Glossary

Absenteeism: Absenteeism is the term generally used to refer to unscheduled employee absences from the workplace.Module 10
Advocacy for Health: A combination of individual and social actions designed to gain political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems support for a particular health goal or programme. (Report of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Advocacy Strategies for Health and Development: Development Communication in Action. WHO, Geneva, 1995) Such action may be taken by and/or on behalf of individuals and groups to create living conditions which are conducive to health and the achievement of healthy lifestyles. Advocacy is one of the three major strategies for health promotion and can take many forms including the use of the mass media and multi-media, direct political lobbying, and community mobilization through, for example, coalitions of interest around defined issues. Health professionals have a major responsibility to act as advocates for health at all levels in society.Module 9
Adverse Effect: The adverse effect (potential loss due to the event) and its severity is based on studies and experiences of the severity of the event concerned and will be assessed in the risk analysis and evaluation process, where the acceptable level will be agreed (defined).Module 4
Age Management: Is defined as the management and leadership approach, where worker's age and age related factors in all ages and all career transitions at work (from recruitment to transfer to retirement) are taken into account in: daily management, organisation of work, and work place adjustments and work challenges, with the aim, that everybody – independently of the age - is able to achieve his or her personal goals and the goals of the organisation.Module 5
Anthropometry: The study and measurement of human physical dimensions. It deals with the measurements of body size, shape, strength and working capacity.Module 7
Anxiety: Anxiety is characterised by changes in the way the individual thinks, feels and behaves; anxiety is usually experienced in response to a perceived significant threat. There are a series of clinically diagnosable disorders that are associated with anxiety, some are characterised by an increase in worry over a specific object or event (e.g. phobias), and others are more generic.Module 8
Audience: The set of people, households, or organisations that read, view, hear or are otherwise exposed to a promotional message. (Source: Health Communication, 2006, Thomas R.)Module 9
Awkward Posture: Any fixed or constrained body position away from the neutral position overloading muscles, tendons, or joints. Module 7
Behavioural Indicators: A group of statistical values derived either from data usually collected by performing company surveys (see above) or through assessing the level of involvement of the target group within the developed WHP program.Module 10
Benchmarking: The process of comparing the characteristics of a single population (e.g. an enterprise) with those of a larger and more representative group (e.g. a set of comparable enterprises).Module 2
Benefits: Benefits are positive program outcomes, usually translated into monetary terms in cost-benefit analysis or compared with costs in cost-effectiveness analysis.Module 3
Biomechanics: The study of the effects of internal and external forces on the human body both in movement and at rest.Module 7
Business Case for WHP programs: The purpose of a business case is to capture the reasoning for initiating a WHP project or program. It is often presented in a well-structured written document, and the logic of the business case is that, whenever resources such as money or effort are consumed, they should be in support of the business.Module 3
Channel: The route of message delivery (e.g, mass media channels, interpersonal channels that include health professionals and clients, community channels). Module 9
Coping Skills: A coping skill is a behavioural tool which may be used by individuals to offset or overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or eliminating the underlying condition. Adequate coping strategies, i.e. the ability to diagnose a situation and react adequately, are beneficial in managing stress. People who cope well with stress essentially feel in charge of their world and of their own emotional stability (self-efficacy). Module 8
Corporate/Company Culture: The core element of organisational culture is the shared values and notions of all employees of that organisation. Next to these central/core elements, other more superficial elements are also seen as organisational culture: rituals, symbols, codes of conduct Organisational culture has a normative element to it. It is about how people from an organisation want to work, think how the work should be done. Module 6
Corporate Social Responsibility: is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. (Reference: World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication "Making Good Business Sense" by Richard Holme and Phil Watts).Module 1
Costs: Costs is a generic term used to encompass expenses related to the program; are considered to be inputs, both direct and indirect, required to produce an intervention.Module 3
Cycle: A time interval during which a regularly recurring sequence of events is completed. It can be the time to complete a task with many elements or the time to complete a single operation in a repetitive task.Module 7
