What you can do

Resources

The NIOSH Total Worker Health® Program advances worker well-being. It integrates work-related safety and health hazards protection with injury and illness prevention. CDC also has a Workplace Health Resource Center.

Search the NIOSHTIC-2 database to find additional occupational safety and health publications on this topic from NIOSH or a NIOSH-supported project.

Offer workplace programs and activities

• Build short physical activity breaks (5-10 min) into the workday.
• Offer health education programs that counsel employees on healthier behaviors.
• Ensure employees are properly trained to prevent chemical exposures. See Hierarchy of Controls and Preventing Lead exposure.
• Don’t allow smoking in the workplace.
• Offer healthy foods in workplace vending machines and cafeterias.

Implement workplace surveillance programs

• Do workplace health screenings and referrals.14
• Provide portable (ambulatory) monitors for employees to more accurately measure their blood pressure while working. 615
• Survey your workforce to understand work organization and work psychosocial stressors. These stressors may be chronic, occurring daily, or could be the result of major life events.616

Lower work-related stressors

Organizational, collective bargaining, and legislative interventions can lower employees’ work-related stress and fatigue.

• Reduce mandatory overtime.17
• Provide family sick leave.1819
• Increase staff in healthcare settings (e.g., provide better nurse-to-patient staffing ratios).620
• Form workplace committees to identify and reduce job stressors (e.g., develop labor-management committees).21
• Increase workers’ influence on working time, work tasks, or work organization. 22