The Current State of Workplace Health Promotion in Switzerland. An Investigation into the Prioritization of Measures and Appraisal of Requirements

The study presented here is based on a survey carried out among 190 HR managers and addresses the current state of the measures which have been implemented concerning workplace health promotion (WHP) in Switzerland. While much emphasis is put on improvements in infrastructure, ergonomics, and guidelines, the measures taken reflect only little consideration of psychological dimensions such as decision-making, responsibility, and task fulfillment. WHP is largely linked to an understanding of health in a basic sense, and psychologica dimensions are underrepresented. With regard to management skills, it can be said that monitoring and controlling activities are poorly executed. Employee participation can be regarded as low. Even though much awareness of WHP issues can be found among managers and multiple measures are taken by companies, these measures are rarely embedded in a sound concept. In general, three quarters of the companies covered by the survey are at an early stage of the process of implementing workplace health promoting measures.