Better Health by Work
– the Goldilocks principle

3rd – 5th of May 2022
Online course

About this course

To solve important limitations of current workplace health promotion, we need new approaches of how to intervene at work. “The Goldilocks Work Principle” is a new approach of how productive work can be designed to promote health and fitness. Goldilocks say that productive work tasks can and should be changed in a manner that will lead to workers getting fit and healthy only by performing their work.

There are currently several research studies initiated in various jobs (childcare, manufacturing, eldercare, rail), investigating the feasibility and effectiveness on health indicators of applying this new approach.

This NIVA course will address the Goldilocks approach to workplace promotion of health, guided by the vision “Workers should get healthier by performing their work”.

Price information

The price of the course is EUR 50.

It is possible to pay by invoice and credit card.

Course objectives

Improved understanding of how to go from the approach “prevent workers from getting ill at work” to the more ambitious approach “make workers healthier by work”
Encourage new approaches to promotion of workers’ health
Get knowledge about the background, underlying principles, implementation in practice, and experiences from workplace studies applying the Goldilocks Work Principle
Facilitate dialogue on how to improve communication, recommendations and workplace interventions for better promotion of workers health
Strengthen networks and support collaboration between researchers and practitioners

Program

Target groups

Researchers and practitioners with interest in workplace prevention and workplace health promotion
Early career and senior researchers
Occupational consultants
OHS specialists
Ergonomists
Physical therapists
Exercise physiologists and others interested in new preventive initiatives for promoting workers’ health

Subject background

Despite numerous preventive efforts at workplaces, organizations and employees face several challenges related to working life, such as a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, poor mental health, an obesity epidemic, social inequality in health, and, not least, an aging workforce. Initiatives supporting a “healthy ageing workforce” are of great importance for societies and companies, but also for the workers facing increases in statutory retirement age.

The classic workplace approach, focusing on “preventing harm from high demands at work”, does not seem to solve these challenges. Moreover, workplace health promotion is difficult to sustain and particularly to adopt in occupations with the greatest needs. A main barrier is that workplace health promotion becomes an “add-on” to productive work. Thus, it requires time, which the employees spend away from the productive work, and which is costly for the companies.

Moreover, when employees come under time-pressure at work, add-ons in excess of the main productive tasks are pushed aside. Further, traditional workplace health promotion depends on the resources and motivation of the individual worker, and often lead to drop-out of workers with the greatest need and fewest resources.

Thus, to solve important limitations of current workplace health promotion, we need new approaches of how to intervene at work. “The Goldilocks Work Principle” is a new approach of how productive work can be designed to promote health and fitness. Goldilocks say that productive work tasks can and should be changed in a manner that will lead to workers getting fit and healthy only by performing their work.

This NIVA course will address the Goldilocks approach to workplace promotion of health, guided by the vision “Workers should get healthier by performing their work”.