Using guidelines for planning and implementing an integrated intervention for food service workers.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Nagler E
• Description:
  Statement of the Problem Low-wage work, defined as work that earns two-thirds or less of the national median gross hourly earnings, is on the rise in many countries, including the US. Low-wage jobs are especially common in the food service industry, which employs approximately 9.5 million workers. These workers include a large number of immigrants, women, young workers, and those with low levels of education. These positions are often characterized by job insecurity, uncertain work hours, physical work demands, repetitive work, and low job decision latitude and autonomy. There are few studies of interventions to improve the working lives of these low-wage workers. In response, this paper presents how the Harvard Center Implementation Guidelines (Guidelines) were used to develop and implement an integrated intervention to improve the health, safety and well-being of front-line food service workers. The intervention is part of the Workplace Organization Health Study, which is developing practical, sustainable strategies to modify the work organization to improve outcomes related to musculoskeletal disorders, worker well-being and turnover intention. The intervention was developed with a multinational food service company and is being conducted in five business and industry employers in the Greater Boston area. Procedures We conducted formative research to better understand the work context of food service workers by conducting: 1) a review of relevant literature; (2) on-site non-participant observations; (3) key informant interviews with general and district-level managers; and (4) focus groups with front-line employees. The formative research defined what our outcomes and working conditions of interest would be and identified implementation strategies used in these worksites. Using our qualitative findings, we followed three chapters from the Guidelines to plan, develop and implement the intervention in collaboration with our industry partner: Leadership and Collaboration; Integrated Planning; and Integrated Implementation. Our guiding principles throughout planning and implementation included: leadership commitment, employee participation, communication between the different levels of management and employees, and fit-making sure what was developed was appropriate for the sites. Analyses We analyzed the qualitative data using content analysis in stages. Interviews and focus groups were tape recorded, transcribed and entered into N'Vivo software to facilitate data organization. The Harvard Center/industry partner team synthesized the data and agreed upon the major themes that would guide our intervention planning. Throughout data analysis and intervention development, our research team met regularly (in person and by phone) to interpret the data and determine how it would be used to inform the intervention, according to the steps laid out in the Guidelines. Results We designed a 13-month intervention to address three working conditions identified by the formative research: safety and ergonomics; work intensity; and job enrichment. The intervention was recently launched and is implemented at two levels: A Coordinating Committee - was established with the aim of engaging stakeholders at the district level and coordinating efforts with general managers across the five participating worksites Employees and the general manager at each site - are responsible for operationalizing what the working conditions look like at their site, brainstorming solutions to address the root causes of these conditions, prioritizing actions to take, and developing action plans for each working condition A research team member works closely with the manager and employees at each site to coach them through the process of developing the intervention at their site - from root cause identification through implementation. Results will detail how we garnered and maintained leadership support throughout the intervention planning process. They will also illustrate creative ways of engaging employee participation in the process, especially in a time-constrained environment. By the time of the conference, we will be able to present the full implementation plan. Practical Implications The Guidelines provided a step-by-step approach to identify working conditions and for each site to devise an action plan to address them. Guidance is also provided for worksites to ensure employees at multiple levels are engaged in the process, particularly front-line workers. We also illustrate how leaders can act to modify the work organization through policies and procedures in support of the health, safety and well-being of low-wage employees. Conclusions Developing interventions for low-wage employees that improve their working conditions is critical to improve their health, safety and well-being. This wholistic process outlined in the Guidelines can be used by other worksites to plan and implement interventions to benefit employee and organizational outcomes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Food Handling Food Industry Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  TWH; Total Worker Health; Worker safety; Food services; Intervention effectiveness; Musculoskeletal disorders; MSD; Qualitative methods; Work organization
• Publisher:
  American Psychological Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  223-224
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065681
• Citation:
  Work, Stress and Health 2019, November 6-9, 2019, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2019 Nov; :223-224
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070901
• Source Full Name:
  Work, Stress and Health 2019, November 6-9, 2019, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9b079240038c9cf2ea12d49b80b2ca31b1ec022d334b6c35eb0e975b3730e2d378241c56d65f7a7af8fd654c953019b334dd66f266a37f86b28db815ff2c6d0d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248709/cdc_248709_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 113.15 KB ]