The study has some limitations. Firstly, the questionnaire was developed for the needs of this study and was not tested for validity or reliability. Also, the participants were invited to participate in the study by email in a given time with no reminders, which may limit the number of participants. In addition, the study population was determined at the enterprise level, therefore we could not send the questionnaire to those best aware of the company’s situation. The same person may have different roles in the company and asked about the role he/she has been able to answer this question in multiple sites. This led to heterogenous distribution of the positions of respondents in the companies. Most of participants were women which may reflect gender distribution in occupational health issues in the companies.
Studying enterprises’ practices is challenging because the different structures within and resources available to companies may influence the responses. Contracts with different OHS suppliers can also influence the responses. When assessing practices, different understandings of work-related stress as a concept can also cause variation. The assessment of the situation is based on subjective views that vary from one individual and situation to another. This study involved only those who were willing to participate, who may well be a highly motivated group. However, as the information in the questionnaire was impersonal, we may expect that the respondents reported the situation as accurately as possible.
The OHS alone can’t change the working conditions and the enterprises need more information on work related stress and what they can do about it. The enterprises should be willing need to affect to work-related stress and prioritize preventive actions at enterprise level11, 16, 29, 30). The collaboration between workplace and OHS could be improved increasing active communication between the workplace with regular meeting. No one is the single owner of the problem of work-related stress and actions should be taken in cooperation with OHS, OSH and enterprises.
Future research should to examine this improvement of communication between workplace and OHS.
There is also a need for future studies to evaluate interventions that include workplace prevention activities. Future research should also include economic evaluation, which can assist employers in making decisions about which intervention to implement.