Workplace health promotion in the context of public health

In modern societies, work is the source of most individual, corporate and community wealth. The level of health therefore of each society is particularly vulnerable to disruption caused by illness among employees. Healthy workplaces are one of the most important determinant of health today. However, both, public health and occupational medicine tended to ignore completely in the first case, and in part in the second case, health in the workplace. Throw the years several initiatives have been tested. One of the platforms that demonstrated to be cost/effective is the one based on the principals included in the Ottawa Charter, that applied to the workplace goes under the definition of workplace health promotion. In the last twelve years the European Commission recognized both: the workplace as a key determinant and the methodology workplace health promotion as defined in the Luxemburg Declaration. The bases of this methodology is planning. Without a correct development policy and strategy it will not be possible to create a sustainable society. The enforcement of Lisbon treaty seems to be a substantial step forward for Europe.