Promoting Safe, Healthy Lifestyles for Workers

CDC offers tools and resources to help workers stay safe and healthy on the job.

The workplace provides many opportunities for promoting health and preventing disease and injury for more than 145 million working Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with business, education, government and the public to identify and encourage adoption of research-based, comprehensive workplace programs, policies, and practices that protect workers from work-related risks and promote safe and healthy lifestyles for workers.

While many programs are offered at the workplace, successful efforts reach beyond the job and into the community.

The overall health of workers is influenced by factors both inside and outside the workplace, such as stress; unhealthful diet; limited exercise; smoking; and chronic conditions such as hypertension, asthma, and diabetes. Just as workplace conditions can affect health and well-being at home and in the community, exposures and activities outside of working hours can substantially determine health, productivity, and well-being during work.

CDC offers research- and evidence-based programs and resources for improving worker's health and safety:

• WorkLife Initiative
  CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is exploring a comprehensive approach to worker health that considers the interactions between work-based and non-work health factors in developing programs and practices that promote workforce health and well-being. NIOSH has established 3 Centers of Excellence (at University of Iowa, University of Massachusetts at Lowell/University of Connecticut, and Harvard School of Public Health) to lead research, training, and education in this area.
• Having a workplace free of occupational safety and health hazards is integral to a worker's well-being. Federal and state laws require employers to comply with workplace safety and health regulations. NIOSH's Web site provides resources for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.
• "The Essential Elements of Effective Workplace Programs for Worker Health and Wellbeing"
  This document, developed by NIOSH with contributions from industry, academia, and labor experts, identifies 20 components of a comprehensive, work-based health protection and health promotion program for organizations creating programs to sustain and improve worker health.
• "Workplace Solutions" Series
  These documents offer easy-to-understand, easy-to-access, and easy-to-use recommendations that turn the results of NIOSH research into occupational safety and health practice. Each publication offers a summary of the research, an explanation of the possible risk or exposure, and detailed recommendations.
• Worksite Health Promotion
  American businesses are increasingly looking at ways to improve employee health and contain costs that are driven largely by chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart diseases, and related behavioral risk factors, such as poor nutrition and tobacco use. CDC provides a variety of science-based resources for employers interested in workplace health promotion programs that combat these and other diseases and their risk factors.
  • Healthier Worksite Initiatives offer step-by-step toolkits to help employers plan, implement and evaluate programs to improve employees' health. Some examples of specific toolkits available include:
    • How to create a fresh produce market at your worksite
    • How to encourage employees to take the stairs at work
    • Determine how safe and attractive the walking environment is at your worksite
    • How to set up a lactation support program for nursing mothers at your worksite
  • Making Your Workplace Smokefree: A Decision Maker's Guide offers practical, evidenced-based strategies for implementing successful policies in a variety of work settings.
  • Successful Business Strategies to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke Toolkit is designed to provide State Health Departments with information to educate employers about worksite programs and preventive health benefits that will improve employee cardiovascular health, prevent heart disease and stroke, and reduce related costs.
  • Diabetesatwork.org can help businesses and managed care companies assess the impact of diabetes in the workplace and provide intuitive information to help employees manage their diabetes and take steps toward reducing risks for related complications. Diabetesatwork.org is a collaboration of CDC and NIH's National Diabetes Education Program, The National Business Group on Health, The National Business Coalition on Health, and the America's Health Insurance Plans.
  • The Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving Science into Action translates clinical guidelines and medical evidence into lay terms, providing employers with the information they need to select, define, and implement preventive medical benefits. It includes the scientific evidence and specific benefit language employers need to implement a comprehensive and structured clinical preventive services program within their medical benefit plan. The Guide was developed by CDC and the National Business Group on Health.
• Worksite Health Promotion
  The Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) presents findings of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, which has recommended these interventions:
  • Worksite programs to control overweight and obesity
  • Creation of or enhanced access to places for physical activity, combined with informational outreach activities
  • Point-of-decision prompts to encourage use of stairs
  • Assessment of health risks with feedback (AHRF) plus health education with or without other interventions
  • Smoke-free policies to reduce tobacco use among workers
  • Incentives and competitions to increase smoking cessation, when combined with additional interventions

More Information

• Safe at Work ( 2009) (4:09 mins)
• Making the Workplace Work ( 2007) (4:52 mins)