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Achieving Sustainability in the Workplace: Presenteeism and Occupational Health and Safety

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2025) | Viewed by 7110

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Management, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: occupational health; presenteeism; human resources for health; sustainable employability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: occupational health; digital health; human resources for health; public service motivation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
College of Medical Humanities and Management, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, China
Interests: occupational health; knowledge management; health information behavior; human resources for health; ageing and sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Investigating the well-being of workers, including their physical and mental health, as well as assessing factors such as the workplace environments and behaviors that are linked to health and safety issues, can offer valuable theoretical insights and practical advice aimed at increasing healthy and sustainable productivity. However, numerous serious and neglected occupational health issues remain threats to the sustainability of workplaces. For example, presenteeism, which refers to an employee's persistence at work despite experiencing a health or other problems, is a prevalent issue across many industries and jobs globally and takes a serious toll on the physical and mental health and safety of employees. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of scientific theoretical tools, extensive empirical investigations, and sufficiently groundbreaking conclusions on how to manage and intervene to mitigate the consequences of employee presenteeism and other psychosocial factors or behaviors related to occupational health and safety. Therefore, there is an urgent need to dig deeper into the issues of presenteeism and occupational health and safety and how they are related to sustainability in the workplace.

This Special Issue aims to explore and discuss presenteeism and occupational health and safety issues related to workplace sustainability, including their antecedents, consequences, and initiatives designed to tackle them. Specifically, the Special Issue seeks to respond to four main questions: (1) How can we measure and capture presenteeism and other occupational health and safety issues in a scientific manner? (2) What induces presenteeism and other occupational health and safety risks? (3) How do presenteeism and other occupational health and safety issues affect workplace sustainability, e.g., the sustainable employability of employees or the sustainable productivity of organizations? (4) What management practices can be implemented to address presenteeism and other occupational health and safety concerns?

Based on the above questions, submissions concerning the following topics are particularly welcome: (1) cross-cultural research is encouraged due to differences in social backgrounds and work styles in different countries and regions; (2) research geared towards the aging workforce is encouraged due to the emergence of an aging society that has placed more urgent and higher demands on occupational health and workplace sustainability; (3) as the digital age offers more convenience for managing occupational health and sustainability by providing more novel tools, research related to digitalized interventions is encouraged. Both original research articles and reviews are welcome.

Overall, this Special Issue will provide the journal Sustainability with an occupational perspective on sustainability management in relation to health and safety.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Tianan Yang
Dr. Jianwei Deng
Dr. Ran Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • occupational health
  • healthy workplaces
  • presenteeism
  • safety
  • psychosocial factors
  • sustainable employability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 186 KiB  
Editorial
Presenteeism and Sustainable Occupational Health in the Workplace
by Tianan Yang, Wenhao Deng, Ran Liu and Jianwei Deng
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1645; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041645 - 17 Feb 2025
Viewed by 916
Abstract
In the face of the profound impacts of global digitization, aging, and major public health emergencies on work patterns, occupational health in the workplace is of inescapable importance for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals [...] Full article

