Total Worker Health is Coming of Age: Companies such as Jordan Foster Construction are creating programs to expand their view of safety.
It’s often a long road from identifying an issue, creating a consensus and then designing a solution. That seems to be the case with the philosophy called total worker health ( TWH). It was created in 2006 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to “expand the science, education and training around a more holistic approach to worker well-being.” “TWH is defined as policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being,” according to Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Work, Health & Well-Being, one of the 10 centers of excellence created by NIOSH to implement this doctrine. Since its creation, many companies have adopted this expanded vision of safety and created programs to address it. By 2023, 58% of small firms and 94% of large companies in the U.S. had a wellness program. I...