Health Trak: a participatory model for intervention in construction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Buchholz B ; Garrett J ; Moir S
• Description:
  Construction workers are at great risk to injury, disability and early death as a result of exposure to health and safety hazards at work (Center to Protect Workers Rights, 1993). The broad goal of the proposed research project is to reduce the incidence and prevalence of injuries and illnesses to construction workers. The barriers to this objective are not primarily technological; but cultural and organizational. A wide range of possible interventions are available to be introduced at the industry, contractor and individual levels (Schneider, 1996), including: technological changes; improved personal protective equipment; and administrative reforms. The imminent question is not so much what to change, but how to change' and who will affect that change. Ringen el oz. (1995) cite several characteristics which make construction unique, including multiple employers, short-term employment and the ever-changing nature of the construction workplace and its hazards. In this study, rapid appraisal and participatory methods are combined in the design of "Health Trak" to address the uniqueness of construction. A compelling body of literature contends that successful introduction of ergonomics into the workplace is preconditioned on participation by the affected workers (e.g. Gjessing et al., 1994; Schurman et al., 1994). Rapid appraisal uses popular education and participatory techniques in an intensive, systematic and semi-structured method carried out by a team composed of outside researchers and a representative cross-section of the affected population to enter a research setting, do assessment, and introduce and evaluate interventions in the shortest feasible time. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Hazardous Substances Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction Construction-workers Exposure-levels Hazards Health-hazards Injuries Morbidity-rates Mortality-rates Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Risk-factors

  More +
• Publisher:
  Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  151-153
• Volume:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042860
• Citation:
  From Experience to Innovation. IEA'97, Vol. 6, Agriculture and Food Industry, Construction Work, Dental Work, Traffic Safety, Proceedings of the 13th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, Tampere, Finland, June 29-July 4, 1997. Seppala P, Luopajarvi T, Nygard H, Mattila M, eds. Helsinki, Finland: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 1997 Jun; 6:151-153
• Editor(s):
  Seppala P; Luopajarvi T; Nygard C-H; Mattila M
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19960930
• Source Full Name:
  From Experience to Innovation. IEA'97, Vol. 6, Agriculture and Food Industry, Construction Work, Dental Work, Traffic Safety, Proceedings of the 13th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, Tampere, Finland, June 29-July 4, 1997
• End Date:
  20000929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:50b5ce8c0b14513ef9ff709fce11f60a2cdca0e022312e58a1b67aac7c3cb4cbbf01f8bae0205571f4809f032ee13c47812c62c79eecd690c5d565d418f38021
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194945/cdc_194945_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.32 MB ]