Impact of decentralized management on sickness absence in hospitals: a two-wave cohort study of frontline managers in Danish hospital wards.

Background: This study explores the impact of decentralized management on the sickness absence among healthcare professionals. Sickness absence is a reliable indicator of employees' wellbeing and it is linked to management quality. However, the influence of decentralized management on sickness absence has not been adequately studied.

Occupational health and safety regulatory interventions to improve the work environment: An evidence and gap map of effectiveness studies.

Background: Unsafe and unhealthy working conditions lead to injuries and financial losses across the globe, resulting in a need for research into effective work environment interventions.

Objectives: The objective of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to provide an overview of existing systematic reviews and primary studies examining the effects of occupational health and safety regulatory interventions.

Search Methods: Relevant studies are identified through searches in published and unpublished literature performed up to January 2023.

Participatory ergonomics: What works for whom and why? A realist review.

Participatory workplace interventions to improve workforce musculoskeletal health are infrequently analysed regarding why they work, for whom or under what circumstances. This review sought to identify intervention strategies which achieved genuine worker participation. In total, 3388 articles on participatory ergonomic (PE) interventions were screened; 23 were suitable to analyse within a realist framework identifying contexts, mechanisms of change, and outcomes.

The impact of work-place social capital in hospitals on patient-reported quality of care: a cohort study of 5205 employees and 23,872 patients in Denmark.

Background: Decision-makers increasingly consider patient-reported outcomes as important measures of care quality. Studies on the importance of work-place social capital-a collective work-place resource-for the experience of care quality are lacking. We determined the association between the level of work-place social capital and patient-reported quality of care in 148 hospital sections in the Capital Region of Denmark.

Assessing the effects of lean on occupational health and safety in the Ready-Made Garment industry.

Background: Garment manufacturers have been adopting lean manufacturing in order to increase productivity and competitiveness. However, the effects of lean on occupational health and safety (OHS) of the workers are not clear. In the literature, there is an ongoing debate about whether lean and OHS are complementary or contradictory.

Intermediaries Supporting Occupational Health and Safety Improvements in Small Businesses: Development of Typology and Discussion of Consequences for Preventive Strategies.

Intermediaries have been suggested as a potential source for improving Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in small businesses (SBs), because SB due to their sheer number and limited managerial and financial resources typically have weak OHS management and higher occupational risks. SB furthermore typically has a reactive approach to OHS and do not seek out OHS assistance on their own. We propose, based on a large comparative study of SB and intermediaries, a general typology for intermediaries in relation to SB, and further, discuss the implications for preventive strategies in SB.

No one can whistle a symphony: how hospitals design for daily cross-boundary collaboration.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and with which mechanisms health care professionals in practice design for collaboration to solve collective hospital tasks, which cross occupational and departmental boundaries. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth multiple-case study of five departments across four hospitals facing fast to slow response task requirements was carried out using interviews and observations. The selected cases were revealing as the departments had designed and formalized their daily hospital operations differently to solve collaboration and performance issues.

Associations between the workplace-effort in psychosocial risk management and the employee-rating of the psychosocial work environment - a multilevel study of 7565 employees in 1013 workplaces.

Aims: This study examined the association between the workplace-effort in psychosocial risk management and later employee-rating of the psychosocial work environment.

Method: The study is based on data from two questionnaire surveys - one including 1013 workplaces and one including 7565 employees from these workplaces. The association was analyzed using multi-level linear regression.

Workplace social capital and risk of long-term sickness absence. Are associations modified by occupational grade?

Background: Workplace social capital (WSC) is an emerging topic among both work environment professionals and researchers. We examined (i) whether high WSC protected against risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in a random sample of the Danish workforce during a 1-year follow-up and (ii) whether the association of WSC with sickness absence was modified by occupational grade. 

Methods: We measured WSC by self-report in a cohort of 3075 employees and linked responses to a national register of sickness absence.

Why do organizations not learn from incidents? Bottlenecks, causes and conditions for a failure to effectively learn.

If organizations would be able to learn more effectively from incidents that occurred in the past, future incidents and consequential injury or damage can be prevented. To improve learning from incidents, this study aimed to identify limiting factors, i.e.

A model for design of tailored working environment intervention programmes for small enterprises.

Objectives: Small enterprises have higher exposure to occupational hazards compared to larger enterprises and further, they have fewer resources to control the risks. In order to improve the working environment, development of efficient measures is therefore a major challenge for regulators and other stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to develop a systematic model for the design of tailored intervention programmes meeting the needs of small enterprises.

How to use programme theory to evaluate the effectiveness of schemes designed to improve the work environment in small businesses.

Due to the many constraints that small businesses (SBs) face in meeting legislative requirements, occupational health and safety (OHS) regulatory authorities and other OSH actors have developed programmes which can reach out to SBs and motivate and assist them in improving the work environment. A number of conceptual models help to enhance our understanding of OHS interventions in SBs and their effectiveness. However, they have mainly been evaluated on output rather than the process relating to the change theory underlying the intervention, and hence have seldom been rigorously evaluated.

Ergonomics and sustainability--challenges from global supply chains.

The development of globalised supply chains is a major challenge for sustainability. For several years, there has been discussion within the profession whether and how ergonomics and human factors can play a role. Based on our research, we have identified five major challenges from global supply chains especially related to the social aspects of sustainability: (1) criteria for social sustainability, (2) the role of key performance indicators in the management of supply chains, (3) the constant changes in supply chains, (4) the challenge in establishing participation, and (5) the development of agency and regulatory mechanisms.

Psychosocial work environment and its association with socioeconomic status. A comparison of Spain and Denmark.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to describe psychosocial work environment inequalities among wage earners in Spain and Denmark.

Methods: Data came from the Spanish COPSOQ (ISTAS 21) and the Danish COPSOQ II surveys both performed in 2004-05 and based on national representative samples of employees with a 60% response rate. Study population was 3,359 Danish and 6,685 Spanish women and men.

Determining minimally important score differences in scales of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire.

Aim: To determine minimally important differences (MIDs) for scales in the first version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ).

Methods: Data were taken from two separate studies: a national population survey (N = 1062), and an intervention study at 14 workplaces (N = 1505). On the basis of the population survey, the MID for each COPSOQ scale was calculated as one-half of a standard deviation (0.

Owner attitudes and self reported behavior towards modified work after occupational injury absence in small enterprises: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Opportunities for modified work after an occupational injury are thought to be limited in small enterprises. This paper explores owner attitudes and self reported behavior towards modified work after injury-absence in small enterprises.

Methods: Twenty-two owners of small construction and metal-processing enterprises were interviewed.

A review of the literature on preventive occupational health and safety activities in small enterprises.

The scientific literature regarding preventive occupational health and safety activities in small enterprises has been reviewed in order to identify effective preventive approaches and to develop a future research strategy. During the last couple of years, there has been a significant increase in the number of studies of small enterprises, but the research community is scattered between many different disciplines and institutions. There is a lack of evaluation of intervention studies, both in terms of effect and practical applicability.