ABSTRACT
The earliest efforts to prevent undesirable OHS outcomes focused on the provision of a safe physical environment, and addressed issues such as the provision of machinery guarding and safe mechanical equipment. As OHS practitioners and researchers became aware that individual behaviour played a role in the occurrence of occupational injury and illness, the focus shifted to the individual. Within this tradition, OHS programmes focused on individuals’ risk behaviours were commonplace. While these traditional approaches led to enormous improvements in OHS performance in the twentieth century, there is compelling evidence that workplace organisational factors play a key role in OHS. For example, Shannon et al. (2001) present a detailed review of the literature linking workplace organisational factors to occupational injuries, occupational ill health and musculoskeletal disorders. Workplace organisational factors impacting upon OHS include the organisation’s OHS management activities, in particular the extent to which an OHS management system is in place, and the effectiveness with which this management system operates. There is also a growing recognition that less tangible features of an organisation also contribute to OHS performance. These features include the organisation’s philosophy, culture and employee relations situation. Contemporary OHS theory and best-practice models focus on both the OHS management system and the organisational culture (Hale and Hovden 1998).
