An Investigation of Ergonomic Design and Productivity Improvements in Foodservice Production Tables+

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine if ergonomically designed worktables improve the productivity of workers in a foodservice establishment. A between‐groups experimental design was adopted to collect data. Analysis of the results provided strong support to the statement that ergonomic design contributes to an improvement of about 35% in productivity in a simple, repetitive task environment. Implications for managers are discussed.

Using Total Worker Health® Implementation Guidelines to Design an Organizational Intervention for Low-Wage Food Service Workers: The Workplace Organizational Health Study

“…Workers can slip, trip, and fall because of slick floors and clutter. They also suffer cuts from sharp objects and burns from exposure to hot stoves, ovens, cooking oils, and steam [27][28][29][30][31]. In parallel, employees also face organizational conditions and high psychosocial demands from responding to a fast-paced work environment, time pressures, and limited rest breaks from producing meals (e.g., breakfast and lunch) on a tight schedule and responding to catering requests [27,[30][31][32][33][34].…”

“…They also suffer cuts from sharp objects and burns from exposure to hot stoves, ovens, cooking oils, and steam [27][28][29][30][31]. In parallel, employees also face organizational conditions and high psychosocial demands from responding to a fast-paced work environment, time pressures, and limited rest breaks from producing meals (e.g., breakfast and lunch) on a tight schedule and responding to catering requests [27,[30][31][32][33][34]. These conditions may contribute to the fact that job separation is 75% higher among food service workers compared to the 2019 cross-industry average [35].…”

Testing middle range theories in realist evaluation: a case of a participatory organisational intervention

“…We conducted a proof-of-concept cluster randomised controlled trial, the Workplace Organisational Health Study, to test the feasibility and efficacy of a participatory organisational intervention to improve working conditions and safety, health, and wellbeing of low-wage food service workers (Sorensen et al, 2019). Food service workers are exposed to adverse working conditions that pose high levels of stress (Matsuzuki et al, 2013) and high risks of injury (Alamgir et al, 2007;Cann et al, 2008;Cocci et al, 2005). Organisational interventions focus on changing working conditions to improve workers' safety, health, and well-being, however, few have been evaluated and are available in the literature (Busch et al, 2017;Haukka et al, 2008Haukka et al, , 2010Nielsen et al, 2006;Siukola et al, 2011).…”

“…We conducted a proof-of-concept cluster randomised controlled trial, the Workplace Organisational Health Study, to test the feasibility and efficacy of a participatory organisational intervention to improve working conditions and safety, health, and wellbeing of low-wage food service workers (Sorensen et al, 2019). Food service workers are exposed to adverse working conditions that pose high levels of stress (Matsuzuki et al, 2013) and high risks of injury (Alamgir et al, 2007;Cann et al, 2008;Cocci et al, 2005).…”