     

Perspectives for workplace health promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Latin American and Caribbean region is witnessing the emergence of discussion on workplace health promotion (WHP). The authors propose WHP as an equitable collective action targeting primarily work hazards and their determinants. It has its economic-political "macro" level and a downstream "micro" level. On the macro level, neoliberalism, privatization, and deregulation threaten equitable health and labor issues. Effective labor and health legislation and a fair degree of social redistribution of resources support WHP. Micro-scale WHP is important for contextual reasons and social diffusion, and can literally save lives. Worker involvement, free association of workers, public health affiliation, the precautionary principle, sensitization and training, employer responsibility for healthy working conditions, coalitions between workers and health professionals, and preference for reduction of direct work hazards over modification of personal lifestyles are basic tenets of WHP.     

Development and process evaluation of the participatory and action-oriented empowerment model facilitated by occupational health nurses for workplace health promotion in small and medium-sized enterprises

The objective of this study is to develop an available empowerment model for workplace health promotion (WHP) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to evaluate its applicability and feasibility. Semi-structured interviews with employers and workers in SMEs were conducted to assess their actual requirements for support. The structure of our new empowerment model was discussed and established through several rounds of focus group meetings with occupational safety and health researchers and practitioners on the basis of results of our interviews. We developed a new participatory and action-oriented empowerment model based on needs for support of employers and workers in SMEs. This new model consists of three originally developed tools: an action checklist, an information guidebook, and a book of good practices. As the facilitators, occupational health nurses (OHNs) from health insurance associations were trained to empower employers and workers using these tools. Approximately 80 SMEs (with less than 300 employees) were invited to participate in the model project. With these tools and continued empowerment by OHNs, employers and workers were able to smoothly work on WHP. This newly developed participatory and action-oriented empowerment model that was facilitated by trained OHNs appears to be both applicable and feasible for WHP in SMEs in Japan.     

Leaving it up to the workers: sociological perspective on the management of health and safety in small workplaces.

Small workplaces present particular challenges for the promotion of occupational health and safety. However, little is known about the social organization of work in such settings and how it relates to matters of health and safety. The research on which this article is based relates patterns of occupational health behavior to the nature of social relationships within the workplace. From a qualitative analysis of interviews with 53 small business owners, the author describes the most common approach to managing workplace health and safety: leaving it up to the workers. This posture is explained in terms of the owners' perception of risk, particularly their understanding of workplace hazards, and their assessment of the social costs of ignoring or addressing such issues. Owners tended to discount or normalize health hazards, and to believe that management intervention in employee health behavior was paternalistic and inconsistent with prevailing patterns of labor relations and norms respecting individual autonomy. Many owners understood health and safety not as a bureaucratic function of management but as a personal moral enterprise in which they did not have legitimate authority. The conceptualization of the owners' responses in terms of "social rationality" has implications for addressing problems of health and safety in small workplaces.     

Perspectives for Workplace Health Promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The Latin American and Caribbean region is witnessing the emergence of discussion on workplace health promotion (WHP). The authors propose WHP as an equitable collective action targeting primarily work hazards and their determinants. It has its economic-political “macro” level and a downstream “micro” level. On the macro level, neoliberalism, privatization, and deregulation threaten equitable health and labor issues. Effective labor and health legislation and a fair degree of social redistribution of resources support WHP. Micro-scale WHP is important for contextual reasons and social diffusion, and can literally save lives. Worker involvement, free association of workers, public health affiliation, the precautionary principle, sensitization and training, employer responsibility for healthy working conditions, coalitions between workers and health professionals, and preference for reduction of direct work hazards over modification of personal lifestyles are basic tenets of WHP.     

Workplace health promotion and employee health in Swedish municipal social care organizations

Aim

The aim of this explorative study was to investigate the employers’ management characteristics, their provision of workplace health promotion (WHP) measures, and employee satisfaction with WHP in relation to employee health in Swedish municipal social care organizations.

Subjects and methods

A cross-sectional design was used, and questionnaires were sent to top managers (representing the employer) and employees in a nationwide random sample of 60 of the 290 municipal organizations for the social care of elderly and disabled people in Sweden. The questionnaire data from the 60 managers were linked to aggregated employee data concerning self-rated health and satisfaction with WHP from a representative sample of 8,082 employees in the same organizations. All analyses were performed at the organizational level using independent t-test, Spearman’s rank correlation and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

In the multivariate analysis, the organizational WHP index (i.e. local WHP projects and WHP coordinators), individual WHP index (i.e. health profile assessment, fitness activities and medical check-up), and the level of employees’ satisfied with WHP were associated with employee health (F?=?9.64, p?<?0.001, adjusted R ²?=?0.48). General organizational and management characteristics were, however, not statistically related to employee health.