Depression: Depression is a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. These problems can become chronic or recurrent and lead to substantial impairments in an individual's ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide, a tragic fatality associated with the loss of about 850 000 lives every year. (Source:World Health Organisation). Module 8
Determinants of Health: The range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors which determine the health status of individuals or populations.Module 1
Desk-Based Research: The process of obtaining information from secondary sources (does not involve primary data collection) and the analysis of this information. Sources for desk-based research include published literature, the internet and published databases and datasets.Module 2
Deviation: A term used to describe the movement of a body part away from the neutral position of that joint or limb. Typically used to describe wrist positions. Ulnar deviation is the movement of the wrist away from neutral, towards the little finger. Radial deviation is the movement of the wrist away from neutral, towards the thumb.Module 7
Disease Prevention: Disease prevention covers measures not only to prevent the occurrence of disease, such as risk factor reduction, but also to arrest its progress and reduce its consequences once established. (Reference: adapted from Glossary of Terms used in Health for All series. WHO, Geneva, 1984).Module 1
Dynamic Muscle Work: Use of muscles to generate force such that the length of the muscle changes during the activity, resulting in motion around a joint.Module 7
Economy: Economy reflects the ability to procure / purchase the necessary inputs for a WHP program at lower than the average costs (not necessary reflecting a lower quality but better negotiating position).Module 10
Effect Evaluation: (also called impact evaluation, outcome evaluation or summative evaluation). Effect evaluation is that type of evaluation which seeks to determine the effect of the WHP program – in other words to demonstrate or identify the program’s effect on those who participated in the WHP program (workforce generally).Module 3
Effectiveness: Effectiveness is the realistic potential for achieving the desired outcomes by a WHP program when it is implemented; more practically reflects the level to which the proposed objectives have been achieved.Module 10
Efficiency: Efficiency is, generically, the relationship between the amount of output and the amount of input, with higher outputs for less inputs being more efficient. Module 10
Efficiency Evaluation: Efficiency evaluations focus on the costs associated to a program and seeks to determine whether the value achieved by developing the program is higher than its costs; it encompasses a variety of cost related evaluations namely cost-effectiveness evaluations, cost-benefit evaluations and cost-utility evaluations.Module 10
Equity: Providing equal access to a WHP program for a given target group (usually workforce within an organization, company, NGP etc) regardless the race, age, level of income, gender, status of being able / disabled worker, etc.Module 10
Employee Engagement: An attachment or emotional connection that an employee feels toward the organization, which increases his or her willingness to support its goals, values, and mission - and the amount of effort and enthusiasm he or she is willing to put into the daily operations.Module 1
Enabling: In health promotion, enabling means taking action in partnership with individuals or groups to empower them, through the mobilization of human and material resources, to promote and protect their health. Reference: Health Promotion Glossary, 1998 The emphasis in this definition on empowerment through partnership, and on the mobilization of resources draws attention to the important role of health workers and other health activists acting as a catalyst for health promotion action, for example by providing access to information on health, by facilitating skills development, and supporting access to the political processes which shape public policies affecting health.Module 9
Energy Expenditure: The amount of energy (power) used by the body at any point of time ... at work or at rest. It is usually expressed in terms of kilocalories per minute (kcal/min) or in terms of the amount of oxygen used (litres of O2)Module 7
Enterprise Agreement: A negotiated deal about the conditions under which employees are employed within a business. An enterprise agreement is negotiated by an employer and employees or by their union.Module 1
Evaluation of WHP programs: The use of social research methods to systematically investigate the effectiveness of WHP programs in ways that are adapted to their political and organizational environments and are designed to inform WHP action in ways that improve the health of the workforce.Module 10
Evaluation Sponsor: The evaluation sponsor is the person, group, or organization that requests or requires the evaluation and provides the resources to conduct it.Module 10
Fatigue: Fatigue is a loss of work capacity resulting from preceding work. It is usually associated with a loss of efficiency and reduced capability. Fatigue is both a physical and a psychological state. Fatigue is generally considered to be a decline in mental and/or physical performance that results from prolonged exertion, sleep loss and/or disruption of the internal clock. It is also related to workload, in that workers are more easily fatigued if their work is machine-paced, complex or monotonous.Module 7
