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This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

Benefits of positive mental health have been demonstrated across work and non-work domains. Individuals reporting positive mental health experience better work performance, better social relationships and better physical health. Additionally, positive work environments can contribute to employee mental health. The purpose of this paper is to develop “expert” consensus regarding practical, actionable strategies that organisations can implement to promote positive mental health in the workplace.

A Delphi consensus method was used to establish expert consensus on strategies to promote positive workplace mental health. A 278-item questionnaire was developed and strategies were rated over three survey rounds by two panels comprising 36 workplace mental health practitioners and 36 employer representatives and employees (27 and 9, respectively), employees with experience of promoting positive mental health and well-being in the workplace (total – 72 panellists).

In total, 220/278 strategies were rated as essential or important by at least 80 per cent of both panels. Endorsed strategies covered the topics of: mental health and well-being strategy, work environment that promotes positive mental health, positive leadership styles, effective communication, designing jobs for positive mental health, recruitment and selection, supporting and developing employees, work-life balance, and positive mental health and well-being initiatives.

The guidelines arising from this study represent expert consensus on what is currently appropriate for promoting positive mental health at work from the perspectives of workplace mental health practitioners, employers and employees, and constitute a resource for translating the growing body of knowledge in this area into policy and practice.

There has been little research into the use and efficacy of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) across UK workplaces. This paper aims to investigate the implementation of MHFA across six UK organisations, identifying key barriers and facilitators.

Twenty-seven workplace representatives were recruited from six organisations through purposive sampling and took part in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences of workplace MHFA. The data underwent thematic analysis, identifying key themes around implementation.

Implementation varied across organisations, including different reasons for initial interest in the programme, and variable ways that MHFA-trained employees operated post-training. Key barriers to successful implementation included negative attitudes around mental health, the perception that MHFA roles were onerous, and employees’ reluctance to engage in the MHFA programme. Successful implementation was perceived to be based on individual qualities of MHFA instructors and good practice demonstrated by trained individuals in the workplace. The role of the inner organisational setting and employee characteristics were further highlighted as barriers and facilitators to effective implementation.

MHFA is a complex intervention, presenting in different ways when implemented into complex workplace settings. As such, traditional evaluation methods may not be appropriate for gaining insights into its effectiveness. Future evaluations of workplace MHFA must consider the complexity of implementing and operationalising this intervention in the workplace.

This study is the first to highlight the factors affecting successful implementation of MHFA across a range of UK workplaces.

The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences regarding the experience of workplace health and quality management. In this context, we include some factors of work environment that have previously been shown to be related to health such as workplace learning, stress, flow and sense of coherence.

A questionnaire based on previous research was constructed. It was delivered to a population of Swedish upper secondary school teachers. Three hundred eleven responses were returned. They were analysed for gender differences with t-tests and chi-square tests.

The results show that women's experience of their health is worse than men's despite having a generally better experience of the quality management values, workplace learning and flow. Moreover, women experience more stress, and they are more often subjected to sexual harassment while men more frequently had been exposed to physical violence.

The study has implications for research in that it indicates that although women have better experiences of many of the factors that previous research has shown to be related to workplace health, their health is actually worse. A limitation is that the response rate was low.

The findings should be useful for managers attempting to improve the workplace health of their staff. The finding that women report less health than men even though experiencing quality management values more, means that women's health need a particular focus in secondary schools.

The connection between health and quality management has not been previously studied from a gender perspective.

Workplaces are challenging environments which place workers at the risk of obesity. This is particularly true for Australian road transport industry workplaces. The Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework is a public health tool which can be used to conceptualise obesogenic environments. It suggests that workplaces have a variety of roles (in the physical, economic, political and sociocultural domains) in responding to obesity in transport industry workplaces. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings which explore this idea.

The project used a mixed-methods approach located within a participatory action research framework, to engage workplace managers and truck drivers in the implementation and evaluation of workplace health promotion strategies. The project involved six transport industry workplaces in Queensland, Australia.

This study found that transport industry workplaces perceive themselves to have an important role in addressing the physical, economic, political and sociocultural aspects of obesity, as per the ANGELO framework. However, transport industry employees – specifically, truck drivers – do not perceive workplaces to have a major role in health; rather, they consider health to be an area of personal responsibility.

Balancing the competing perceptions of truck drivers and workplace managers about the workplace’s role in health promotion is an important consideration for future health promotion activities in this hard-to-reach, at-risk population.

The use of the ANGELO framework allows the conceptualisation of obesity in a novel workplace context.

Workplace well-being is key to improving health and therefore productivity. Although the Chinese population and their influence on business in the UK are growing rapidly, little is known about the attitudes of Chinese employers and employees towards workplace well-being. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The authors conducted a qualitative study to explore the views of Chinese employees and employers in London and interviewed occupational health and workplace well-being experts.

Employers’ understanding of workplace well-being was limited, their approach was reactive rather than proactive. Contextual factors hampered most efforts towards workplace well-being. Employees reported that working conditions were generally poor with likely implications for employees’ physical and mental health. Generational and migratory changes further complicate the scenario but potentially usher in positive change.

