Documents Finnish Institute of Occupational Health 16 results

"The aim of the Climate Change and Work survey conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in cooperation with Statistics Finland was to increase understanding of climate actions at Finnish workplaces, employees' climate attitudes and actions, and views on the effects of climate change on working life. The survey was the first representative study of the entire wage-earning population on the topic carried out in Finland. 1,917 employees from all sectors of the economy responded to the survey.
Employees in Finland have a largely shared view that the earth's climate is changing, while their views on how actively they themselves should act to mitigate climate change vary more. However, many of the respondents stated that they were motivated to change their own working methods, to present ideas for increasing ecological sustainability in their own work and to learn more about ways to mitigate climate change. Workplaces and industries differ greatly in their activity to implement measures to mitigate climate change and promote the green transition. However, there are also many respondents in all industries who cannot take a stand on the climate measures of their workplace. This suggests that in many workplaces the questions have so far not been integrated as part of the strategy, or the strategy has not been communicated effectively throughout the entire organization. There is also relatively little training on climate change mitigation or the green transition.
Employees do not believe that climate change will have dramatic labour market effects. Very few report that they are worried that climate change would lead to the loss of their own job. On the other hand, more employees than this believe that climate change could create more jobs in their own field. Especially many of the most highly educated employees believe that new and interesting job opportunities will arise for themselves in this way. The overall picture provided by the survey of the effects of climate change and the progress of the green transition in Finnish workplaces is based on the views of employees. In the future, it will be important to supplement the picture with a similar type of information collected from employers' representatives, as well as with more targeted studies paying more attention to special features of individual industries or professional groups"

"This paper examines how the digital transition and the green transition together constitute a twin transition, and looks at the potential effects of this twin transition on working life. The twin transition is considered a comprehensive socio-technical change, which brings opportunities to develop the quality of work and working life. The paper also presents various ways in which working life research can increase our understanding of the transition and contribute to it.
Besides opportunities, the paper also highlights tensions and contradictions regarding the twin transition. These arise, on the one hand, from the fact that the transition concerns a large group of actors who may have intersecting, different and divergent goals and interests. On the other hand, the relationship between the development of digital information technology and the green transition is also tense and contradictory.
While it is possible to promote the green transition with the help of artificial intelligence and other technologies, technological development can have significant side effects that increase the consumption of energy and natural resources.
According to forecasts, the overall effects of the twin transition on employment at the level of the national economy are expected to be moderate, and rather more positive than negative. However, the positive and negative effects on employment can impact different industries, different regions, different occupations and different organizations in very different ways. The twin transition will probably further accelerate the everincreasing growth in demand for professionals. The infrastructure investments required by the transition will likely also increase the demand for labour especially in manufacturing, construction and various maintenance activities.
The twin transition is not only about strengthening ecological sustainability by utilizing new technological possibilities, but also involves an important social dimension. The social dimension particularly concerns different stakeholder groups' opportunities to participate in the transition and how just the effects of the transition are perceived to be in working life and in society at large. The paper highlights the themes of working life research, with an additional focus on how research can contribute to the implementation of the twin transition in a socially sustainable way."

"The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) has published a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) to introduce a strategic vision for future research on the safe use and safe applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENM). The time horizon for this document is 2015-2025. The SRA has been developed by members of the European NanoSafety Cluster, a forum for on-going Framework Programme (FP) 6 and FP7 projects covering all aspects of nanosafety. The document describes the current status and the research needs and priorities for the coming 10 years in four main thematic areas:

1.nanomaterial identification and classification;

2.nanomaterial exposure and transformation;

3.hazard mechanisms related to effects on human health and the environment; and

4.tools for the predictive risk assessment and management including databases and ontologies.

The implementation of the SRA is expected to provide a major step forward in the development of safe and sustainable nanomaterials and outlines the focal points of nanomaterial safety research for the European Commission's 8th Framework Programme (Horizon 2020)."

