Ecosystem perspective for effective occupational safety and health interventions: A cross-national expert study

• Focus on effective OSH interventions to improve safety and health conditions in the workplace. • Exploring dynamics affecting intervention outcomes using ecosystem principles. • An international focus group to discuss generalizable insights on interventions’ effectiveness. • Planning and awareness of all the phases of intervention development. • Leveraging factors, mediators and moderators, pivotal in sustaining interventions. With the intent to promote lasting workplace interventions for the health, safety, and well-being of workers, this study focuses on supporting the development of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) interventions, with particular attention to the processes and actors involved. Inspired by the circular ecosystem’s principles, the concept of ecosystem in OSH introduces a new perspective into discussions on OSH interventions. This perspective deepens understanding of the underlying dynamics contributing to intervention outcomes. The research adopts a qualitative, exploratory design, structured around expert engagement in two phases: first, exploratory interviews aimed at gathering insights on past OSH interventions; and second, a focus group with the same experts, where initial findings were used as a foundation to collectively discuss and refine strategies for improving intervention effectiveness. Based on the mixture of OSH and ecosystems knowledge, the findings are derived by interpreting data according to the intervention development phases—design, implementation, evaluation, and follow-up—and the five elements of circular ecosystems—value, actors, data materials and flows, circular activities and strategies, and governance. A framework is determined to interpret the diverse aspects, including contextual factors and drivers, influencing intervention development and its long-term effectiveness. The ecosystem perspective proposed is intended to provide scholars with a fresh approach to intervention development and clear guidelines for practitioners to create successful, long-lasting interventions through the ecosystem perspective.