Project Overview

The purpose of this resource is to:

• Provide guidelines and principles related to situational assessment tools.
• Provide a variety of situational assessment tools that have been deemed recommended or promising by an expert review panel.
• Provide methodological information for practitioners interested in conducting their own best practice reviews.
• Otherwise assist intermediaries in choosing situational assessment tools for use in Ontario workplaces.

The Rationale for Developing this Catalogue

Situational assessment tools are often an integral part of the early process of health promotion in the workplace. There are many types and multiple versions of tools available in the field, but practitioners often do not have the time or skills to use them.

THCU designed this resource as a direct response to the significant need to increase the number of workplace health promotion intermediaries who are aware of and use recommended practices for undertaking situational assessments. This need was identified by:

• conference delegates at THCU's Workplace Project Conference in June 2004
• regional networks representing most of the public health agencies in Ontario
• THCU Workplace Project Advisory Committee.

Intended Users of the Resource

Although workplace health promotion intermediaries in Ontario are the primary users of this resource, other workplace health promotion stakeholders may also find this resource helpful in assisting them with either:

• selecting and implementing a situational assessment tool in an Ontario workplace
• replicating and adapting the best practice process and methodology used to generate the tools.

These stakeholders may include:

• workplace health practitioners
• occupational health nurses
• workplace wellness committees
• workplace wellness coordinators
• human resource managers
• union representatives.

This resource is intended for Ontario practitioners, but other practitioners in North America and internationally may also find it useful.