Research

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16 pages, 1966 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Impact of Obesity and Insomnia on Work Productivity: Insights for Occupational Health and Sustainability in the Workplace
by Ginevra Malta, Fulvio Plescia and Emanuele Cannizzaro
Sustainability 2025, 17(2), 424; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020424 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1998
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of obesity and sleep disorders within the Italian workforce mirrors a global trend where sedentary lifestyles, poor eating habits, and elevated stress levels significantly contribute to these health issues. These conditions have profound economic implications, including rising healthcare costs [...] Read more.
Background: The prevalence of obesity and sleep disorders within the Italian workforce mirrors a global trend where sedentary lifestyles, poor eating habits, and elevated stress levels significantly contribute to these health issues. These conditions have profound economic implications, including rising healthcare costs and diminished productivity due to absenteeism and presenteeism, adversely affecting organizational sustainability and employee well-being. Addressing these problems necessitates a holistic approach that integrates individual health interventions, workplace policies, and broader societal changes to promote healthy lifestyles. This cross-sectional study examines the influence of obesity and insomnia, both individually and combined, on work productivity within the context of occupational health and sustainability. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 397 participants from various professions over a six-month period. Self-reported work productivity impairments were assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores were utilized to evaluate obesity and insomnia levels, respectively. Results: Statistical analyses revealed a significant association of higher BMI and ISI scores with reduced work productivity. Both obesity and insomnia independently and synergistically contributed to productivity losses, with obesity exerting a more substantial effect. These findings indicate that obesity and insomnia increase presenteeism, thereby negatively impacting organizational performance and workplace sustainability. Conclusions: Our study underscores the critical impact of obesity and insomnia on work productivity and highlights the necessity of addressing these health issues not only for individual well-being but also for organizational sustainability. Integrating targeted health management strategies within workplaces to address these conditions can enhance productivity, improve employee well-being, and promote occupational health and safety. These interventions align with the current concept of sustainable work and are essential steps toward achieving sustainability in the workplace. Full article
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21 pages, 1696 KiB  
Article
Unpacking the Relationship Between Empowerment Leadership and Electricity Worker’s Unsafe Behavior: A Multi-Moderated Mediation Approach
by Ali Arhim, Ahmad Alzubi, Kolawole Iyiola and Faith Umene Banje
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10732; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310732 - 6 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1104
Abstract
Ensuring workplace safety in high-risk sectors is critical to achieving sustainable productivity and occupational health, particularly in industries prone to unsafe practices. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), this study examines the impact of empowerment leadership (EL) on electricity workers’ unsafe behaviors (EWUBs) [...] Read more.
Ensuring workplace safety in high-risk sectors is critical to achieving sustainable productivity and occupational health, particularly in industries prone to unsafe practices. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), this study examines the impact of empowerment leadership (EL) on electricity workers’ unsafe behaviors (EWUBs) in Jordan, focusing on the mediating roles of safety motivation (SM) and work engagement (WE), as well as the moderating role of the error management climate (EMC). A quantitative approach was employed, collecting data from 409 electricity workers across various regions of Jordan. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) employing SmartPLS 4 to assess the relationships of these variables and AMOS 24.0 to compute the study measurement model’s internal consistency and construct validity. The results demonstrate that empowerment leadership significantly reduces electricity workers’ unsafe behaviors through increased safety motivation and work engagement. Furthermore, the error management climate moderates the relationship between empowerment leadership and work engagement (Estimate = 0.238, t = 7.783, <0.001) is stronger when the error management climate is high and weaker but also insignificant when the error management climate is low (Estimate = 0.045, t = 1.015, >0.05). The research highlights the crucial role of empowerment leadership in promoting safety motivation and work engagement, which (Estimate = 0.238, t = 7.783, <0.001) is stronger and essential for minimizing unsafe behavior in high-risk industries like electricity. The findings highlight the pivotal role of shaping employees’ unsafe behavior and offers practical implications for policymakers and institutions aiming to promote employees’ safety behavior. Future studies also emphasize fostering an error management climate to reinforce these effects and organizations should focus on leadership development and creating a supportive error management climate to maximize safety outcomes. Full article
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Review

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28 pages, 7273 KiB  
Review
A Bibliometric and Scientometric Network Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health in the Electric Power Industry: Future Implication of Digital Pathways
by Ka Po Wong and Xiangcheng Meng
Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5358; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135358 - 24 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2020
Abstract
(1) Background: The demand for electricity in rural and urban areas has given rise to numerous related industries, resulting in perilous working conditions and a significant number of safety accidents for workers. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on improving [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The demand for electricity in rural and urban areas has given rise to numerous related industries, resulting in perilous working conditions and a significant number of safety accidents for workers. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on improving occupational safety and health in the electric power industry. However, the lack of a systematic review or the integration of disaggregated studies has hindered our understanding of the state of the development of this research field. This study aims to provide bibliometric and scientometric network analyses and explore the untapped potential of digital pathways. (2) Methods: A bibliometric analysis focused on the research cooperation, author keywords, and journal co-citation patterns of studies was carried out, while a temporal trend analysis was employed to identify topical focuses and trends for further research on the occupational safety and health of electrical workers. Papers were searched for across three databases, namely Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Using “occupational safety and health” and “electric power industry” as keywords, the articles published from 1991 to 2022 were retrieved. (3) Results: A total of 608 articles published from 1991 to 2022 were collected for the bibliometric analysis. Four clusters were successfully recognized in the search results after adopting the process of cluster analysis based on a total of 608 articles. As for the countries, most of the publications and citations came from the United States. The most frequent keywords were safety, exposure assessment, electrocution, and electrical injury. (4) Conclusions: This is the first study to highlight occupational safety and health in the electric power industry and provides valuable insights into the knowledge structure, emerging trends, and future directions through the lens of digital pathways. This study sheds light on the importance of digital pathways in enhancing occupational safety and health practices within the industry. The findings contribute to the fields of occupational safety management and health promotion, providing a foundation for future research and interventions aimed at improving safety conditions and promoting the well-being of personnel in the electric power industry. Full article
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