This study was conducted in a London area with a high density of Chinese businesses. The study nevertheless covered only a limited selection of business sectors. Caution may therefore be necessary in assuming the transferability of these findings to other parts of the UK.

Chinese businesses are agreeable to being informed about and considering the business case for workplace well-being. Chinese workers need better working conditions, easier access to health services preferably delivered through Chinese-based networks of community and business associations which are trusted by both employers and employees.

This study offers novel evidence on the attitude of Chinese employers and employees towards workplace well-being by comparing views from both groups. Chinese people face considerable health and mental health problems through their work environment, in contrast with conclusions from the Health Survey for England and Labour Force Survey.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of the health and wellbeing issues faced within the construction and retail sectors and the difficulties faced in addressing these issues.

This is a small, qualitative pilot study based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a purposively sampled group of representatives with expert knowledge from seven firms in the construction sector and three firms in the retail sector.

Health and safety concerns in construction were pervasive. Causes were strongly tied to industry practice and structures such as short-term and sub-contracting as well as long hours and a masculine culture. In the retail establishments concerns tended to be more holistic, focusing on wellbeing and encompassing work satisfaction. Industry leaders in construction are proactive in trying to address these issues, particularly in regard to safety. The multi-dimensionality of the concept of workplace wellbeing implies the need for a holistic approach to interventions.

This research was initiated as a pilot study, as part of a wider project in collaboration with a business partner, and is limited by the sample size.

These findings should be incorporated into sector specific research on workplace wellbeing and occupational health initiatives.

Workplace wellbeing programmes need to be constructed holistically as wellbeing is a multi-dimensional concept encompassing quality of life as well as effects of work on health.

An in-depth study with industry experts that increases knowledge of the underlying causes of workplace health and wellbeing issues in construction and retail and the barriers to addressing them.

Drawing upon self-determination theory, this study investigates the direct and indirect impact of health-promoting leadership on employee engagement via workplace relational civility and explores the moderating effect of employability on these factors.

The authors collected a total of 723 matched and valid responses from nurses in Guangxi, China. Data regarding health-promoting leadership, workplace relational civility, employability and employee engagement were gathered using a survey administered in two waves, 1 week apart. The authors utilised structural equation modelling and linear regression to test the model.

This study reveals that health-promoting leadership has both direct and indirect positive effects on nurses' engagement through workplace relational civility. Furthermore, the authors found that employability negatively moderates the impact of workplace relational civility on nurses' engagement but does not moderate the impact of health-promoting leadership on nurses' engagement.

This is one of the few studies that have examined the effects of health-promoting leadership within the nursing industry. The authors confirm the importance of health-promoting leadership and workplace relationship civility on employee engagement. In addition, this study demonstrates the moderating role of employability in employment relationships.

Prolonged workplace sitting can harm employee health. Sit-stand desks are a potential workplace health initiative that might reduce and break up the time office-based employees spend sitting in the workplace. However, little is known about the feasibility and acceptability of providing sit-stand desks. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The present study sought stakeholder employee views surrounding sit-stand desk implementation within two UK-based non-profit organisations with open-plan offices. This paper draws on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 26 stakeholder employees and 65 days of participant observations. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and organisational cultural theory framed the study.

Stakeholders employees’ positioning of sit-stand desks as a workplace health initiative reflected their perceptions of the relationship between sit-stand desk provision, employee health and organisational effectiveness. Perceptions were shaped by the nature and context of the organisation and by occupation-specific processes. Relatively fixed (e.g. organisational structure) and modifiable (e.g. selecting products compatible with the environment) factors were found to restrict and facilitate the perceived feasibility of implementing sit-stand desks.

The findings offer several recommendations for workplaces to improve stakeholder employee attitudes towards sit-stand desk provision and to increase the ease and efficiency of implementation.

Whilst extant literature has tended to examine hypothetical views related to sit-stand desk provision, this study consulted relevant stakeholders following, and regarding, the sit-stand desk implementation process.

Workplace health promotion initiatives are an effective way to reach adults, and provide safe and healthy working environments that support individual health. The purpose of this project was to: learn how organizations/businesses define workplace health; assess employer support and commitment for workplace health initiatives; assess facilitators and barriers to workplace wellness/health; and understand workplace needs around evaluation and outcome measures.

A community partnership, Wellness Initiatives Network (WIN), was established to provide a forum for organizations in Atlantic Canada to share knowledge and experience on workplace health. Focus groups were conducted with businesses/organizations in the four Atlantic Provinces. Tape‐recorded transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Ingredients for successful workplace health initiatives include onsite programs, the provision of incentives and recognition for employees, and the need to build awareness, understanding and commitment among managers who can help to create a supportive culture, which supports employee health. Measuring outcomes related to workplace health is critical.

Workplace health promotion should encompass a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the important roles of personal, social and environmental factors.

There is both interest and readiness to implement workplace health in Atlantic Canada. Workplace health is a responsibility of all – individual employees, employers and workplaces, and government. All stakeholders must be involved to help employees, workplaces and the health system cope with an aging population and concomitant increasing stresses at work and home. Engaging leaders is a critical step in building an integrated, comprehensive and sustainable approach to workplace health.