Occupational Health and Safety Management in Organizations: A Review

Abstract

In examining the research literature on occupational health and safety (OHS), this paper argues that the growth in the number of specialists in OHS has resulted in an emphasis on policy and practice away from more scholastic concerns previously addressed by academics in the disciplines of psychology and sociology. A hiatus has occurred, and this is evidenced by the general absence of studies in management, even though OHS is increasingly seen as a key operational and strategic concern of business organizations. The authors call for OHS to be placed firmly on the research agenda of management scholars, and advocate the need for greater conceptual development, empirical study and theoretical reflection to complement existing pragmatic concerns of OHS specialists. In this review, the contributions of psychology, sociology, industrial relations and management studies are assessed, and five categories of specialist OHS literature are analysed, namely: prescriptive; systematic OHS management; success based; error and disaster based; and culture, climate and high‐reliability studies. The conceptual and methodological limitations of this specialist focus are discussed, and future research opportunities are highlighted, for which the authors argue that management scholars embrace a range of methodological approaches. The authors advocate the value of extended case studies which examine OHS in context and over time in particular workplace settings. There remains considerable scope to develop this field further and, in conclusion, particular attention is drawn to the value of process‐oriented contextual approaches for understanding OHS management in organizations.

Barriers to occupational health and safety management in small Brazilian enterprises

“…Research on operations management demonstrates the importance of proper management of human resources in business and accurate operation of OHS (Zanko & Dawson, 2012). In the same way, companies are increasingly being asked by different stakeholders to manage their OHS issues adequately, systematically, and transparently .…”

Proactive occupational safety and health management: Promoting good health and good business

“…Michael et al (2005) suggest that employee perceptions of management's concern for employee well-being through a dedication to safety may result in positive outcomes beyond improved safety performance. Perceived management commitment to safety has been linked to employee attitudes such as: job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover (Michael et al, 2005;Zanko and Dawson, 2012). A meta-analysis by Faragher et al (2005) found evidence that job satisfaction was associated with workers' mental health but the evidence for a link with subjective physical health was weaker.…”

Briefing: Defining safety leadership in construction

“…As it pertains to safety, the initial investigation of broader leadership studies warrants perusal through the research of Zanko and Dawson (2012). Conclusions from this research detailed that traditional occupational health and safety (OHS) has focused on policies and systems; there is a notable lack of research on OHS safety leadership behaviours.…”