Feedback Mechanism (in WHP programs’ evaluation): The negative feedback is the damping mechanism that is used for control or regulation of a project, namely to keep the WHP program on a stable, predetermined equilibrium path.Module 3
Flexible Work: Flexible work must be distinguished from part-time work. Flexible work basically comprises all forms of work with no permanent employment contract, with no contractual definition of working time and/or the number of working hours, or with varying working time and hours.Module 6
Flexicurity: Flexicurity promotes a combination of flexible labour markets and a high level of employment and income security and it is thus seen to be the answer to the EU's dilemma of how to maintain and improve competitiveness whilst preserving the European social model. Flexicurity can be defined, more precisely, as a policy strategy to enhance, at the same time and in a deliberate way, the flexibility of labour markets, work organisations and labour relations on the one hand, and security –employment security and income security – on the other.Module 6
Force: Force can either be applied by the body (i.e. through muscular effort) or to the body. When doing 'work' the body uses muscles to generate force to allow for movement of body segments, to resist the 'force' of objects being lifted / carried, or to apply force to an object to move it. When your muscles contract they also generate 'reaction' forces in the body at the joints (e.g. shoulder, vertebrae, etc.). Force can also refer to the amount of force that is applied to the body from an external source. When using a pair of pliers the handles of the pliers press into the palm of the hand. When resting the forearm on the edge of the desk the desk exerts force on the muscles, nerves, and blood vessels in the forearm.Module 7
Frequency: Frequency, in ergonomics terms, refers to how often we repeat / do something. The 'units' of interest for frequency will vary depending on the task being looked at. For many repetitive type tasks we are interested in looking at frequency in terms of the number of repetition / actions per minute. In the case of an office worker we may be interested in knowing how many times per hour the worker gets up out of their chair. Or, we may want to know how many times a shift a certain action or task is performed.Module 7
Full time/Part time: Working time can vary between full-time and part-time, whether on a daily/weekly basis or on a life-course basis. The definition of what can be classified as a full-time or part-time working day or week is an empirical question and varies within countries and stages in history. The dominant pattern of full-time work in many countries over recent decades was (or still is) about 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Anything less could be theoretically classified as part-time. Module 6
Functional Capacity: Refers to the preconditions and possibilities of a human being to complete different tasks, challenges, and hobbies that are connected to one's life course. It illustrates the possibility for an active life that combines environmental demands and personal daily targets.Module 5
Hazard: A hazard is something that can cause harm if not controlled. The outcome is the harm that results from an uncontrolled hazard.Module 4
Health: A state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the object of living. It is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities. (WHO constitution of 1948). Within the context of health promotion, health has been considered less as an abstract state and more as a means to an end which can be expressed in functional terms as a resource which permits people to lead an individually, socially and economically productive life. (Reference: Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. WHO, Geneva,1986).Module 1
Health Behaviour: Any activity undertaken by an individual, regardless of actual or perceived health status, for the purpose of promoting, protecting or maintaining health, whether or not such behaviour is objectively effective towards that end. Reference: Health Promotion Glossary, 1986 It is possible to argue that almost every behaviour or activity has an impact on health status. It is useful to distinguish between behaviours which are purposefully adopted to promote or protect health (as in the definition above), and those which may be adopted regardless of consequences to health. Health behaviours are distinguished from risk behaviours which are defined separately as behaviours associated with increased susceptibility to a specific cause of ill-health. Health and risk behaviours are often related in clusters in a more complex pattern of behaviours referred to as lifestyles.Module 9
