Abstract
Introduction Healthy lifestyles play an important role in the prevention of premature death, chronic diseases, productivity loss and other social and economic concerns. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the impact of worksite dietary and physical activity interventions, focused on environmental and organisational structure, on employees’ productivity, work performance and work ability. Methods A comprehensive literature search in Medline, Cochrane Library and PROPSERO was conducted. Studies were identified from reference lists from all the systematic reviews with resembling objective as in this search and were included if they fulfilled our inclusion criteria. An updated search (2015–2016) in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and Scopus, was also conducted. Two or more researchers independently screened abstracts and full-texts for study eligibility as well as assessed risk of bias. Disagreements were resolved by a consensus procedure. Result A total of 29 randomised control trials and non-randomised controlled studies were included. Nearly thirty percent of the included studies were high quality, while sixty four percent were of medium quality. The studies covered a broad range of multi-level, organizational-level and environmental-level interventions. Fourteen effective worksite nutrition and physical activity interventions were identified. Seven of these showed positive effects on sick leave, two studies showed effects on work performance, one study showed effects on work ability and one study showed effects on productivity. Discussion The scientific evidence shows that it is possible to influence work-related outcomes, especially sickness absence, positively through health promotion efforts that include components aimed at the workplace’s physical work environment and organisational structure. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the impact of interventions on work ability, work performance and productivity and thus more research is needed. In order to draw further conclusions regarding work-related outcomes in controlled high-quality studies, long-term follow-up using objective outcomes and/or quality assured questionnaires are required.
Highlights
Increased rates of leukaemia have been found among tanker crews
Several work tasks resulted in high exposure to benzene, often exceeding the Swedish occupational exposure limit (1.5 mg/m3, 8hTWA)
There is a large variation in exposure at a single company during the year depending on a lot of factors, such as production intensity, used Materials and methods, weather conditions, individual work pattern and behaviour
Summary
Increased rates of leukaemia have been found among tanker crews. The leukemic carcinogen benzene is a plausible cause, but serving on tankers is not an established risk occupation for leukaemia. We present exposure to benzene together with biomarkers for benzene uptake, metabolism and genotoxic effects on Swedish product chemical tankers. Result The average concentration of benzene in air during a watch (approximately 4 hour) displayed a wide range depending on work task performed (range 0 to 50 mg/m3; peak 143 mg/m3). There is a large variation in exposure at a single company during the year depending on a lot of factors, such as production intensity, used Materials and methods, weather conditions, individual work pattern and behaviour. Lack of awareness of health risks of asbestos and negligence of workers’ compensation rights may be underlying factors for low recognition of occupational diseases. We assessed the risk of RA from occupational exposure to combustion products in a large population-based case-control study.
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