Conclusion

The results suggest that the provision of individual-directed and organizational-directed health-specific measures were related to employee health in Swedish municipal social care organizations and, therefore, can be part of a comprehensive approach to address WHP.     

Employees attitudes to workplace health promotion programs for cancer prevention

OBJETIVE: We describe a method for feasibility assessment of workplace health promotion (WHP) programs as a necessary prerequisite of any WHP program. METHODS: A total of 167 employees from five workplace communities participated in the study. A questionnaire on the basic components of feasibility (risk factors, attitudes to workplace health promotion interventions, and social-occupational context) was administered. RESULTS: Risk behaviours were common among the employees interviewed. Health promotion in the workplace was favorably viewed by 79% of subjects but reported participation would be lower. Interventions on diet and physical activity received the highest acceptance. Participation would be greatest among local administration employees. CONCLUSIONS: The method demonstrated its utility in obtaining useful data for designing workplace health promotion interventions.     

Leadership in workplace health promotion projects: 1- and 2-year effects on long-term work attendance

BACKGROUND: Despite the acknowledged role of leadership in the psychosocial work environment, few studies focus on how leadership qualities and strategies may act as key processes of importance to positive effects of workplace health promotion (WHP). The aim of this study was to increase knowledge about how leadership qualities and strategies in WHP projects influence employees' long-term work attendance. METHOD: The 1- and 2-year effect of leadership on the prevalence of long-term work attendance among municipal human service workers (n = 3 275) was analysed using 3-year register-based data on sick leave, questionnaires and a qualitative categorization of each unit. RESULT: Increased leadership qualities, especially where leaders used rewards, recognition and respect, were associated with higher prevalence of work attendance at follow-up [PR 1.42 (1.20-1.69)]. Leaders' strategies and views on work-related health had a significant impact on increased work attendance in projects that had goals clearly focusing on changeable factors [1.36 (1.11-1.67)], in multi-focused projects [1.60 (1.24-2.04)] and in projects aimed to increase employees' awareness of their health. Workplace health promotion strategies with a single focus on strengthening individual, professional or organizational resources were negatively associated with work attendance. A higher proportion of employee work attendance was also seen in units whose leaders viewed the organization or the society (rather than individual workers) as responsible for the high rate of sick leave. CONCLUSION: Leadership, WHP strategies and leaders' attitudes towards employee work-related health have importance for implementation processes, as well as affecting employee work attendance. In this study, multi-focused WHP interventions had the largest effect on work attendance.     

Effekte einer individualisierten Sportberatung im Betrieb

Background

Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is becoming increasingly important. Individualized exercise counselling provides a person-oriented measure of WHP which sets out to increase the level of sport activity. The aim of the present study was to check the efficacy of individualized exercise counselling in workplace.

Method

86 employees received counselling in 60–90-min sessions. Their level of sport activity was ascertained both during the intervention and 6 weeks later. At T2, the perceived impulse to change their personal behaviour was also determined. The data were analysed by calculating Spearman’s rank correlation and conducting t-tests.

Results

Overall, the level of sport activity increased from 173 to 228 min/week (ES?=?0.34). Particularly those people who had been inactive (ES?=?0.76), <?90 min/week (ES?=?0.63) or 90–180 min/week active (ES?=?0.53) at T1, report a higher level of sport activities at T2.

Discussion

The findings speak in favour of integrating individualized exercise counselling into WHP, whereby the person-oriented measure should be supplemented by environmental strategies.     

Employer Role in Integrative Workplace Health Management

The health of the international workforce has been an increasing area of concern for the last two decades. Globalization of the world economy and rapid technological changes continue to change the nature of work and employment practices, exposing employees to new and serious health risks. These challenges are inescapable in any workplace, therefore it is important that employers examine how they can best fulfill their legal and leadership roles to protect and promote the health and well-being of their employees.This paper explores employer roles in employee health in the context of global and local challenges. A strategy is suggested for employers to deal with the multifaceted workplace pressures and health impacts on employees i.e. implementing an integrative holistic model of workplace health management (workplace health management is an approach to workplace health that includes health promotion, disease prevention, safety management and organizational development). Workplace health management has emerged from the latest developments in the settings approach to workplace health promotion.The changing world of work and the implications on employee health in the current climate of globalization and technological changes is also examined. In particular, it highlights mental health issues associated with the emerging epidemic of work stress from increased workplace pressures.The paper reviews the changing conceptions of the role of employers and contemporary approaches to management practices in a range of disciplines, drawing out the common principles and strategies to respond to changes. One essential message which has emerged from the review is that employers need to become change agents and visionary leaders who adopt a proactive, interdisciplinary and integrative system approach to formulate and develop company policies and workplace culture that facilitates employee participation, professional growth and team work.These contemporary management principles and strategies form the basis of the integrative model for workplace health management presented in this paper. In essence, the integrative model of workplace health management uses a participatory problem solving cycle to identify and address the numerous issues associated with health promotion and disease prevention, occupational safety and hazard reduction, and organizational improvement and human resource management. Specifically this involves the employees and employer participating in a needs-based program development and implementation cycle: identifying health priorities and addressing environmental, organizational, occupational and lifestyle determinants of employee health. The paper concludes with an overview of international development of workplace health management and reports on successful examples from European, Western Pacific and Pan American regions.     

