musculoskeletal and mental health.Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) emphasized the potential of modern meth- ods in the production of wealth but he did not neglect their potential also to produce adverse effects in the workforce.In the progress of the division of labor, the great body of people comes to be confined to a very few simple operations....The man's whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations ... [he] naturally loses, therefore, the habit [of solving problems]....The torpor of his mind renders him not only incapable ... of rational conversation ... [but] equally incapable of defending his country in war.7 Opportunities to gather new insights should be plentiful.We are in an histori- cal period in which changes in both technology and the world economy are causing continual and rapid change "in the way work is designed, allocated and performed.8Psychosocial research in this area not only directs our attention tothe existing nature of work but it also illuminates the ways in which changes in the design of work might improve health by preventing premature cardiovascular disease and perhaps other disorders.As great is the challenge to understand the role of occupational psychosocial factors in promoting health, the still greater challenge lies in demonstrating scientifically that it is both feasible and effective to change the work environment.Dr Y. Ian Noy reminds us that our challenge is to understand not only the actual, but also the possible.80
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