Workplace health promotion programs are gaining prominence due to their potential to improve the physical and mental health of female employees. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programs on general health and quality of life outcomes in working women. A systematic search of six databases was conducted for randomized controlled trials published between 2000 and 2025. A total of 20 randomized controlled trials involving 3,962 female employees were included, with 11 studies contributing to the meta-analysis. Interventions varied in type and duration, including physical activity, mindfulness, self-management education, and relaxation techniques. Pooled effect sizes were calculated using a random-effects model (Hedges' g), and subgroup analyses were conducted based on intervention types. Workplace health promotion programs demonstrated a significant positive effect on overall quality of life (SMD = 0.71). Subgroup analyses revealed a moderate and significant improvement in general quality of life, a small-to-moderate but consistent effect on physical health outcomes, and positive yet non-significant effects on psychological and mental health outcomes, which were characterized by substantial heterogeneity. Workplace health promotion programs are effective in enhancing health and quality of life among female employees across diverse work settings. Future research should explore long-term outcomes and adapt interventions for specific needs of subgroups of women. Workplace health promotion programs can be integrated into occupational health practice to improve health and quality of life among female employees.

Despite being deemed essential non-healthcare workers, agricultural workers were excluded from COVID-19 vaccine prioritization in Texas. This professional practice report describes the multifaceted worker health and safety approaches to protecting agricultural workers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and January 2025, several outreach, education, and training grants from various funding agencies were leveraged to deliver training, personal protective equipment, vaccines, and economic relief to agricultural workers in partnership with community-based organizations, industry, local public health departments, and academic institutions. Timely funding efforts led to the distribution of 1,000 PPE kits, with more than 3,000 in-person and virtual trainings, 80 on-farm clinics hosted with over 2,200 vaccinations, 4,500 door-to-door education visits in 31 rural counties and 61 zip codes, exceeding 4,600 relief payments distributed, and 30,000 rural county resource lists disseminated across rural agricultural communities in Texas. These collaborative efforts gave rise to Sembrando el Sueño-a program that provided social services to agricultural workers in the Texas Panhandle. Over $4.5 million in grant monies were leveraged to help advocate for agricultural worker health, safety, and well-being as well as their multigenerational households in rural Texas. This report underscores the challenges and the collaborative multifaceted approach needed among various partners to ensure that essential workers are adequately protected from exposure to infectious agents while on the job.

This study aims to explore the moderating role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in the association between work stress and burnout. Burnout is a persistent occupational health problem; however, individual-level strategies associated with its lower prevalence remain limited. This study addresses whether CRF functions as a resource that interacts with work stress in relation to burnout levels. Using a cross-sectional design, questionnaire data were collected from workers in glass manufacturing, including demographics, job-related characteristics, work stress (including psychological job demands, job control, and workplace social support), and burnout. Anthropometric measurements and the step test were also conducted. Hierarchical multiple linear regression with mean-centered interaction terms was used to test moderation. A total of 377 full-time workers voluntarily participated in the study. The results indicate that over two-thirds of participants exhibited poor or very poor CRF. Although CRF was not directly associated with burnout, it moderated the relationship between job control and burnout (β = .11, p < .05). Specifically, job control was not significantly associated with burnout at higher levels of CRF, whereas the association remained significant at lower levels of CRF. Additionally, CRF did not moderate the relationship between psychological job demands or workplace social support and burnout. These findings highlight improving CRF as a factor that may relate to a reduced association between low job control and burnout among employees. Promoting CRF through workplace wellness initiatives may enhance employee resilience, particularly in environments where organizational changes to increase job control are challenging.

Volunteer firefighters face elevated cancer risks from exposure to combustion by-products, exacerbated by limited decontamination resources, especially in rural departments. This proof-of-concept study assessed the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an online educational intervention to improve cancer prevention behaviors among Canadian English and French volunteer firefighters. A two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted across 23 volunteer fire departments. Departments were assigned to a 6-month online intervention (health letters, moderated chat room, and a 45-minute summary course) or a waitlist control. Firefighters completed the 20-item Firefighter Exposure to Carcinogens Scale (FECS) at baseline and 6 months, assessing intention, perceived importance, behavior, and barriers. A total of 115 firefighters enrolled; participant retention rates were 48.39% in the intervention group and 81.13% in the control group. The intervention group showed greater improvement in perceived importance (p = .04) and a trend toward reduced perceived barriers (p = .05). Intention scores trended positively (p = .08). Behavioral changes were not significant in the primary analysis, but when clustering was accounted for, behavior improvement reached significance (p = .01). Perceived barriers were negatively correlated with intention, importance, and behavior, with stronger correlations post-intervention. The intervention was feasible and showed potential to improve cancer prevention-related perceptions and behaviors. Recruitment challenges indicate the need for enhanced engagement strategies. Online educational programs may support scalable cancer prevention training for volunteer fire departments, especially for rural and resource-limited settings.

