Impact of Added Rest Breaks on the Productivity and Well Being of Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dababneh AJ ; Shell RL ; Swanson, Naomi G.
• Description:
  The impact of frequent short rest breaks on the productivity and well being of a group of 30 workers in a meat-processing plant was studied. Two rest break schedules were tested, both of which provided 36 min of extra break time over the regular break schedule (30-min lunch and two 15-min breaks). In the first experimental rest break schedule, workers were given 12 3-min breaks evenly distributed over the workday (3-min break for every 27 min of work). In the second schedule, workers were given four 9-min breaks evenly distributed over the workday (9-min break every 51 min of work). Outcome measures included production rate and discomfort and stress ratings. Results showed that neither of the two experimental rest break schedules had a negative effect on production, and the 9-min break schedule improved discomfort ratings for the lower extremities. The workers in the study mostly preferred the 9-min rest break schedule, indicating that workers in general might not as readily accept fragmentation of break time into short, frequent breaks. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Food-Processing Industry Food Handling Food Industry Mental Health Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Rest Breaks Extremities Food-handlers Food-processing-workers Meat-handlers Meat-packing-industry Psychological-effects Psychological-reactions Rest-periods Stress Work-environment Work-intervals Work-practices Workers Workplace-studies

  More +
• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  164-174
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021708
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2001 Feb; 44(2):164-174
• Email:
  awwad@ti.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6c7011fa905f56e35dde22b9782dd5ddef1897ba0bf6ea763a402cfe19ce1a7a57387f159fd12b91271cf7d8088f43b96dbac6d029496b1c2e06b3ca9da93757
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/198823/cdc_198823_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 380.42 KB ]