Improving occupational safety and health motivation through a dialogue-based inspection practice

• Internally motivating and externally motivating mechanisms often co-exist. • Relatedness, autonomy, competence, and cooperation lead to OSH motivation. • Control, avoiding things, and external demands also lead to OSH motivation. In this article, we have answered the question of how a dialogue-based inspection practice affects enterprises’ motivation to improve their occupational safety and health. The question has been answered through a qualitative interview-based examination of ATP – a dialogue-based inspection practice that was implemented by the Danish WEA in 2020. 58 interviews were conducted with people from 20 different enterprises who have participated in an ATP. Through application of a realist evaluation approach and Self-Determination Theory an analysis was conducted to examine, which mechanisms motivate enterprises to improve their occupational safety and health. The study concludes that internally motivating and externally motivating mechanisms often co-exist to prompt enterprises to improve their occupational safety and health. As such, it may be fruitful for labor inspection authorities to consider both types of motivation in the development of new labor inspection strategies.