Organizational Health 577health-engendering work environment, (b) to enhance infor-
mation, education, and training for the workforce at all levels,
(c) to enrich psychological health services for workers, and
(d) to improve surveillance and monitoring of risk factors and
associated psychological disorders.
The strategy set the stage for a new era in occupational
health and safety. However, without application, the strategy
would be of little value (Millar, 1984, 1992). OHCs put these
goals into practice through an integrated, multidisciplinary
service designed to apply behavioral science technology to a
workplace setting in an attempt to enhance both organiza-
tional effectiveness and individual employee well-being.
Practices associated with an OHC can be provided either
internally in a consulting function or from an external con-
sulting position. Regardless of ownership, the positioning of
the OHC function is critical. The operation of an OHC is
most effective when the principal consultant serves in a posi-
tion similar to a chief psychological of“cer (CPO), reporting
directly to the upper management of the organization, gener-
ally the chief executive of“cer (CEO) or chief operating
of“cer (COO), or to the management function of the business
unit being served. It is also important for the practitioner to
be viewed as a neutral party whose interests lie in improving
the overall health of the organization rather than being allied
with either management, labor, or associated with any politi-
cally charged faction in the organization. Therefore, the OHC
is ideally positioned at the executive level but serves an
impartial consulting role.
OHCs are founded not only on the scientist-practitioner
model, but also the practices are rooted in a business culture.
While OHP sits at the crossroads of psychology, public
health, and business, programs and policies take place in an
organizational context. The language and focus must there-
fore take on a business frame of reference. Effective integra-
tion of organizational health processes requires integration of
the goals and objectives of the OHC with the goals and
objectives of the organization it serves. One of the obstacles
to creating lasting change in organizations is building man-
agement support and ownership for the programs and values
underlying them (Beer & Walton, 1990). Meshing the OHC
program goals with the overall corporate goals and strategies
offers a method to maximize corporate ownership and build
processes with lasting impact.
A prototype OHC was founded at the Sacramento Air
Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base, California, in
1993 (Adkins, 1999). The OHC function was initiated in
response to concerns about the potential impact of occupa-
tional stress on productivity and workforce health in a large
industrial military installation. The initial program produced
positive outcomes after the “rst year of implementation,
leading to the establishment of additional centers at other de-
fense installations as well as implementation of individual
program components at other levels in the defense organiza-
tion. Similar centers have been established in civilian venues
under various names. Some programs operate as a complete,
multidisciplinary system while others provide customized
programs depending on the needs and con“guration of the
organizational client. Although OHCs operate differently
across venues, we discuss seven critical, common functions:1.Data-based programming.
2.Integrating agent.
3.Organizational consulting.
4.Information broker.
5.Targeted training and prevention.
6.Worksite support.
7.Surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation.Data-Based ProgrammingInitiation of an OHC begins with a baseline. Resources are
targeted at high-leverage activities and groups based on rec-
ognized and assessed issues. While expected problem occur-
rence rates can be estimated through established general
epidemiological incidence and prevalence studies, a baseline
speci“c to the or ganization is needed to more accurately
direct action. In the Sacramento OHC, an organizational
health risk appraisal (OHRA) process was designed for over-
all needs assessment and evaluation in the context of an
overall organizational health promotion program. Similar to
an individual health risk appraisal, the OHRA was based on a
self-report questionnaire designed to identify psychosocial
risk factors for the organization taken as an entity. Baseline
data such as these provide a broad understanding of the orga-
nization to allow for targeting and timing of intervention
strategies, as well as a means of monitoring risk factors over
time and across interventions. In addition, at the time of base-
line data collection, decisions are needed regarding the orga-
nizational metrics available and appropriate to use in ongoing
surveillance. These measures should be speci“c, collected re-
liably and continuously, relevant to the organization, and
available over time. The vision of the OHC and its function
often drives the selection of metrics.Integrating AgentThe work of the OHC requires an interdisciplinary perspec-
tive either through dedicated staff or a matrix team using
available internal talent and external consultants. In addition,