Health in working life - Objective Domain 4

The starting point for this objective domain is that the requirements of working life must be balanced against people’s capacity to function and maintain well-being throughout their entire working life. The individual’s working life must be able to be combined with family life and leisure time in a health-promoting way.

A good working life with well-functioning working conditions not only reduces work-related illness and the social differences in illness and contributes to improved public health in general; it is also a necessary condition for sustainable growth.

The work environment must be good, and in Sweden, an employer has considerable responsibility in this respect under the Work Environment Act. Work characterised by a safe and secure environment- physically, mentally and socially -should be strived for. Among the basic conditions for this are:

• having control, participation and influence over one’s own work,
• being able to adapt the pace and amount of work to one's current work capacity,
• being seen and being someone that counts,
• having some personal development opportunities in the job.

Preventing illness is one step on the way towards the target of improved health in working life. However, this does not suffice. Efforts that promote health in working life are also needed. The concept of Healthy Workplaces stands for workplaces that do not cause illness and are arenas for health-promoting views and activities in a broad sense. From a public health perspective, healthy workplaces should be strived for, as well as a health-promoting working life.