A scientometric analysis of three decades of research on workplace psychosocial hazards: Implications for policy and practice

Abstract

Introduction: The Workplace Psychosocial Hazards (WPH) agenda has gained policy currency in the context of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For instance, SDG#8 explicitly aims to protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers under the umbrella term of decent work. More importantly, WPH has become a significant priority of workplace health and safety management (WHSM) practices because of the high cost associated with workers’ well-being and reduced productivity and performance. Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis of WPH-related literature remains scant. Method: This article responds to this gap and analyses scholarly research outputs between 1993 and 2022 available in the Scopus database (n = 521) with two specific objectives: (a) to identify key research trends, key focus areas, collaboration networks, and prominent research institutions/countries and (b) generate insights into informing workplace safety and health management (WSHM) practices and future research. Results: The analysis revealed that the research topics with the most emphasis were occupational health, mental health and stress. In contrast, topics such as policy assessment, sustainable development, and shift work received the least attention. Practical Applications: Given that the scientometrics analysis has the potential to inform the WPH agenda, this article contributes to the discussions on three thematic implications of the analysis in the context of future research directions: (a) policy initiatives, (b) WHSM practices, and (c) research partnerships.