Health Communication: Health communication is a key strategy to inform the public about health concerns and to maintain important health issues on the public agenda. The use of the mass and multi media and other technological innovations to disseminate useful health information increases awareness of specific aspects of individual and collective health as well as importance of health in development. Reference: adapted from Communication, Education and Participation: A Framework and Guide to Action. WHO (AMRO/PAHO), Washington, 1996 Health communication aims to improve the health of individuals and populations. Much of modern culture is transmitted by the mass and multi media which has both positive and negative implications for health. Research shows that theory-driven mediated health promotion programming can put health on the public agenda, reinforce health messages, stimulate people to seek further information, and in some instances, bring about sustained healthy lifestyles. Health communication encompasses several areas including edutainment or enter-education, health journalism, interpersonal communication, media advocacy, organizational communication, risk communication, social communication and social marketing. It can take many forms from mass and multi media communications to traditional and culture-specific communication such as story telling, puppet shows and songs. It may take the form of discreet health messages or be incorporated into existing media for communication such as soap operas. Advances in communication media, especially in the multi media and new information technology continue to improve access to health information. In this respect, health communication becomes an increasingly important element to achieving greater empowerment of individuals and communities.Module 9
Health Education: Health education comprises consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health.Module 1
Health Indicator: A health indicator is a characteristic of an individual, population, or environment which is subject to measurement (directly or indirectly) and can be used to describe one or more aspects of the health of an individual or population (quality, quantity and time).Module 1
Health Outcomes: A change in the health status of an individual, group or population which is attributable to a planned intervention or series of interventions, regardless of whether such an intervention was intended to change health status.Module 1
Health Needs: The perception of health risks expressed by a population. These may overlap with health risks, but they may not coincide with ‘objectively’ defined risksModule 2
Health Preferences: The expressed preferences of a population to take action in relation to health risks and needs. These may or may not overlap with health risks and health needs.Module 2
Health Promotion: Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.(Reference: Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. WHO, Geneva,1986)Module 1
Health Related Indicators: A group of statistical values derived directly from data collected by ascertaining the health status of the workforce usually used to document the impact / outcome of an intervention.Module 10
Health Risks: The objective health risks to a population which have been defined by scientific investigation. These may be workplace based or come from the wider environment or personal behaviour.Module 2
Health / Risk Communications: Communications that increase awareness and favorably influence attitudes and health behaviors on a personal or community basis. Courses in this area are generally population-based and may include topics such as risk perception, media advocacy, materials development, health literacy, communications technologies, and the selection of audience specific communication methods. Module 9
HEEPO: The abbreviation HEEPO can be used to describe the Human – Work System. By clustering the elements of the Human-Work system, it is possible to identify the following categories: Human factors Environment Equipment Products work Organisation.Module 6
Human Factors: Human factors is considered to be synonymous with ergonomics, however it is essentially an American term, having its scientific roots grounded in psychology, whereas ergonomics which, as a science/practice, was formalized after WW2 in Britain, considers a very broad range of sciences (e.g. anatomy, psychology, physiology, industrial medicine, design, architecture, illumination engineering, etc.) Module 7
Impact Evaluation: Impact evaluations are those that focus on the more immediate effects of the program.Module 3
Incentive Scheme: A scheme devised to encourage employees to produce a greater output or harder work in return for a share in company profits or other bonuses.Module 1
Indicator: An indicator is a group of statistical values (prevalence of smokers within the workforce of a company) that taken together give an indication of a WHP program’s success.Module 10
Infrastructure for Health Promotion: Those human and material resources, organizational and administrative structures, policies, regulations and incentives which facilitate an organized health promotion response to public health issues and challenges.Module 1
Intersectoral Collaboration: A recognized relationship between part or parts of different sectors of society which has been formed to take action on an issue to achieve health outcomes or intermediate health outcomes in a way which is more effective, efficient or sustainable than might be achieved by the health sector acting alone.Module 1
Job Design: Job design is the process of putting together various elements to form a job, bearing in mind organisational and individual worker requirements, as well as considerations of health, safety, and ergonomics. The process of job design requires matching of the capacities of the worker(s) to the demands of the task.Module 6
Job Satisfaction: The extent to which you are content with the work you do and the conditions which you work under.Module 1
