One potential explanation for this finding is that the discrepancy
between PE and WE facets of climate may create stress for the
worker, and thus predispose them to work-related pain. Organizational
climate theory states that climates arise from workers'
attempts to understand their work environments so that they can
determine what kinds of actions are rewarded and supported on
the job (Schneider and Reichers, 1983). This theory, together withour findings, suggests that climate perceptions are a frame of
reference for how to behave at work. It follows that employees who
perceive a positive ergonomics climate perceive that their actions
at work should be directed in such a way that accounts for maintaining
and improving their health and their work performance.
On the other hand, if employees perceive that one outcome is
favored over another, they perceive a poor ergonomics climate. This
discrepancy may induce work-related stress and create symptoms
of work-related pain. On one hand, companies that emphasize
facets of PE over WE indicate to workers that production is more
important than their well-being. This results in stress related to
getting the job done at the expense of their well-being. Alternatively,
companies that emphasize the WE facet of designing and
modifying work over the PE facet may send a message to workers
that ergonomic improvements are not relevant to their productivity.
This may cause stress if an improvement is seen as a threat to
productivity; for example, employees may resist a new tool or
process that reduces injury if they think it will cause them to work
more slowly and miss production targets. Although the ergonomic
improvements in this case are well-intentioned, they cannot reduce
or prevent pain if they are not adopted. In fact, they may create
additional stress due to role overload, or the perception of
competing demands (“use this less effective process, but produce
the same results”