ABSTRACT
This chapter provides readers with a foundational understanding of the field of occupational health psychology (OHP) and its reason for existence. Professionals in OHP focus on protecting and improving worker health, safety, and well-being (WHSWB). Health is typically conceptualized along multiple continua pertaining to physical, psychological, social, and emotional forms. Safety is often focused on physical risk situations, with the goal of preventing physical harm, injury, or even death. The focus for OHP researchers and practitioners is primarily on the ways in which experiences at work, exposures to work tasks, and associated environmental factors impact WHSWB. Most OHP professionals are trained to be scientists and practitioners, which can mean a variety of different things. The broad class of WHSWB issues targeted by OHP professionals is understandably complex and multifaceted. A really important and powerful way of thinking about OHP is to treat it as a lens through which people can more fully see, understand, and ultimately impact WHSWB issues.
