The level of control that employees experience -a powerful resource -can be threatened at three levels: 1) the function in itself can, regarding organizational structure and task embedding, offer too little possibilities of decision latitude and be at a 'wrong' level of control, 2) the function is all right but the department has a supervisor who cannot delegate 'job control' or decision latitude 3) 1 en 2 are well but the employee himself cannot see and use the decision latitude and autonomy that is there. Stress management programms or other interventions are seldom targeted as a result of a thorough (organisational) diagnostic proces. Most of the time interventions are mainly indicated by the specific orientation of the provider and most of the interventions are entirely focused on the individual level. In this symposium we will present a study in which the explained variance on the different organisational levels will be presented. Besides that, we will present the present state of knowledge on the three levels of intervention: function redesign, supervisor focused interventions and individual focused interventions. Recent trends in workplace intervention include comprehensive and integrative approaches. An important element in these interventions is the participatory approach, which implies control and empowerment for those involved. Greater participation in the process was found to be associated with increased levels of job control and communication and consequently reduced symptoms and time loss at work. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, the effect of a participatory intervention for workplace improvement on workers' mental health and productivity was evaluated. Eleven assembly lines in a medium-sized company producing electrical devices were randomly allocated to six intervention and five control lines (47 and 50 workers, respectively). The team-based, problemsolving intervention was based on active employee involvement, shared work-related goals, and action planning to improve the work environment for stress reduction. The intervention focused on environment improvement or job redesign rather than behavioral change in symptoms of ill health. A participatory approach has several principles which include 1); to build on local practice (starting from real problems of the enterprise that exist at the site where employees work and need improvement), 2) to focus on achievements (good practices already available), 3) to link working conditions with other management goals (ie, productivity), 4) to encourage exchange of experience, 5) to promote employee involvement, and 6) to use learning-by-doing. General Health Questionnaire scores significantly deteriorated in the control lines, whereas the score remained at the same level in the intervention lines. Health and Work Performance Questionnaire scores increased in the intervention lines, but decreased in the control lines, yielding a significant intervention effect. The process evaluation revealed that job control was improved in some lines which was supposed to bring about beneficial effect. For example, in a line where a variety of small parts were dealt with and the tasks had not been standardized, the workers made themselves a plan and the small units they worked on were adjusted according to the specific task. The realization of workplace intervention requires the understanding and cooperation of employers or administrators, because these measures depend largely on organizational redesigns.