Improving workplace health & safety through collaboration

Articles Occupational Health Psychology (ohp)

Occupational Health Psychology (ohp)

Principal Author / Publisher:Safetyhow Admin
Article Rating:
Body
What is OHP?

Many psychologists have argued that the psychology field needs to take a more active role in research and practice to prevent occupational stress, illness, and injury.Stressed Out Woman This is what the new field of Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) is all about. Although research and practice in OHP may cover a wide range of topics, NIOSH has urged that this new field give special attention to the primary prevention of organizational risk factors for stress, illness, and injury at work. This viewpoint is expressed in the NIOSH-proposed definition of OHP: OHP concerns the application of psychology to improving the quality of work life, and to protecting and promoting the safety, health and well-being of workers. The notion of health protection in this definition refers to intervention in the work environment to reduce worker exposures to workplace hazards, while health promotion refers to individual-level interventions to equip workers with knowledge and resources to improve their health and thereby resist hazards in the work environment. Although both of these types of interventions can be defined as primary prevention, the NIOSH-proposed definition places priority on health protection. OHP is especially concerned with the dramatic transformation of work and employment that has been underway in industrial economies since the 1980s (e.g., flexible employment and production processes), and how changing organizational structures and processes are influencing the health and well-being of workers and their families.
NIOSH - APA Contributions to OHP

In the period 1990-2013, NIOSH and the APA launched a series of initiatives to promote the new field of OHP. Ten international conferences on work, stress and health were convened, the Society for Occupational Health Psychology (SOHP) was established, and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology was founded. Of special importance, programs have been implemented to support graduate level training in OHP at major universities. These programs have strong interdepartmental linkages which expose psychology students to topics and methods in occupational safety and health, and provide opportunities for practica, or internships in actual workplaces. The core curricula in these training programs usually includes coursework addressing the following topics:
Survey of occupational safety and health
Job stress theory and mechanisms
Organizational risk factors for occupational stress, injury, and illness.
Health implications of stressful work, including physical and psychological health, and social and economic outcomes.
Organizational interventions (e.g., work redesign) and programs (e.g., employee assistance programs, work-family programs) for reduction of occupational stress, illness and injury.
Research methods and practices in public/occupational health and epidemiology.
  • d5a091c59b7b102b9510d1e86c142ae4c8.jpg
  • cnc08609eaa9fdd652dbd370df5201c25a.jpg

Videos



References
Article Rating

This article has been read 892 times.

DISCLAIMER: All contents published on this website is for informational purposes only. In as much as we encourage write-ups to be originally written by the claimed authors, we might not be able to control those who will try to copy articles from other authors/writers. In view of the above, the owner and management of Safetyhow.com will not be liable for any loses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of the contents herein. Likewise, the owner and management will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information stated. Furthermore, we highly recommend that any form of plagiarism or libel committed as a result or implication of the articles written by any specific author in this platform be reported to us immediately so that appropriate action will be given.

BROWSE ARTICLE BY CATEGORY

BROWSE ARTICLE BY INDUSTRY