Workplace Health & Well Being

The following statements are from organizations promoting the benefits of workplace health promotion.

WHO (World Health Organization) states that the workplace

"has been established as one of the priority settings for health promotion into the 21st century" because it influences "physical, mental, economic and social well-being" and "offers an ideal setting and infrastructure to support the promotion of health of a large audience"

Worksite health promotion programs (also called "workplace health promotion programs," "worksite wellness programs," or "workplace wellness programs") include exercise, nutrition, smoking cessation and stress management.

ENWHP (European Network for Workplace Health Promotion) states

“Society and companies are more dependent on well trained, highly qualified and motivated employees nowadays than ever before. At the same time, the potential of the workforce and its ability to develop have become the subject of a new understanding of health, which encompasses both physical and mental well-being, the quality of life and learning. As extensive research has shown, promoting health at the workplace improves the working environment and is beneficial for society, companies and employees alike.“

ENWHP also explains that

“Companies benefit from Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) because by working in an improved working environment, their employees are more healthy and better motivated. This consequently results in a reduction in sickness-related and other costs, a higher quality of products and services, more innovation and a rise in productivity. Workplace health promotion is also a prestige factor which helps to improve the public image of a company and makes it become more attractive as an employer.“

Hse - Work related stress

Well-designed, organised and managed work helps to maintain and promote individual health and well-being. But where there has been insufficient attention to job design, work organisation and management the benefits and assets associated with ‘good work’ could be lost. One common result is Work related stress.

By the term work related stress we mean the process that arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. Think of this as ‘bad work’. It is a significant cause of illness and disease and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other indicators of organisational underperformance - including human error.

For some the way to deal with work related stress is to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate people who experience it. For others, it is economically and morally preferable to assess and repair the failed work system or organisation. This action reduces the risk of future failure and the likelihood of future work-related ill-health. This approach focuses attention on the antecedents of work related stress in the design and management of work – but recognises that interventions at the individual level have a part to play.

Recent statistics confirm that work related stress is widespread in the UK working population and is not confined to particular sectors or high risk jobs or industries. That is why a population-wide approach is necessary to tackle it.

This website represents our current understanding and best practice based on recent work with organisations from the public and private sector. It is not meant to replace our existing guidance

Managing the causes of work related stress (HS (G) 218) [PDF, 964KB]