Workplace innovation influence on occupational safety and health

Abstract

Innovation is an important science for the sustainable development of any country. Workplace innovation brings radical change in the workers’ environment, thereby enhancing the profitability of companies. However, most research and discussion of innovations are focussed on product development and/or process improvement, disregarding workplace and service innovation. Hence, this study aims to identify gaps that exist in previous studies to recommend further research areas related to workplace innovation influences on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) interventions. The research was carried out through extensive literature reviews. It is evident that the influence of workplace innovation has been neglected in many studies despite the significance for workplace safety and health. Findings from the literature review revealed that workplace innovation has not been properly differentiated from new product development innovation and there are few cases of research carried out on the workplace innovation in particular. Thus, this research finding identified gaps in workplace innovation (non-technical innovation) such as workplace organisation, workplace layout, human resource management, top management changes, workers’ participation, policy and training. Hence, the workplace innovation influence on OSH indicates further research that can be conducted.