THE PERCEPTIONS OF LINE AND SENIOR MANAGERS IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH ISSUES

Perceptions of line and senior managers in relation to their role in m anaging workplace injury and illness were investigated with a large UK manufacturing company. The significance of this research to occupatio nal health practitioners lies in the fact that increased understanding of the perceptions of senior and line managers is fundamental to the success of occupational safety and health programmes. Documentary anal ysis and semi-structured interviews were used to assess perceptions. T he findings showed that the managers had a much sounder understanding of their role in injury prevention than that related to illness preven tion. The way in which information relating to injury and illness data is presented to managers to aid decision making was found likely to b e a fruitful area for further research.