Social Sustainability
Total Worker Health
Definition
Total Worker Health is an approach developed by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 2011) integrating protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury- and illness-prevention efforts to advance worker wellbeing — on and off the job. It recognises that work itself is a social determinant of health: schedule, pay, security, autonomy and supervision shape health as much as exposure to physical hazards, so employer programmes address working conditions and wellbeing together.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Total Worker Health” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The framework structures employer wellbeing strategy, occupational health research, and the integration of safety management with human capital and ESG health metrics.
Why it matters
Total Worker Health is the recognition that a job can protect health or destroy it — the whole-worker view occupational health needed.