Lifestyle (lifestyles conducive to health): Lifestyle is a way of living based on identifiable patterns of behaviour which are determined by the interplay between an individual’s personal characteristics, social interactions, and socioeconomic and environmental living conditions.Module 1
Maintenance of Work Ability: is defined as workplace activities aiming at maintaining the ability to work include all measures that the employer and the employees as well as the co-operative organizations at the workplace make in a united effort to promote and support the ability to work and to enhance the functional capacity of all persons active in working life throughout their working careers. Module 5
Manual Material Handling (MMH): Any handling task involving the human body as the main "power source". MMH includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and holding.Module 7
Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC).: The maximum force a muscle can generate, voluntarily, during a static contraction. Job tasks may be classified according to what percentage of the workers MVC (%MVC) is required to perform a task. The higher the %MVC the greater the risk of fatigue and/or injury.Module 7
Media Plan: A plan developed for a communication initiative that outlines the objectives of a promotional campaign, the target audience, and the specific media vehicles that will be used to reach that audience. (Source: Health Communication, 2006, Thomas R.)Module 9
Mental Health: Mental health can be conceptualized as a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her Community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation for well-being and effective functioning for an individual and for a community. This core concept of mental health is consistent with its wide and varied interpretation across cultures. (Source: World Health Organisation.)Module 8
Mental Health Promotion: Mental health promotion covers a variety of strategies, aimed at having a positive impact on mental health. Mental health promotion involves actions that create living conditions and environments to support mental health and allow people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. This includes a range of actions that increase the chances of more people experiencing better mental health. (Source: World Health Organisation).Module 8
Mental Illness/Mental Health Problems: Mental illness refers collectively to all diagnosable mental health problems which become “clinical”, that is, where a degree of professional intervention and treatment is required. Generally, the term refers to more serious problems, rather than, for example, a mild episode of depression or anxiety requiring temporary help (ILO, 2000). People with mental health problems can be divided into three broad groups: At any one time, about one-sixth of the working age population experience symptoms associated with mental ill health such as sleep problems, fatigue, irritability and worry that do not meet criteria for a diagnosis of a mental disorder but which can affect a person’s ability to function adequately.
A further one-sixth of the working age population have symptoms that by virtue of their nature, severity and duration do meet diagnostic criteria. These common mental disorders would be treated should they come to the attention of a healthcare professional. The commonest of these disorders are depression and anxiety or a mix of the two. About 0,5% of the population has a probable psychotic illness and the generally accepted estimate is that between 1% and 2% of the population will have a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression, which requires more intensive, and often continuing, treatment and care during their lifetime. (Source: The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008)Module 8
Mental Work Load: A simplistic definition of workload is that it is a demand placed upon humans. This definition attributes workload exclusively to an external source. An indication of workload, however, can be better defined in terms of experienced load. With experienced load, workload is not only task-specific, it is also person-specific. Not only individual capabilities, but also motivation to perform a task, strategies applied in task performance, as well as mood and operator state, affect experienced load. In the (mental) workload literature, task demands and the effect of these demands on the operator are sometimes, unfortunately, indicated with the same term, `workload'. (Source: Thesis The Measurement of Drivers’ Mental Workload by Dick de Waard) Module 8
Message: The formal presentation of the information that communicator is trying to convey; the content of a promotional piece (Source: Health Communication, 2006, Thomas R.).Module 9
Message Concepts: Brief statements, sometimes accompanied by visuals, that present key aspects of the communication strategy (e.g., action to be taken, benefit promised in exchange, support for the benefit to the intended audience) (Source: Health Communication, 2006, Thomas R.).Module 9
Needs Analysis/ Assessment: The process of identifying the health needs of a target group such as a sector, an organisation, type of occupation or the workforce within an enterprise for purposes of tailoring a WHP program to the needs and distinctive characteristics of that particular target group.Module 2
Neutral Position: The body position which minimizes stresses on the body. Typically the neutral posture will be near the mid-range of any joint’s range of motion.Module 7
