ABSTRACT
Throughout the last century, organizations increasingly have been held responsible for employee safety and health. Such responsibility is evident by legislation around the globe, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the United States (1970), the Single European Act (1987), and ongoing efforts from the European Safety and Health Legislation. Generally, legislation focuses on environmental risk reduction, specifically the prevention of accidents and illnesses due to exposure to hazardous materials and conditions. However, by the 1990s, research was beginning to accumulate that psychosocial factors can produce or mitigate risks to worker safety and health of employees. These psychosocial factors included such conditions as relationships with co-workers and supervisors, the organization of work, workplace climate and culture, and management and leader support. Industrial-organizational psychologists tend to emphasize the effect of these working conditions on performance and productivity. However, such risks also have an impact on the health of employees. This chapter emphasizes the importance of these psychosocial factors, especially for those who seek to create healthy workplaces not only as an end in itself, but also as a means to create a healthier society (cf. social capital, social entrepreneurship).
