Report: The Value of Occupational Health to Workplace Wellbeing

The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) has examined how occupational health practitioners and providers can add value to workplace wellbeing initiatives by focusing on the knowledge, skills and competences required to introduce workplace health and wellbeing programmes.

Key findings

• Workplace health and wellbeing programmes require co-ordinated initiatives addressing: management capabilities, improving job quality, enhancing social relationships at work, workplace health promotion and providing support for workers coping with health conditions and/or life stresses.
• Potential areas where OH professionals can add value relate to developing knowledge of and competences in implementing the more preventive strategies targeted at workplace social environments, working practices and management practices, rather than provision of specific personal wellbeing resources or workplace health promotion.
• In addition to technical and functional knowledge of health conditions and the ability to appraise evidence critically, occupational health practitioners can add value to workplace health and wellbeing programmes by acquiring and using skills related to change management processes.