Centre for Organisational Health & Well-being (COHWB)

Conducting high quality leading edge research of relevance and utility to Employers, HR specialists, Health and Safety Managers and Allied Health Professionals as well as the academic community.

About COHWB
Our Members
Research
Study With Us
Publications
Professor Stavroula Leka
Stavroula Leka

Welcome to COHWB

The Centre for Organisational Health & Well-being is based at Lancaster University in the UK. It is a multi- and inter-disciplinary centre aiming to support employers, policy makers and other key stakeholders to develop sustainable, healthy work and healthy workplaces. The Centre brings together expertise from the Faculty of Health & Medicine, Lancaster University Management School, and the Work Foundation to address challenges associated with the changing nature of work and achieve its aim.

Professor Stavroula Leka,

Director of COHWB

About the Centre

Technological developments, climate change, global pandemics, demographic shifts and globalisation are transforming the world and the world of work. These forces are impacting who works and when, how work is organised and managed, and how work environments are defined. People and the work they do should be placed at the centre of economic and social policy and business practice to achieve a sustainable and healthy future of work. Sustainable work means achieving living and working conditions that support people in engaging and remaining in work throughout an extended working life for as long as they wish. For this to be achieved, it is important that the factors that hinder employment are tackled. Job quality and healthy work and work environment design are the cornerstone of sustainable work.

Engagement with policy makers, business leaders, HR and (allied) health professionals, health and safety professionals and the academic community is at the heart of our research, education, consultancy and policy work. Key themes in our work include:

  • Healthy work and workplace design
  • Mental health and well-being in the future of work
  • Leadership in sustainable work and organisations
  • Organisational health and resilience, innovation and competitiveness
  • Regulation and employment systems in the future of work
  • Human rights, responsibility, trust and employee voice in new work landscapes
  • Agile policy making, governance and sustainable work and development
  • Lifelong learning and sustainable working lives
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion in employment and new forms of work
  • Workplace intervention development and evaluation

COHWB Members

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Research Themes

We focus on three main research themes; Sustainable working lives, Interventions and Policy analysis. Select the relevant tab below to read more detailed information about each.

Tab Content: Sustainable working lives

This theme focuses on:

  • Work transitions throughout the lifecycle of work and the promotion of agile working with a view to addressing economic inactivity, early retirement and changing meaning/expectations of work.
  • Ways of working, and organisational culture and their impact on health, wellbeing and organisational outcomes.
  • The role of leadership in shaping organisational health and wellbeing.
  • Determinants of the value and meaning of work.
  • Voices, inclusivity and psychological safety and how these can transform organisations.

Tab Content: Organisational health and well

This theme focuses on: the design, implementation and evaluation on key interventions to promote organisational health and well-being in various contexts. It includes the development of toolkits and guidelines for organisations in key areas, e.g. healthy work and healthy workplaces; menopause and working life; sustainability, health and wellbeing; and workplace health promotion.

Tab Content: Policy analysis and evaluation

This theme focuses on:

  • Regulation and policy on work and health and its relationship with organisational and societal outcomes.
  • Policy analysis through documentary analysis, secondary analysis of large-scale data, and qualitative research with key stakeholders to support policy evaluation and the development of guidelines.
  • Critical analysis of indicators used to measure key dimensions of work, for example, remuneration in the context of higher workload and longer working hours; workload/productivity/work output measures in the context of the changing nature of work and multiple within-job roles.

Project Highlight

Effective delivery of occupational safety and health services: Promoting occupational safety and health as a universal fundamental right at work

High occupational safety and health (OSH) standards are crucial for the future of work and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recent trends, including demographic shifts, technological advancements, climate change, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have evidenced the need to increase efforts to protect and promote health, safety and well-being.

Despite OSH being a fundamental human right, it is estimated that 80% of the global workforce do not have access to basic OSH services (i.e., services entrusted with essentially preventive functions and responsible for advising the employer, the workers and their representatives in the undertaking on the requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment). Additionally, there are significant disparities regarding scope, content and quality between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and across various occupational sectors and work models.

