Work environment investments: Critical elements for success in optimizing occupational health and safety effects.

Background: A considerable amount of money is invested annually in workplaces to promote creative, comfortable and safe work environments. The processes and effects of these investments are however not sufficiently studied.

Objective: The objective of this article is to examine work environment investment processes and identify organizational critical elements for optimizing investment in terms of occupational health and safety effects for employees.

Work environment investments: outcomes from three cases.

Work environment investments are important in order to create a healthy and safe workplace. This article presents findings from a seven-step interventions process aimed at examining and following-up work environment investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on air contaminants. Three different cases were analyzed and included in the study: (a) an educational center for welding; (b) a paint station in furniture manufacturing; (c) a joinery in furniture manufacturing.