The influence of social capital on employers use of occupational health services: a qualitative study

Background: Occupational health services may have a strategic role in the prevention of sickness absence, as well as in rehabilitation and return to work after sick leave, because of their medical expertise in combination with a close connection to workplaces. The purpose of this study was to explore how employers and occupational health service providers describe their business relations and the use of occupational health services in rehabilitation in relation to the organization of such services. The study uses a theoretical framework based on social capital to analyse the findings. Methods: Interviews and focus groups with managers with Swedish public employers (n = 60), and interviews with occupational health services professionals (n = 25). Results: Employers emphasized trustful relationships, local workplace knowledge, long-term contracts and dialogue about services for good relationships with occupational health providers. Occupational health providers strove to be strategic partners to employers, promoting preventive work, which was more easily achieved in situations where the services were organized in-house. Employers with outsourced occupational health services expressed less trust in their providers than employers with internal occupational health provision. Conclusions: Social capital emerges as central to understanding the conditions for cooperation and collective action in the use of occupational health services, with reference to structural (e.g. contracts), relational (e.g. trust) as well as cognitive (e.g. shared vision) dimensions. The study suggests that attention to the quality of relationships is imperative for developing purposeful occupational health service delivery in rehabilitation and return to work.Funding Agencies|AFA Forsakring [090315]</p

The influence of social capital on employers' use of occupational health services : a qualitative study

Background: Occupational health services may have a strategic role in the prevention of sickness absence, as well as in rehabilitation and return to work after sick leave, because of their medical expertise in combination with a close connection to workplaces. The purpose of this study was to explore how employers and occupational health service providers describe their business relations and the use of occupational health services in rehabilitation in relation to the organization of such services. The study uses a theoretical framework based on social capital to analyse the findings. Methods: Interviews and focus groups with managers with Swedish public employers (n = 60), and interviews with occupational health services professionals (n = 25). Results: Employers emphasized trustful relationships, local workplace knowledge, long-term contracts and dialogue about services for good relationships with occupational health providers. Occupational health providers strove to be strategic partners to employers, promoting preventive work, which was more easily achieved in situations where the services were organized in-house. Employers with outsourced occupational health services expressed less trust in their providers than employers with internal occupational health provision. Conclusions: Social capital emerges as central to understanding the conditions for cooperation and collective action in the use of occupational health services, with reference to structural (e.g. contracts), relational (e.g. trust) as well as cognitive (e.g. shared vision) dimensions. The study suggests that attention to the quality of relationships is imperative for developing purposeful occupational health service delivery in rehabilitation and return to work

The influence of social capital on employers use of occupational health services: a qualitative study

Background: Occupational health services may have a strategic role in the prevention of sickness absence, as well as in rehabilitation and return to work after sick leave, because of their medical expertise in combination with a close connection to workplaces. The purpose of this study was to explore how employers and occupational health service providers describe their business relations and the use of occupational health services in rehabilitation in relation to the organization of such services. The study uses a theoretical framework based on social capital to analyse the findings. Methods: Interviews and focus groups with managers with Swedish public employers (n = 60), and interviews with occupational health services professionals (n = 25). Results: Employers emphasized trustful relationships, local workplace knowledge, long-term contracts and dialogue about services for good relationships with occupational health providers. Occupational health providers strove to be strategic partners to employers, promoting preventive work, which was more easily achieved in situations where the services were organized in-house. Employers with outsourced occupational health services expressed less trust in their providers than employers with internal occupational health provision. Conclusions: Social capital emerges as central to understanding the conditions for cooperation and collective action in the use of occupational health services, with reference to structural (e.g. contracts), relational (e.g. trust) as well as cognitive (e.g. shared vision) dimensions. The study suggests that attention to the quality of relationships is imperative for developing purposeful occupational health service delivery in rehabilitation and return to work.Funding Agencies|AFA Forsakring [090315]</p

Risk factors contributing to truck drivers’ non-driving occupational accidents

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify various individual factors and combinations thereof that can contribute to truck drivers’ occupational accidents, particularly connected to work performed outside the cab in various work environments. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 74 accidents were analysed through in-depth interviews with truck drivers. These interviews were conducted employing the critical incident technique, and analysed utilising a qualitative content analysis approach. Findings: The contributing factors identified were categorised into 14 categories. In all, 13 of these were grouped into four sections reflecting the drivers’ work outside the cab: “Goods and equipment”, “Loading/unloading area”, “Loading/unloading tasks”, and “Organisation”. A single risk factor was associated with 40 accidents while the other 34 involved combinations of factors. Research limitations/implications: Although the tasks performed by truck drivers in different countries are probably similar, one limitation might be that all the accidents characterised occurred in one country: Sweden. Practical implications: The findings reveal that complex combinations of risk factors often contribute to accidents. In addition to the transportation company itself, other stakeholders, such as clients, and designers and manufacturers of technology, may influence the occupational safety of truck drivers. Different stakeholders who could contribute to managerial decision making that is designed to prevent accidents are identified and discussed. Originality/value: This investigation contributes to an in-depth understanding of the causes of accidents in the transportation industry. The findings are discussed from the perspective of the stakeholders and safety management in an attempt to identify key stakeholders who can improve accident prevention