Established OHS knowledge needs a boost

Workplace psychological health has been dominated by wellness advocates for several decades. Occupational health and safety (OHS) is seen by many as an interloper with “new” regulations that impose rules, expectations, notifications, and records on a corporate wellness sector that has been hugely influential on employers’ perspectives of mental health at work. This interjection by OHS “upstarts” does not stand up to examination. Social determinants of health have included work factors for many years. Richard G Wilkinson wrote about the psychosocial causes of illness in 1997, providing a helpful perspective applicable today.