Effectiveness of Occupational Safety and Health interventions: a long way to go

Background: Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has become an area of increasing concern for organizations and institutions. As it evolves, it has gradually posed ongoing challenges, becoming more complex, for organizations. Consequently, more comprehensive studies are required to advance academic and institutional research. From this perspective, this study aims to gather research contributions on the effectiveness of existing interventions for OSH improvement and identify areas for further exploration.

Methods: According to the nature of scientific literature, the overall process of a literature review was investigated following an integrative approach, which involved searching for, selecting, and analyzing various literature in a creative and integrated manner, without a predefined structure.

Results: The analysis suggests that there is room for improvement in understanding the effectiveness of OSH interventions and more concrete guidance is still desirable. Based on the literature, some research areas for future developments in OSH interventions are identified. One potential area to explore further is fostering human-centered technological development and a more conscious network of stakeholders, with higher coordination, shared knowledge, and open communication.

Implications: Focusing on the proposed directions will support scholars and practitioners in pursuing continuous OSH improvement through more effective and well-grounded workplace interventions and encourage organizations to be proactive in daily OSH management.