A systematic review of occupational health and safety interventions with economic analyses

We reviewed the occupational health and safety intervention literature to synthesize evidence on financial merits of such interventions.

A literature search included journal databases, existing systematic reviews, and studies identified by content experts. Studies meeting inclusion criteria were assessed for quality. Evidence was synthesized within industry-intervention type clusters.

We found strong evidence that ergonomic and other musculoskeletal injury prevention interventions in manufacturing and warehousing are worth undertaking in terms of their financial merits. We also found strong evidence that multisector disability management interventions are worth undertaking.

While the economic evaluation of interventions in this literature warrants further expansion, we found a sufficient number of studies to identify strong, moderate, and limited evidence in certain industry-intervention clusters. The review also provided insights into how the methodological quality of economic evaluations in this literature could be improved.