Healthy workplaces: a global model for action on the occasion of the World Day for Health and Safety at Work
The WHO healthy workplaces model: a comprehensive way of thinking and acting that addresses:
- work-related physical and psychosocial risks;
- promotion and support of healthy behaviours;
- broader social and environmental determinants.
In October 2009, and after a systematic review of literature on healthy workplaces, WHO held a workshop with attendance of the ILO, 56 experts from 22 countries, international worker and employer representatives, and NGOs in official relations with WHO.
The result was the healthy workplaces model that combines evidence-based approaches and principles of health protection and health promotion. The ideas are not new, but the model is innovative as it combines the four avenues of influence employers can take, with the participation of workers.
A new publication promotes a global model for action, applicable to all workplaces.
It is a well-known fact nowadays that a healthy workforce in a healthy workplace also means a healthy business. We estimate that the cost of work-related health and associated productivity loss represent around 4-5 percent of the GDP.
A number of effective workplace interventions and good practice approaches exist to address specific hazards in the workplace, but too often their implementation produces mostly short-lived successes due to their limited target area.
WHO regards the workplace as a setting for protecting and promoting the health of workers, their families and the community. In May 2007, the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Plan of Action on Workers Health (GPA) for the period 2008-2017. The Global Plan was adopted unanimously by 193 WHO Member States. Within the Global Plan, countries and international stakeholders expressed a need for a globally coherent framework for planning, delivery and evaluation of essential interventions for workplace health protection and promotion.
Healthy Workplace Resources
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Introducing healthy workplaces: a model for action
pdf, 9.54Mb -
Healthy Workplaces: A Model for Action
pdf, 2.87Mb -
Healthy Workplaces: A Model for Action - Spanish
pdf, 1.72Mb -
Healthy Workplaces: A Model for Action - Portuguese
pdf, 1.04Mb -
Background and Literature Review
pdf, 3.29Mb - Background and Literature Review - Spanish
WHO Related Resources
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Workers' Health : Global Plan of Action
pdf, 1.05Mb - Health Impact of Psychological Hazards at Work: An Overview
- WHO/HQ: Preventing Noncommunicable Diseases in the Workplace through Diet and Physical Activity: WHO/World Economic Forum Report of a Joint Event
- WHO/HQ: Interventions on Diet and Physical Activity - What works
- WHO/HQ: Employment Conditions and Health Inequalities - Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH)
- WHO/HQ: Daily living conditions: Recommendations for action
- WHO/HQ: Annex A – list of all recommendations
- AMRO: Healthy Workplaces in the Americas
- AMRO: Partners Forum for action on Chronic Disease in the Americas
- WPRO: Western-Pacific Regional Guidelines for the development of Healthy Workplaces
- WPRO: WPRO Regional Database on Healthy Workplaces