Continuous health promotion and participatory 2 ergonomics in a small company

The workplace is an ideal setting for health promotion. The regular medical examination 7 of workers enables us to screen for numerous diseases, spread good practices and correct lifestyles, 8 and obtain a favourable risk/benefit ratio. The continuous monitoring of the level of workers' 9 wellbeing using a holistic approach that goes beyond the simple prevention of occupational risks 10 enables us to promptly identify problems in work organization and the company climate. 11 Problems of this kind can be adequately managed by using a participatory approach. In this 12 study participatory ergonomics groups were used to improve occupational life in a small company. 13 After intervention we observed a reduction in levels of perceived occupational stress measured with 14 the effort / reward imbalance model, and an improvement in psychological wellbeing assessed by 15 means of the Goldberg anxiety / depression scale. Although the limited size of the sample calls for 16 a cautious evaluation of this study, the GEP© strategy proved to be a useful tool due to its cost17 effectiveness. 18