Focus on Dr Aditya Jain
An international expert in occupational health psychology (OHP), Dr Aditya Jain was recognised by the American Psychological Association in 2019 with an award for his exceptional contribution to the science and practice of OHP.
Pioneering work in Occupational Health Psychology
In 2020, Aditya also won a British Standards Institute (BSI) Special Edition Standards Maker Award for his work with the team that developed two new standards:
- safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic - general guidelines for organisations
- occupational health and safety management -psychological health and safety at work
These guidelines have been adopted worldwide and were developed in only two weeks.
Aditya’s research focuses on policies relating to mental health at work, examining the role of softer forms of policy, and risk management of the psychological and social work environment for business and societal sustainability.
He has published several papers on sustainability issues (focusing primarily on the social and, to some extent, the economic dimension of sustainability). His work examines how working conditions can be improved to promote mental health and wellbeing at work and drive organisational and societal sustainability. This in turn has economic implications by reducing costs related to ill-health, sickness absence, presenteeism, productivity losses, accidents and injuries.
Policy development
Aditya has made an important contribution to (OHP) research and practice, particularly in relation to policy development. He was one of the lead researchers of the PRIMA-EF (Psychosocial Risk Management – European Framework) policy programme, taking leadership in relation to work on corporate social responsibility and standardisation.PRIMA-EF guidance and training has been used in several countries in Europe, Brazil, Japan, China, and Australia.
The first standard for psychosocial risk management
His work led to the development of the first standard in the area of psychosocial risk management, Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1010 that was published by the British Standards Institution in 2011.
Aditya was a technical co-author of this standard that informed the Canadian national standard on psychological health and safety in the workplace and is currently being used in the development of ISO45003, the first international guidance standard on psychosocial risk management.
Expertise in mental health in the workplace
Aditya is also co-author of several guidance documents for the European Commission. One example is an interpretative document of European Union legislation and its application to mental health in the workplace, written in 2014.
This document is used widely in all EU member states to clarify employer responsibilities. Aditya’s expertise has been acknowledged by the European Commission as well as the World Health Organisation, and the International Labour Organisation that have appointed him as expert advisor.
He co-authored a book Managing Health, Safety and Well-Being: Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (Springer, 2018) on aligning perspectives in health, safety and wellbeing with a particularly focus on business responsibility and sustainabilityAditya’s work in policy and sustainability, either as principal or co-investigator, has since 2011 attracted national, European and international funding in the range of two million dollars.