This research is funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and aims to explore how OSH services are delivered worldwide. It focuses on understanding the factors influencing the implementation of OSH services globally, such as national policies, economic status, organizational size, and work models to ensure a diverse and inclusive approach that covers formal and informal sector workers alike. The research team includes Professor Stavroula Leka as the primary investigator, Dr Sabir Giga, Dr Claire Hardy, and Dr Kay Greasley as co-investigators, and Miguel Munoz-Harrison and Maha Siddiqui as researchers. The project is conducted in collaboration with the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) for data collection and dissemination of project outputs. The objectives include updating the global state of the art on OSH service delivery, advance knowledge of OSH service delivery in HICs and LMICs, update existing conceptual models on OSH services and provide consensus on priorities for the future of effective OSH service delivery. Project activities include a literature review on the global state of the art on OSH services, an ICOH/IOSH survey on OSH services, the development of national case studies, stakeholder interviews, and a global roundtable on OSH services to provide recommendations on the future of OSH service implementation. By mobilising the global OSH community, we strive to translate our findings into impactful policies and practices, ultimately promoting a safer and healthier working environment for all.

2023 – 2025 Leka, S., Giga, S.I., Hardy, C., and Greasley, K. ‘Effective delivery of occupational safety and health services: Promoting occupational safety and health as a universal fundamental right at work’. Funded by The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) (£149,224).

Someone with a hi-visibility vest and a clipboard.
80% of the global workforce do not have access to basic OSH services

Study with us

PhD in Organisational Health and Well-Being

We currently have over 40 students registered on our Blended Learning (Part time/Taught) Doctoral programme in Organisational Health and Well-Being. Enquiries are welcome for those wishing to study for a PhD by the traditional thesis based route. For further information about study or working with the Centre, please contact Professor Stavroula Leka

Organisational Health and Well-Being PhD

Traditional PhD (by research and thesis) in Health Research

We offer supervision of research students in many areas of health-related social science. We welcome applications from students wishing to pursue research in the areas of organisational health and well-being highlighted as the focus of our research interests. We are particularly interested in supporting applications for those applying for externally funded fellowships.

Health Research Traditional Route PhD

COHWB Publications

Publications by staff and associates of COHWB are listed below. By selecting View our publications, you will have the opportunity to filter publications by year, type and/or keyword

View our publications

Recent and current research projects include:

2014-17 Giga, S. I., Collins, A., Cartwright, S. and Cowlishaw, S.
"The Role of Army Reservists: An Analysis of their Experiences and the Attitudes and Perceptions of Civilian Employers, Regulars and Significant Others".
Funded by the ESRC (£236,895)

2014-20 Almeida S., Fernando, M., Dharmage, S. and Cartwright, S.
"Promoting Employee Engagement, Career Development, Well-Being and Retention of Health Professionals in the Illawarra".
A joint project with University of Wollongong Business School

2014-15 Wadeson, P., Simpson, J. and Giga, S. I.
"Comparison of group-based mindfulness training versus smartphone app training for NHS workers".
Funded by the NIHR Research Capability Fund (£10k)

2014 Bingley, A., Collins, A., Oaks, R and Varey, S.
"Woodland working: Intergenerational skills gained and shared in the volunteer workforce".
Funded by the British Academy (£9095)

2013-14 Hillage J, Bevan S, Cartwright S and Hollingsworth B
"Evidence review of workplace policies and management practices to improve employee well-being". A joint project with University of Sussex and colleagues at The Work Foundation.
Funded by National Institute for Clinical Excellence(£170K)

2010-12 Cartwright, S.
"The impact of Presenteeism on Employee Health and Performance".
Funded by the BUPA Foundation (£110K)

2010-2012 Cartwright, S.
"The Impact of physical activity on employee health and well being".
Funded by Global Corporate Challenge (£60K)