Grants awarded 2007

In 2007 we asked for proposals which looked into the implications of occupational health and safety practice for the changing world of work. Specifically, they focused on two key dimensions of this change:

• the interactions between work, health and wellbeing
• the use of supply chain networks to improve health and safety risk management.
  

We also considered innovative applications that address other aspects of the IOSH vision: 'A world of work which is safe, healthy and sustainable'. In this round of funding we've committed around £0.35 million to four projects:

Institution: Cardiff University
Project leader: Professor Andy Smith
Title: The relationship between work/working and improved health and wellbeing
Start date: November 2007
End date: October 2009
Final report: Download final report (PDF 1,787 KB)
Summary report: Download summary report (PDF 181 KB)

This project reviews the evidence on the effects of different types of work on health benefits and increased wellbeing. The study looks at what measures are available to assess health and wellbeing and what characteristics of jobs are 'good' for health, how important each one is and the optimum combinations of these characteristics.

Institution: Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield
Project leader: Christine Sprigg
Title: Unacceptable behaviour, health and wellbeing at work: A longitudinal cross-lagged study
Start date: January 2008
End date: July 2009
Final report: Download final report (PDF 1,188 KB)
Summary report: Download summary report (PDF 299 KB) 

This project examines the impact of work-related violence on health and wellbeing and the mechanisms by which these incidents impact on health. The study will try to find out more about the:

• causal relationships between work-related violent events and wellbeing outcomes for employees
• most important moderators and mediators of these causal relationships
• key criteria for developing successful interventions to limit the risks to employee health from work-related violence.

Institution: Cardiff University and Oxford Brookes University
Project leaders: Professors David Walters and Philip James
Title: Understanding the role of supply chains in influencing health and safety management and regulation
Start date: January 2008
End date: March 2009
Final report: Download final report (PDF 743 KB)
Summary report: Download summary report (PDF 200 KB)

This project provides a detailed systematic international study of currently available information concerning supply chain relationships, the factors that affect them, and their role in influencing health and safety management and standards among supplier organisations.  Findings will help our understanding of how best to use the supply chain to improve health and safety outcomes.

Institution: University of Ulster    
Project leader: Dr Diane Hazlett
Title: An epidemiological study of occupational voice demands and their impact on the call-centre industry
Start date: February 2008
End date: September 2009

This project explores voice use and the impact of vocal and communication demands in the call centre industry, both in the UK and Ireland.

Using a mixed methods design, this project:

• investigates the work and vocal communication demands for contact centre workers
• evaluates vocal health, awareness and performance
• aims to identify key risks and training needs for employees and employers.