The Effects of Ergonomics Training on the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Teleworkers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harrington SS ; Walker BL
• Description:
  PROBLEM: The rapid growth of teleworking has raised several social and legal issues regarding an employer's responsibility for the safety of an employee's home office. In this paper, researchers discuss the need for safety training for teleworkers and the effectiveness of a home office ergonomics training program. METHOD: Study participants (N = 50) were randomly assigned into a treatment or control group. The treatment group completed the ergonomics training and a pre- and posttest. The control group completed the pre- and posttests without training. RESULTS: The study demonstrated the need for teleworker ergonomics training. More than 85% of participants had not received teleworker training before, and 44% had experienced pain or discomfort while teleworking. Participants who completed the training significantly improved their scores on knowledge, attitude, and practices subtests. In a follow-up survey, participants indicated that they had made ergonomic changes to their offices based on the training. Several participants indicated that the pain or discomfort that they had been experiencing was eliminated or reduced as a result of the training. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Hazardous Substances Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Health-hazards Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Occupational-health-programs Occupational-safety-programs Risk-factors Training Work-environment
• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  13-22
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029091
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2004 Jan; 35(1):13-22
• Contact Point Address:
  Harrington Software Associates, Inc., 7431 Wilson Road, Warrenton, VA 20186-7464
• Email:
  Susan@hsainc.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Intervention Effectiveness Research
• Performing Organization:
  Harrington Software Associates, Inc., Warrenton, Virginia
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aa8dd4413b34d60cd9acbaf4be066a328e16d2fbd186a7689f4b4acfc85ec483ed5ebd7b0e50069a0b4ebec10a9884bf01cb892921b06682effcfe61813819f5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190155/cdc_190155_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.10 MB ]