Occupational Safety and Health: is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. It may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment.Module 1
Occupational Stress: Work-related stress is a pattern of reactions that occurs when workers are presented with work demands that are not matched to their knowledge, skills or abilities, and which challenge their ability to cope. These demands may be related to time pressure or the amount of work (quantitative demands), or may refer to the difficulty of the work (cognitive demands) or the empathy required (emotional demands), or even to the inability to show one’s emotions at work. (Source: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions)Module 8
Odds Ratio: Odds ratio, OR (used in case - control studies) is an indirect measure of the risk of the sick (and exposed) people (cases): OR = (exposed cases/not exposed cases) : (exposed controls/not exposed controls.Module 4
Outcome Evaluations: Outcome evaluations are those that focus on long-term effects of the program.Module 3
Partnership for Health Promotion: A partnership for health promotion is a voluntary agreement between two or more partners to work cooperatively towards a set of shared health outcomes.Module 1
Personal Communications: This category differs from “Health Communication” in that it is specifically targeted at the individual’s own communication ability. Course listings may include topics such as personal writing, listening, public speaking, counseling, and interpersonal skills.Module 9
Posture: The general position of the whole body (e.g. standing, sitting, kneeling) or, more specifically, the position of any body part / joint with respect to adjacent body parts or the joint's full range of motion.Module 7
Precarious Work: Precarious work can be defined and distinguished from ‘standard’ work by: the low level of certainty over the continuity of employment, low individual and collective control over work (working conditions, income, working hours), low level of protection (social protection, protection against unemployment, or against discrimination), insufficient income or economic vulnerability.
Precarious work can also be defined as employment with low quality in general and little opportunity for training and career progression. Precariousness is caused by a combination of these elements rather than by one aspect only. Work bearing such characteristics is generally considered to increase the risk of illness and injury.Module 6
Presenteeism: Workers being on the job but, because of medical conditions, not fully functioning. Reference: The term "presenteeism" was coined by Professor Cary Cooper, a psychologist specializing in organisational management at Manchester University in the UK.Module 1
Primary Health Care: Primary health care is essential health care made accessible at a cost a country and community can afford, with methods that are practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable. Reference: Alma Ata Declaration, WHO, Geneva, 1978.Module 1
Private Sector: The business or commercial community which is engaged in private enterprise and is free from government ownership. Module 1
Probability of a Negative Outcome: Is based on studies of the incidence (incidence density, ID or cumulative incidence density, CIR) during certain period, Incidence density indicates share of new cases (events) in relation to the basic population during a certain period, or/and studies of the prevalence (prevalence rate. PR) at certain point (point prevalence) or during certain period (period prevalence) among a defined population.Module 4
Process Evaluation: (also called monitoring, also called summative evaluation). Process evaluation focuses on the degree to which the WHP program has been implemented as planned and on the quality of the program implementation.Module 3
Productivity: The rate at which goods or services are produced, especially output per unit of labor; the productivity ratio is an indicator of the efficiency with which an enterprise converts its resources (inputs) into finished goods or services (outputs).Module 10
Profitability: Profitability is a technical analysis term used to compare performances of different investments (namely the investments made in WHP programs) within one system.Module 10
Project Management: Project Management is the discipline.Module 3
Project Team: Group of people responsible for management of all WHP activities in the company. It may consist of company’s staff as well as external experts.Module 3
Promotion and Maintenance of Work Ability (PMWA): Emphasizes the health promotion aspect in the maintenance of work ability. PMWA is defined here as empowering activities which, aim to increase the opportunities and prerequisites of employers and workers in taking care of the health of the work force, their environment, in their community, and with the support of its social resources. Workplace is seen one of the settings and "arenas", which offer special opportunities to promote workers/ health as a community and a decision making system with resources for health and thus, for health promotion, and as an environment with particular exposures and thus, duties concerning to manage and combat against hazardous exposures.Module 5
Public Health: The science and art of promoting health, preventing disease, and prolonging life through the organized efforts of society.Module 1
