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NORA Symposium 2008: Public Market for Ideas and Partnerships

Poster #042

NIOSH WorkLife Initiative: Protecting and Promoting Worker Health through Comprehensive Work-Based Programs and Policies

The authors ask you:

• Are you interested in this work; if not, is there a related type of work that would interest you more?
• Could we collaborate to complete this work faster or with a better product?
• Could we partner to improve the positive impact of this work on workplace practices?

Abstract

The protection, preservation, and improvement of the health and well-being of people who work are goals shared by workers, their families, and their employers. Ill health and injury, whether caused by work or resulting from off-work activities, reduces income, quality of life, and opportunity for both the affected workers and those dependent on them. Worksites present an opportunity to implement programs and policies to prevent disease and injury and promote health. Numerous case studies and anecdotal reports provide support for the concepts that working conditions can be supportive of worker health, and that healthy workers are good for business-as reflected by reduced illness, absence, and turnover and increased effectiveness while at work. Nevertheless, worksite programs and policies intended to promote and preserve worker health have rarely been subject to rigorous evaluation.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in concert with many partners and stakeholders, is committed to addressing these and related issues through the WorkLife Initiative (WLI). The WLI envisions workplaces that are free of recognized hazards, with health-promoting and sustaining policies, programs, and practices; and employees with ready access to effective programs and services that protect their health, safety, and well-being. To pursue this vision, WLI seeks to better understand and promote the kinds of work environments, programs, and policies that result in healthy, productive workers with reduced disease and injury care needs and costs. The ultimate goal of the Initiative is to sustain and improve worker health through better, more comprehensive work-based programs, policies, and practices.

This presentation describes the current focus of WLI including support for new research efforts, identification of best practices and barriers to their adoption, and the development of "Essential Elements of Effective Worksite Programs" - practical, evidence-based guidance for improved workplace programs.

Background

The WorkLife Initiative is the NIOSH response to the 2004 Steps to a Healthier US Workforce Symposium. That Symposium, organized by NIOSH with over 20 co-sponsors and 50 supporters, reviewed the science, economics, and current practices coordinating health protection and health promotion to improve the health of workers. Symposium participants called on NIOSH to continue to show leadership in promoting research, policy, and practice in these areas.

In September of 2007, NIOSH and over thirty-five co-sponsors and supporters conducted a national symposium called WorkLife 2007: Protecting and Promoting Worker Health. More than 450 participants explored the science and economics of integrated work-based programs, policies, and practices that sustain and improve worker health and wellbeing. National and international leaders from the business, labor, and academic communities provided ample evidence that, in some settings, comprehensive or integrative approaches to work and health are beneficial. Numerous case studies and anecdotal reports provided support for the concepts that workplace conditions can promote worker health, and healthy workers are good for business. Nevertheless, most approaches have not been subjected to rigorous evaluation, and the validity of generalizing from limited experience is far from certain. For more information or to view presentations go to www.cdc.gov/niosh/worklife.

Approach

Worksites present an opportunity to implement programs and policies to prevent disease and injury and promote health. Traditionally, separate programs are implemented, to a greater or lesser extent, to address reduction of health risk from the work environment (both physical and organizational) and health risk from individual behaviors and choices. Recently both scientific studies and evidence from large employers suggest that comprehensive or integrated programs that address both individual risk factors and the work environment are more likely to be successful than those operating independently. Nevertheless, most worksite programs have not been subjected to rigorous evaluation, and the validity of generalizing from limited experience is far from certain. NIOSH, in concert with many partners and stakeholders, has committed to addressing these and related issues through WLI.

Results

The WorkLife Initiative is currently focusing on:

• Developing and promoting a sector-based research agenda
• Building on new and established partnerships to disseminate information about proven and promising programs, policies, and practices.
• Developing and disseminating “Essential Elements of Effective Worksite Programs”—practical, evidence-based guidance for improved workplace programs—and related resource information.
• Supporting the multi-disciplinary research, training, and education mission of three Centers of Excellence:
  • Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) [University of Massachusetts at Lowell and University of Connecticut]
  • Iowa Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence [University of Iowa School of Public Health]
  • Center for Work, Health, and Well-Being [Harvard School of Public Health]