Communicating Health at Work: Organizational Wellness Programs as Identity Bridges

With the growth in workplace health promotion (WHP) initiatives, organizations are asking employees to enact their personal health identities at work. To understand this prominent yet poorly understood phenomenon, we surveyed 204 employees at a company with a WHP program and found that participation in the wellness program mediated personal health and organizational identities. Results fill a gap in communication literature by demonstrating the effect of individual identity enactment on organizational identification and contribute to recent research stressing the relationship between identity and health behaviors. In addition, findings illuminate the role of situated activity in identity negotiation, suggesting that certain activities in organizations, like wellness programs, serve as identity bridges between personal and work-related identity targets.     

Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

The Luxembourg Declaration defines workplace health promotion (WHP) as the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work. WHP aims at encouraging personal development and healthy lifestyle, improving work organisation and the working environment by a wide range of measures, and at promoting active participation of employees in WHP processes. The procedure of WHP is oriented on the Cycle of Business Excellence. This article presents the development, methods, projects, evaluation and quality control of WHP.     

Organizational factors and the attitude toward health promotion in German ICT-companies

This study takes a first step toward examining the relationship between organizational characteristics and the perceived attitude toward health promotion in companies from the perspective of chief executive officers (CEOs). Data for the cross-sectional study were collected through telephone interviews with one CEO from randomly selected companies within the German information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Multivariate logistic regression analysis (LRA) was performed, and further LRA was conducted after stratifying on company size. LRA of data from a total of n = 522 interviews found significant associations between the attitude toward health promotion and the company's market position, its number of hierarchical levels, the percentage of permanent positions and the percentage of employees with an academic education. After stratification on company size, the association between the attitude toward health promotion and both market position and the percentage of employees with an academic education was still present in small companies. There were no significant relationships between the attitude toward health promotion and the structural characteristics of medium-sized and large companies. The preliminary results of the study indicate that a perceived attitude toward health promotion in companies can be explained, to a certain degree, by the intraorganizational characteristics analyzed. Our key findings highlight that efforts toward establishing a positive attitude toward health promotion should focus on small companies with a lower market position and a greater number of employees with a lower education level.     

Design principles for data- and change-oriented organisational analysis in workplace health promotion

This article focuses on organizational analysis in workplace health promotion (WHP) projects. It shows how this analysis can be designed such that it provides rational data relevant to the further context-specific and goal-oriented planning of WHP and equally supports individual and organizational change processes implied by WHP. Design principles for organizational analysis were developed on the basis of a narrative review of the guiding principles of WHP interventions and organizational change as well as the scientific principles of data collection. Further, the practical experience of WHP consultants who routinely conduct organizational analysis was considered. This resulted in a framework with data-oriented and change-oriented design principles, addressing the following elements of organizational analysis in WHP: planning the overall procedure, data content, data-collection methods and information processing. Overall, the data-oriented design principles aim to produce valid, reliable and representative data, whereas the change-oriented design principles aim to promote motivation, coherence and a capacity for self-analysis. We expect that the simultaneous consideration of data- and change-oriented design principles for organizational analysis will strongly support the WHP process. We finally illustrate the applicability of the design principles to health promotion within a WHP case study.     

Towards better work and well-being: an overview

The "Towards Better Work and Well-being" conference, held in Helsinki in February 2010, was attended by 190 participants from 34 countries. During the Conference 12 keynote presentations and 57 oral and 47 poster communications were given. The conference was arranged by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in cooperation with the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health as well as with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The Conference was supported by the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion, the European Network Education and Training in Occupational Health and Safety, and the European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety. The aim of the Conference was to provide an opportunity to discuss strategies and tools for promotion of health and well-being at work and its effect on productivity. The main topics of the Conference were scientific and practical evidence; management and good practices--better productivity; workplace as an arena for health and safety promotion; and expert services and policies.