2.2. Procedure
All members of the workgroups completed an individual, short
questionnaire to identify their ‘Stage of Change’. Each of the
participating companies was subsequently visited by the same
ergonomist in a 2e3 h site visit. Based on direct observation, and
informal discussions with employees, a report was prepared for the
company managers detailing the observations made and suggested
improvements/solutions.
Approximately equal numbers of workgroups were then
randomly assigned to either the “standard” or “tailored” arm of the
study. Randomisation was conducted by an independent researcher
using a randomising function in Microsoft Excel.
At the time of the worksite visit and the development of the
recommendations both the ergonomist and company managers
were blind to the allocation of each workgroup. During the
implementation of the intervention, however, blinding was not
possible.
Those organisations in the “standard” group received a report
with suggested control measures which were based on ergonomics
principles. Organisations in the “tailored” group received a
report with suggested control measures, also based on ergonomics
principles, but prioritised according to the workgroup SOC profile.
Where the SOC differed within a workgroup the recommended
changes took account of the distribution of the workers’ identified
stage and included recommendations relevant to each stage present
in the workgroup. These were discussed at the follow-up visit
in the context of the SOC profile of the workgroup. The managers
to whom the recommendations were provided were then
responsible for the selection and implementation of the changes.
This allowed for the provision of intervention advice at the
workgroup level, with the additional benefit of preserving individual
confidentiality.
A report template was developed and standardised for both the
standard and tailored recommendations. These were submitted for
peer review by an academic with expertise in the development of
ergonomics recommendations and subsequently modified, based
on feedback received, prior to their use. The following format was
used for each report:
Background Information - This included the demographics of
those staff who were interviewed and any other sources of information
which were used in the development of the recommended
changes (e.g. company job dictionaries).
Tasks observed - This comprised a list of tasks which were
directly observed and those which were simulated.
Observations and Recommendations - These were subdivided into
categories of known risk factors for musculoskeletal injury
(Bernard, 1997) e i.e. postures, forces, repetitive movement, work
organisation, the work environment and any other relevant
observations.
Recommendations - These included both higher order (i.e. the
introduction of engineering solutions to eliminate the risks
observed) and lower order control measures (i.e. the introduction
of administrative changes to reduce workplace exposure when
elimination was not possible).
Standard Guidance Material e Copies of guidance material
published by the State Regulatory Authority relevant to any of the
recommendations made was included.
Those organisations in the tailored intervention group also
received explanatory notes on the SOC rationale and the workgroup
SOC distribution as justification for the “tailored” recommendations.
Due to the complexity of the SOC information, a follow-up
visit to company managers responsible for the implementation of
tailored advice was undertaken in order to explain the rationale for
the SOC approach.
All managers (tailored and standard) were interviewed 12
months later to discuss the following issues (as piloted with a nonstudy
workplace manager