Themes

The Work-Life Knowledge releases are divided under five main themes. The same themes also repeat on the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s website www.ttl.fi/en/themes-0, where you can find theme-related general information, recommendations and instructions.

Well-being at work is an overall experience of how an individual feels at work. It includes work-related attitudes, emotions and alertness. Well-being at work is influenced by working conditions, the properties of the work itself and individual factors. Work ability refers to the totality of an individual’s resources and other work-related factors. Incapacity for work refers to a significant decrease in work ability. An individual’s ability to work is influenced by the individual’s health and functional capacity, professional competence, motivation, attitudes and values.

Health is a key element of employees’ well-being and work ability. It may be impaired by both work-related and non-work-related factors. Health can also be supported both at the workplace and in free time. The key experts on the relation between work and health are the occupational health care personnel, who see to it, together with workplace personnel, that employees work safely and that their work ability is maintained and promoted.

Work life keeps changing. Digitalization changes the ways work is organized as well as when, where and how work is done. It promotes opportunities for remote and hybrid work, for example. Work life is also changing in other ways. Immigration continues to make workplaces more diverse linguistically and culturally, and climate change forces companies to make new energy solutions and draft climate-friendly strategies.

Occupational safety is a way of influencing the physical, mental and social work environment at workplaces. Safety management is the goal-oriented and systematic realisation of occupational safety under the principle of continuous development. Occupational safety is based on risk assessment, accident prevention, a proactive approach, learning and co-operation. The goal is a safe, healthy and productive workplace and employees’ well-being at work.

The constant shift of work life requires continued the renewing of competencies by both employees and work communities. Everyone must be able to react to various changes in their operating environment, such as digitalization, climate change and the aging work population. Competence can be developed in degree programmes conducted in educational institutions, further training provided at workplaces as well as employees’ independent learning.