Healthy workplaces: Are employers offering coordinated health promotion and occupational health programs in Massachusetts?

Advances in health promotion research have demonstrated the importance of addressing the underlying social and environmental factors that can negatively influence individuals' health behaviors. Working conditions are an important source of physical hazards (e.g., noise, heavy lifting) and psychosocial stressors (e.g., harassment, high demands coupled with low control) that are well-known to increase the risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and depression. Occupational health and safety programs (OHS), which help to assure safe working conditions, are rarely carried out in coordination with workplace health promotion (WHP) programs, despite the potential effectiveness for integrated programs to support changes in health behaviors, reduce risk and prevalence of chronic diseases, and realize cost and productivity savings. We analyzed results from a 2008 survey of Massachusetts employers to assess the extent to which employers offer worksite health promotion (WHP) and occupational health and safety (OHS) programs, and whether there was any relationship between the two domains. For the 890 responding worksites, OHS scores were higher (mean=48%, SD=24) than WHP overall score (mean=20%, SD = 12). Correlation between the two scores was 0.366. Coordination of WHP and OHS activities was reported by roughly one-fourth of worksites. OHS/WHP coordination was stronger in larger firms and in manufacturing, construction and heath care sectors. More intervention research on trans-disciplinary programs would be helpful for guiding WHP and OHS practitioners. Successful implementation of integrated programs relies on a shift from focusing solely on behavioral interventions (“healthy employees”) to also addressing environmental and system changes (“healthy workplaces”).