Joint ICOH-WOPS & APA-PFAW global roundtable perspectives : exploring national policy approaches for psychological health at work through the ‘National Policy Index’ lens

POTTER, Rachael E. and ERTEL, Michael and DOLLARD, Maureen and Leka, Stavroula and JAIN, Aditya and LEROUGE, Loic and HOUTMAN, Irene and AUST, Birgit and CHOI, Won-Jun and CROOKS, Nicholas and FITZGERALD, John and HASSAN, Siti Nurani and KIRK-BROWN, Andrea and MISHIBA, Takenori and SPETCH, Ashley and STOETZER, Ulrich and VAN DIJK, Pieter (2024) Joint ICOH-WOPS & APA-PFAW global roundtable perspectives : exploring national policy approaches for psychological health at work through the ‘National Policy Index’ lens. Industrial Health. ISSN 0019-8366

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Abstract

Worker psychological health is a significant global imperative which requires national policy action and stakeholder engagement. While national policy is a critical lever for improving worker psychological health, some countries are more progressive than others in relation to policy development and/or implementation. At the Joint Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health, Scientific Committee on Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors and the Asia Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors Work in Tokyo (September 2023), a Global Roundtable was designed to initiate international dialogue and knowledge exchange regarding relevant national policy approaches. The Global Roundtable involved experts from diverse regions alongside an engaged audience of congress attendees and facilitators. Qualitative data were analysed against the five components of the National Policy Index tool, comprising policy priority, specific laws, nation-wide initiatives, sector-oriented initiatives, national survey and/or studies. Analysis revealed that while work-related psychological health is a policy priority across many countries, at the same time, there are global gaps in both legislation specificity and active regulation across different countries. For future policy development across countries, it will be beneficial to continue and deepen international discourse and for countries to share their approaches with others.