"Measures that help people extend their working years and maintain their work ability have risen to the fore in the social welfare and health policies of many European countries. Improving the quality of work life, prolonging work careers, and promoting health at work are all preconditions for achieving a sustainable, stable and productive society, thus furthering the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy.
Prolonging careers and health promotion at workplaces were among the themes discussed at the Informal Ministerial Meeting on Employment, Social Policy and Health during Finland's EU Presidency in July 2006. The meeting also discussed more generally how to meet the challenges posed by globalisation and ageing, and what measures Member States and the EU should take to develop work life.
To provide background material for the ministerial meeting, the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health launched a joint project in 2005, “Health in the World of Work – Prolonging Healthy Working Years”. The goal of the project was to draw up an expert recommendation concerning the extension of working years and the promotion of occupational health. The European Network for Workplace Health Promotion participated in the project as a cooperation partner. The project was supported by the WHO, the ILO, the relevant Directorates-General of the European Commission, and the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work under the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Financial support was received from the European Commission's public health programme, from the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and from the Finnish Work Environment Fund."

"Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is a concept that is promoted by the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP). It includes all the processes and structures in an organization that are directed at improving and developing the work environment, work community or work itself in order to optimize workers' health, work ability and well-being. This book explores the context, policies and strategies, actors and processes of WHP in European countries and raises concerns about how one can influence workers' health in policy-making and decision-making. It illustrates the status of WHP in the European countries and is a valuable tool for all those interested in public health, health promotion, and in changing the context of workers¿ health and workplace health promotion. This publication is the result of the “Workplace Health Promotion, National Health Policies and Strategies in an Enlarging Europe” project, carried out during the period 2005-2007. It is financially supported by the Public Health Programme of the European Commission, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health."

"... In this special supplement of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, readers will be able to explore the scientific presentations, follow the stimulating discussion periods, and, ultimately, derive a comprehensive picture of what scientists then believed was the knowledge base and the future needs for answering the important questions being asked in relation to the potential for cancer developing as a result of direct or indirect exposure to pesticides. Along the way, of course, many new questions were raised; this was only to be expected, given the open sharing of information and ideas that occurred. Since several ongoing research projects were presented at the symposium, including the largest studies ever conducted, the meeting also served to stimulate a desire for the attendees and others to keep in touch with future progress. As such, the results of this symposium will serve as a record or “bookmark” of information on agricultural exposures and cancer as it was available and understood in the autumn of 2002. ..."
(Extract from the preface)

"The report provides some support for the view that regulatory actions against work-related musculoskeletal disorders will be the most successful if an integrated ergonomic program approach is adapted. A substantial number of case studies indicates that ergonomic programs can be efficient in protecting workers against work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The General Accounting Office (GAO) study of several companies with ergonomic programs in the United States gives strong - although indirect - support for the belief that well-managed ergonomic programs with high commitment on the part of stakeholders can be efficient.
Contents:
accuracy, acute overload, adequacy, aged, back injury, carrying, decline, denmark, display screen equipment, effectiveness, energy consumption, energy expenditure, environmental disease process, equation for design and evaluation, ergonomic program management, ergonomic standards, ergonomics program, ergonomics requirements, ergonomics rule, evaluation criteria, evaluation, exposure assessment, finland, force limits, force, guidelines for practitioners, guidelines, hand activity level, hand-transmitted vibration, health requirements, historical perspective, human exposure, identification of risk factors, job design, lifting, machinery ergonomics, machinery operation, manual handling, manual lifting tasks, manual materials handling, maximal aerobic capacity, mechanical shock, mechanical vibration, monotonous, repetitive work, musculoskeletal disorders, niosh lifting equation, nordic perspective, norway, physical workload, posture, process-type standards, quantitative standards, reduction of adverse health effects, reduction of exposure, repetition, repetitive motion injuries, repetitive work, risk exposure assessment, risk factors, safety requirements, scientific coherency, shoulder-neck complaints, slip and fall injuries, standards, sweden, threshold limit values, upper extremities, upper extremity, upper-limb repetitive movements, usability, whole-body vibration, vibration standards, vibration, work postures, workers, workload, work-related cumulating trauma disorder, work-related musculoskeletal disorders ..."