Abstract
The onset of the Great Recession in 2008 has put pressure on enterprises that in turn have downsized, restructured, and reorganized. Research has shown that economic recession has an effect on psychological and behavioral health that is attributed to both general health and occupational safety and health. The objective of this study is to unravel whether the onset of economic recession has had an impact on public health and especially enterprises’ and public institutions’ management of occupational safety and health activities. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of research covering the recessional influence on the management, on occupational safety, and on health and public health in general. Moreover, insights are given on theories and models of the effect on safety and health, and the chapter provides insights to research contributions that discuss a series of determining factors that play a central role in understanding managing through recession. Based on the reviewed research, it is concluded that all stakeholders must have a focus on the management of both public health and especially the management of safety and health activities in enterprises during a period of economic recession. The literature points at a few procyclical effects that need to be managed like, for example, a decline in accidents at work. However, the majority of effects of the recession are countercyclical like, for example, worsened suicide rates, increase in depression disorders, and increase in psychosocial risk and physical health including worsened occupational safety and health for lay-off survivors.
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Sønderstrup-Andersen, H.H.K. (2021). Managing OSH Through Recession. In: Brough, P., Gardiner, E., Daniels, K. (eds) Handbook on Management and Employment Practices. Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24936-6_8-1
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