Varianou - Mikellidou, Cleo

Working environment is constantly changing with working population increasing in terms of ageing, feminization and immigration. Due to the changes in the working pattern, new emerging risks have been introduced at the workplace along with many challenges that employers are called to manage. While ageing has been identified by Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) community as an emerging risk, organisations stand in need of guidelines on how to manage this additional challenge. Occupational Health and Safety Performance (OHSP) is acknowledged as one of the factors affecting the future of an organisation and should be considered when dealing with OSH management with the aim to accomplish Industrial System Productivity (ISP). Nowadays, OSH management should be able to adapt to changes and consider emerging risks within the risk assessment, the procedures and policies. The aim of this paper is to introduce guidelines and practical solutions on OSH management helping the employers and employees adapt to the changing working environment, while explicitly considering individual's characteristics. Using the focus group method, factors affecting the ability to work have been identified and valued. In particular, the Work Individual Performance (WIP) tool is introduced as a tool which is specifically designed to identify factors, potentially affecting the performance of the workers and assist the employers in the identification and implementation of protective and preventive measures, focusing on worker's well-being, OHSP and ISP. The tool has been tested in 2019, during a research which took place in Cyprus involving the police workforce (559 police officers).

Working environment is constantly changing with working population increasing in terms of ageing, feminization and immigration. Due to the changes in the working pattern, new emerging risks have been introduced at the workplace along with many challenges that employers are called to manage. While ageing has been identified by Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) community as an emerging risk, organisations stand in need of guidelines on how to manage this additional challenge. Occupational Health and Safety Performance (OHSP) is acknowledged as one of the factors affecting the future of an organisation and should be considered when dealing with OSH management with the aim to accomplish Industrial System Productivity (ISP). Nowadays, OSH management should be able to adapt to changes and consider emerging risks within the risk assessment, the procedures and policies. The aim of this paper is to introduce guidelines and practical solutions on OSH management helping the employers and employees adapt to the changing working environment, while explicitly considering individual's characteristics. Using the focus group method, factors affecting the ability to work have been identified and valued. In particular, the Work Individual Performance (WIP) tool is introduced as a tool which is specifically designed to identify factors, potentially affecting the performance of the workers and assist the employers in the identification and implementation of protective and preventive measures, focusing on worker's well-being, OHSP and ISP. The tool has been tested in 2019, during a research which took place in Cyprus involving the police workforce (559 police officers).

From the perspective of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), the concept of work ability is based on the balance between individual characteristics and work demands. If the personal characteristics of the worker meet the work demands, then work could be part of a healthy life. However, work might affect worker's health due to physical or psychosocial factors that do not meet worker's abilities and expectations. Older workers are probably facing additional challenges in comparison to younger ones. Several studies have shown that Work Ability Index (WAI) decreases with factors such as ageing, unsatisfactory working conditions, poor organisation management and lack of freedom. Improvements in the working environment and ergonomic equipment are factors positively affecting WAI. A nationwide study on the ageing workforce has been conducted during 2018 in Cyprus. Based on information elicited through questionnaires and interviews, the factors affecting positively and negatively the ability to work have been identified on different age groups. Variables such as work demands and the work environment, features of work organisations, characteristics of company/ organisation, as well as employee characteristics, have been evaluated as potential factors affecting the ability/performance of the workers. Our findings indicate that personal characteristics are more crucial than work demands and working environment for the performance of the workers of all age groups and that poor ergonomic conditions particularly affect older workers. Also, health status and sleeping quality might be major factors affecting all age groups, while gender and years of experience affect younger workers.

The domain of occupational safety and health (OSH) is forced to respond to the requirements set by the rapid technological development and progress in order for the organizations to attain acceptable organizational safety and health maturity levels. Being able to understand weak signals and to develop mechanisms for their identification and management, can potentially lead to safer and healthier workplaces. The systematic and on-time identification of weak signals and their origin provides the potential for early intervention. If the threat is not recognized at an early stage, then the possibility of successful intervention is minimized along with the potential to abolish unwanted consequences and impending major disasters. This paper investigates and analyzes the current knowledge and use of weak signals within the OSH domain. The investigation is primarily based on the review of existing OSH literature, and is supplemented by a technical examination of selected major industrial accidents with respect to the documented existence of weak signals before their occurrence. The findings of this investigation provide a theoretical contribution towards a better understanding of the nature and current impact of weak signals within the OSH domain. Furthermore, they highlight the lack of weak signals consideration within traditional occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS), and indicate that their explicit management can potentially enhance the global effort made for the minimization of occupational accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences.

The domain of occupational safety and health (OSH) is forced to respond to the requirements set by the rapid technological development and progress in order for the organizations to attain acceptable organizational safety and health maturity levels. Being able to understand weak signals and to develop mechanisms for their identification and management, can potentially lead to safer and healthier workplaces. The systematic and on-time identification of weak signals and their origin provides the potential for early intervention. If the threat is not recognized at an early stage, then the possibility of successful intervention is minimized along with the potential to abolish unwanted consequences and impending major disasters. This paper investigates and analyzes the current knowledge and use of weak signals within the OSH domain. The investigation is primarily based on the review of existing OSH literature, and is supplemented by a technical examination of selected major industrial accidents with respect to the documented existence of weak signals before their occurrence. The findings of this investigation provide a theoretical contribution towards a better understanding of the nature and current impact of weak signals within the OSH domain. Furthermore, they highlight the lack of weak signals consideration within traditional occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS), and indicate that their explicit management can potentially enhance the global effort made for the minimization of occupational accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences.

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical contribution towards a better understanding of the nature and impact of weak signals within the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) domain, and to provide potential directions, regarding the introduction of weak signals management within established Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), based on a proactive approach. For the purpose of this study, a Delphi method with two iterations was utilized, supplemented by an experts’ focus group discussion, aiming to explore experts’ opinion regarding the potential impact of weak signals management in OSH. The findings of this research, reveal the existence of weak signals prior occupational accidents and other unwanted incidents at workplace, as well as the importance of its on-time management. The outcomes, enhance the development of a clearer definition of weak signals in the OSH domain, the development of a comprehensive weak signals management framework and concurrently, and provide directions for the introduction of weak signals management into existing traditional OHSMS

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical contribution towards a better understanding of the nature and impact of weak signals within the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) domain, and to provide potential directions, regarding the introduction of weak signals management within established Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), based on a proactive approach. For the purpose of this study, a Delphi method with two iterations was utilized, supplemented by an experts’ focus group discussion, aiming to explore experts’ opinion regarding the potential impact of weak signals management in OSH. The findings of this research, reveal the existence of weak signals prior occupational accidents and other unwanted incidents at workplace, as well as the importance of its on-time management. The outcomes, enhance the development of a clearer definition of weak signals in the OSH domain, the development of a comprehensive weak signals management framework and concurrently, and provide directions for the introduction of weak signals management into existing traditional OHSMS.

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical contribution towards a better understanding of the nature and impact of weak signals within the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) domain, and to provide potential directions, regarding the introduction of weak signals management within established Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), based on a proactive approach. For the purpose of this study, a Delphi method with two iterations was utilized, supplemented by an experts’ focus group discussion, aiming to explore experts’ opinion regarding the potential impact of weak signals management in OSH. The findings of this research, reveal the existence of weak signals prior occupational accidents and other unwanted incidents at workplace, as well as the importance of its on-time management. The outcomes, enhance the development of a clearer definition of weak signals in the OSH domain, the development of a comprehensive weak signals management framework and concurrently, and provide directions for the introduction of weak signals management into existing traditional OHSMS.