The aim of this paper was to develop efficient and practical health promotion strategies in the workplace by investigating both the present status of health promotion and the barriers to its practice.

A questionnaire was administered to 20% of industrial workers in the workplaces which receives the health care agency enterprise or are supported by a grant from the national treasury, K University Hospital in Gyeong-Gi province, and C University Hospital in Seoul.

According to the questionnaire survey, 51.3% workers were practicing health promotion activities and smoking cessation was the most common method among them. Regarding the factors that prompt workers to commence health promotion activities, TV or the mass media had a 33.4% effect, followed by a 22.1% effect for an abnormal finding at regular health screening. The most necessary health promotion activity in the workplace was exercise (41.9%), followed by stress management. When asked about their expectations of the health promotion program, 84.8% of the respondents answered that they expected it to be significantly or somewhat effective. Factors affecting the health promotion activities of workers were worker's health status and job control.

This study demonstrated that workers evaluate health promotion activities positively and that some workers are unable to participate in these activities despite their willingness to do so due to the barrier of circumstances. To encourage worker's participation, the government and employers should remove barriers.