Using the intelligence leadership model as a conceptual framework, this study examined the relationship between organization-level safety climate and two dimensions of worker safety behavior (worker safety participation and workers safety engagement) and how this relationship could be affected by workers perceived safety leadership traits of the person in charge. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 105 oil and gas field workers from multiple contractor companies across eight sites in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Participants completed a comprehensive 53-item self-administered questionnaire designed to assess three constructs: safety leadership intelligence (emotional intelligence [six items], rational intelligence [four items], and spiritual intelligence [six items]), organization-level safety climate (16 items), and worker safety behavior (safety participation [five items] and safety engagement [four items]). Study hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling analysis. The results showed significant direct and indirect pathways between organization-level safety climate and worker safety behavior (worker safety participation and worker safety engagement), through safety intelligence leadership attributes (emotional, rational, and spiritual). Specifically, perceived person-in-charge's (PIC) leadership attributes related to emotional safety intelligence were found to both fully and partially mediate the relationship with worker safety participation and worker safety engagement respectively. In high-risk, high-pressure environments, workers are more likely to engage in proactive safety behaviors when they perceive their leaders as empathetic, emotionally self-aware, and capable of fostering genuine interactions. This type of influence cannot be mandated by authority alone, nor achieved just by charisma; it must be earned through emotional connections.

Background:Violent deaths represent a serious occupational health and safety concern in healthcare. This study examines the occupations, sociodemographic factors, and circumstances reported for homicides and suicides occurring at work and outside work among decedents in select healthcare industries and occupations.Methods:Decedents in healthcare sub-industries were identified in CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System, years 2017 to 2022. Workplace and non-workplace deaths were included. Frequencies and proportions of decedent demographics, occupation categories, location of injury, and precipitating circumstances including perpetrator-victim relationship (among homicides), and social, mental health, and substance use factors contributing to death (among suicides) were reported.Findings:During 2017 to 2022, 91 workplace homicides, 3,889 non-workplace homicides, 97 workplace suicides, and 12,450 non-workplace suicides were reported among healthcare industry workers. Suicides and homicides occurred more frequently among females compared with males. Homicides occurred most frequently among healthcare practitioners and technical occupations and healthcare support occupations, while suicides occurred most frequently among healthcare practitioners and technical occupations. Homicide decedents often knew the suspect through current or previous personal or work relationships. Most suicide decedents had a current mental health problem or symptoms.Conclusions/Application to Practice:This analysis supports existing recommendations and national priorities for preventing workplace violence and suicide in healthcare. Findings reinforce previous research and add more context to these violent deaths by presenting circumstances of non-workplace deaths. Contributors to these violent deaths are multifactorial. Further research can investigate underlying mechanisms for homicide and suicide in this healthcare worker population, particularly among certain work settings and less-studied occupation groups.

Hand sanitizer use increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet knowledge about its safe use and potential health impacts remains limited, particularly across different occupational groups. There is a need to better understand the frequency and health effects of hand sanitizer use, especially when comparing healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals. This cross-sectional study included 305 adults from a central district of Türkiye, with 48.5% being healthcare professionals. Data were collected on participants' knowledge of sanitizer contents, frequency of use, and any health problems experienced. Regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with sanitizer-related health problems. Only 28.4% of healthcare professionals and 12.1% of non-healthcare professionals reported full knowledge of the contents of the sanitizers they used. Daily use of hand sanitizer 10 or more times was reported by 53.4% of healthcare professionals and 33.8% of non-healthcare professionals. Regression analysis indicated that female gender and being a healthcare professional were significantly associated with sanitizer-related health problems (p < .01). Despite frequent use, both groups demonstrated insufficient knowledge regarding safe sanitizer use, which may contribute to increased health risks such as skin irritation or allergic reactions. These findings highlight the importance of implementing targeted, evidence-based educational interventions and developing clear guidelines on the safe use of hand sanitizers for both healthcare and non-healthcare professionals. Future studies should focus on the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing healthcare-associated infections and improving hygiene practices. Occupational health and public health professionals can use these results to design workplace and community-based training programs, promote safer hygiene practices, and minimize sanitizer-related health risks across diverse populations.