Public Sector: The section of the business community which is owned or controlled by government. Module 1
Public Service: The departments and personnel responsible for government administration.Module 1
Quality Control: A method of monitoring the quality of a manufactured product, which is often based on random checks.Module 1
Quality of Life: Quality of life is defined as individual’s perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system where they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept, incorporating in a complex way a person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and relationship to salient features of the environment. (Reference: Quality of Life Assessment. The WHOQOL Group, 1994. What Quality of Life? The WHOQOL Group. In: World Health Forum. WHO, Geneva, 1996).Module 1
Range of Motion: The limits of movement defined at a joint or landmark of the body. Stresses on the connective tissues at a joint increase as the joint moves towards the limit of its range of motion.Module 7
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): Rate of Perceived Exertion is a method for subjectively assessing the amount of effort a worker is exerting. Typically, RPE is measured using a scale (e.g. the Borg Scale) where the worker ranks their effort from very, very easy (0/1) to very, very hard (7-10). Some research suggests that for muscular and aerobic activities the ranking on an RPE scale roughly approximates the %MVC or percentage of maximum aerobic capacity.Module 7
Recovery Time: Work periods when task demands are light or when rest breaks are scheduled, permitting a person to recover from heavy effort work such as prolonged fixed postures.Module 7
Register Data: Data sources where every incidence of an event is (supposed to be) recorded in a database. An example would be occupational accident and disease registers.Module 2
Repetition: The number of similar exertions or actions / tasks performed in a specified amount of time. Repetition may be measures in terms of minutes, hours or work day (e.g. 3 per minute, 25 per hour, 30 times per shift).Module 7
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE): Expresses net profit before interest and tax as a percentage of the company’s (average) total capital employed (i.e. loan capital and equity or owners’ capital) as shown on its balance sheet; is expressed as a percentage rate rather than in monetary units.Module 10
Return on Investment (ROI): This is effectively the same as ROCE. Module 10
Risk: Risk is generally defined as a likelihood (probability) of a negative outcome (harm). Thus, it means the potential (conventionally negative) impact of an event, determined by combining the likelihood of the event occurring with the impact should it occur. Module 4
Risk Assessment: Risk assessment is the identifying and determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat. Risk assessment is a common first step in a risk management process. Module 4
Risk Assessment in OSH: Is a systematic work to ensure continuity and secure health and safety of personnel with actions to predict, prevent, reduce or eliminate risks in companies and workplaces.Module 4
Risk Behaviour: Specific forms of behaviour which are proven to be associated with increased susceptibility to a specific disease or ill-health.Module 1
Risk Factor: Social, economic or biological status, behaviours or environments which are associated with or cause increased susceptibility to a specific disease, ill health, or injury.Module 1
Risk in Occupational Safety and Health: Is the likelihood of an individual to becime ill or injured for a work related reason. It is not observable. In practical OS&H risk assessment the severity of the outcome (harm) will be taken into account, too. Risk = probability (of something to happen) X adverse effect (potential loss due to the event).Module 4
Risk Indicators: Risk is indicated with the comparison of the incidence or prevalence (ID, PR, CIR) of the focus (exposed) group with the respective values of a group compared. Comparison may be based on the difference (rate difference, "risk difference", attributable risk, RD), or on the relation (rate ratio, "risk ratio", relative risk, RR) of these values between focus (exposed) group and group compared.Module 4
Risk Management: Risk management is a structured approach to managing uncertainty through: risk assessment, developing strategies to manage and treat it, and mitigation (decrease) of risk using managerial resources.Module 4
Risk Management in OSH: Is the process of determining the maximum acceptable level of overall risk from a work related hazard, then using risk assessment techniques to determine the initial level of risk and, if this is excessive, developing a strategy to ameliorate appropriate individual risks until the overall level of risk is reduced to an acceptable level.Module 4
Satisfaction Indicators: A group of statistical values derived directly from data usually collected by performing company surveys, surveys which involve a structured questionnaire given to a sample target audience from whom the required information is gathered.Module 10
Setting: The surroundings in which the WHP program is implemented.Module 1
Shift Work: Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours of the clock, rather than a standard working day. The term shift work includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts.Module 6
