Globalisation, financial crisis and graying of the (working) population pose a great challenge for Dutch economy. To evoke and nurture human capital is of paramount importance in securing our prosperity and competitiveness. This concerns government, businesses and employees alike. The research group Work & Health offers knowledge, strategies and solutions to keep people working as long and as healthy, engaged and productive as possible.
Our business is applied research and consultancy for companies and government(al agencies) to improve sustainable employability regarding:
- Psychosocial and physical workload, development of assessment tools and interventions;
- Vitality, engagement, mental and physical health, including musculoskeletal disorders;
- Health management in companies, strategy and control of (health care) providers
- Occupational Safety and health, Risk Assessment, Work & health catalogues;
- Monitoring, trend studies, future scenario's, cost benefit analyses;
- Knowledge on special topics such as postponing retirement, older workers employability, chronically ill.
In the near future we focus at :
- Topics related to positive psychology: inspired and engaged;
- Topics such as violence, harassment, flexibility and other occupational risk that poses the service economy
- Sustainable employability and postponing retirement;
- Stimulate and promote the integration of public and occupational health topics, policies and services;
In the ever evolving knowledge economy there is a great need for expertise in business and government alike to raise employability and productivity of employees in a sustainable way. Nurturing this human capital should especially take place within companies: 'workplace innovations', creating labour conditions that promote health and diminish new health and safety risks, like to little exercise, mental strain and job insecurity etc.
- We advise government, employer/employer organisations and others on sustainable employability policies, we monitor trends in the Dutch workforce, occupational health& safety and do policy research
- We support - if feasible with partners - companies and public agencies in developing and evaluating strategies and policies on sustainable employability
- We support partners and service providers in raising their quality by organizing networks of expertise and by developing tools
- We participate in national and international formal networks like PEROSH and Body At Work
- National labour force and employer surveys (NEA, WEA) monitor the trends in working conditions in the Netherlands for national government. These data are also used for policy evaluation and for international comparisons
- Scientific research by relating survey data to national register data to get a deeper insight in the relationships between labor conditions, health, absenteeism, hospital admissions and diagnose as well as labor productivity
- Development of tools: 'Happy worker game' (serious gaming for management), ALERT (assessment of workload), DIX (assessment of sustainable employability), Cost-effectiveness tool on harassment at the workplace
- Stimulate and promote the integration of public and occupational health by organizing a prestigious international conference sponsored by the WHO