Social Marketing: Courses that address specific strategies to use the media, communications, or other means to promote behaviors, beliefs, products, policies, or services in the interest of public health. This subject area includes research-based social marketing methods such as focus groups, surveys, and other data collection. Module 9
Stakeholders: Individuals, groups, or organizations having a significant interest in how well a program functions, for instance with decision-making authority over the program, funders and sponsors, administrators and personnel, and clients and beneficiaries.Module 10
Static Exertion: Static exertions refer to physical exertions (gripping, holding a posture) in which the same position or posture is held throughout the exertion (also referred to as "static loading").Module 7
Summative Evaluations: Summative evaluations, in the strictest sense, are those evaluations usually done at the end of a program to provide a conclusive statement regarding program effects.Module 3
Survey Data: This refers to once-off, regular or irregularly undertaken surveys which provide information on samples of a population. An example would be the European Foundation’s Working Conditions Survey which is undertaken every five years.Module 2
Sustainable Development: Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED 1987). It incorporates many elements, and all sectors, including the health sector, which must contribute to achieve it. (Reference: Our Common Future: Report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987. Health and Environment in Sustainable Development. Five Years after the Earth Summit. WHO, Geneva, 1997).Module 1
Task Analysis: An systematic approach for documenting and assessing the risks associated with a specific task or job. Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) involves looking at a job as a series of main or key tasks or objectives and then breaking these key tasks or objectives down into sub-tasks and sub-task actions.Module 7
Trade Union: An organisation of employees, which acts collectively for mutual protection and assistance and is often concerned with wages and conditions of employment. Unions represent workers in dealings with employers and government.Module 1
Utilization of Evaluation: The use of the concepts and findings of an evaluation by decision-makers and other stakeholders whether at the day-to-day management level or at a broader funding or policy levels.Module 10
Workplace Health Promotion (WHP): It is the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work. This can be achieved through a combination of: improving the work organisation and the working environment; promoting active participation, and encouraging personal development.Module 1
WHP Project / Programme: It is a set of logically linked activities aimed at development of employees’ wellbeing and health and adjusted to the vital company principles (e.g. economic growth). It should be based on deep needs analysis, adopt the important values and realistic goals. Additionally, the methods and costs of implementation should be defined as well as individuals or groups designated for implementation of the project. All those issues should be agreed with participants. It is also important to predict possible pitfalls and methods to overcome them and prepare evaluation methodology. Such preparation enables WHP organizers to plan, implement and evaluate the project in a rational way.Module 3
WHP Project Scope: The WHP project scope is the sum total of all of a project’s outcomes and their requirements or features.Module 3
WHP Project Objectives / Goals: WHP project objectives are planned or intended outcomes to be achieved by the WHP process.Module 3
Work Ability: Refers to the balance and interdependence between person's resources and work demands. A person's resources consist of health and functional capacity (physical, psychological and social functional capacities, abilities), education and competence, and values and attitudes. Work, on the other hand covers the work environment and community, as well as the actual contents, demands, and organization of work (management and supervision included).Module 5
Working Height: Generally the height at which the hands are positioned. The most favourable working height while standing is to have a work surface that is 50-100mm below elbow level. Working heights will vary depending on the stature of the worker and the nature of the work. Delicate work is generally done higher than heavier work. Module 7
Workplace: The physical area/spatial range in which a person performs job activities; includes tables or counters, chairs, any controls and displays necessary, the lighting and other environmental factors.Module 7
Workstation: The entire work area assessed by a worker when performing a specific task or job cycle.Module 7
Work Organisation: ‘Work organisation’ is a broad concept with no strict definition. It deals with the way work is organised and managed. It has to do with: job design, task allocation, rules, procedures, communication, interpersonal issues, management and supervisory styles, work scheduling, work pace, career development, decision making process… In this course ‘work organisation’ is defined as: “The organisation of work refers to the work process and the organizational practices that influence job design, including how jobs and human resource policies are structured.” (Source: NIOSH)Module 6

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