Approaches to Occupational Health Based on Participatory Methodology in Small Workplaces

Abstract

An intervention based on the methodology developed by the International Labour Office, the Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) was carried out to improve work condition of small-scale enterprises and the informal sector in the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. Through the evaluation of the efficacy of the approaches based on participatory methodology, it is concluded that the method is an efficient measure to improve work condition in small workplaces. It is also pointed out that the activities of supporting experts such as introduction of the methodology and evaluation of the activity are necessary. The important roles of the experts are 1) to encourage managers and workers to sustain the activities for work improvement, 2) to analyse the effectiveness and problems of the implemented improvements, 3) to give appropriate suggestions for the further improvement, and 4) to get materials for demonstrating the effectiveness of WISE activities on improving work conditions and productivity to other managers and workers who have not participated in the activity.

Systematic Work Environment Management: Experiences from Implementation in Swedish Small-scale Enterprises

“…A review by Kogi points out the importance of locally tailored tools and low-cost solutions to improve work environment 9) . Itani et al revealed the necessity of support from experts when introducing and evaluating activities aimed to improve conditions at work 10) .…”

Low-Cost Improvements for Reducing Multifaceted Work-Related Risks and Preventing Stress at Work

“…• Participatory action-oriented programs promoted by the International Labour Office (ILO), applying WISE (work improvement in small enterprises) methods, organized through occupational safety and health projects by trainers trained in the methods [6,16,[29][30][31][32]]. …”

“…Recent studies on the promotion of participatory programs in occupational safety, health and ergonomics clearly indicate that voluntary workplace improvements in multiple technical areas can lead to the actual reduction of work-related risks in various work situations [3,4,[10][11][12][13]. It is important to know how the application of participatory methods can help workers and managers undertake the risk-reducing work re-design in these different situations including small-scale workplaces [14][15][16][17][18][19]. It is also important to know types of support appropriate for improving working conditions particularly in small-scale workplaces despite their many constraints [6,20,21].…”

Impact of ISO/TS 20646-1 `Ergonomic Procedures for the Improvement of Local Muscular Workloads' on Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…The ISO/TS provides practical procedures for preventing WMSDs through the reduction of local muscular workloads (LMWLs) at workplaces. The ISO/TS is based on participatory approaches taken in the practical training programs such as the WISE (Work Improvement in Small Enterprises) and the POSITIVE (Participation Oriented Safety Improvement by Trade Union InitiatiVE) which are widely applied in many countries [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . One of the features those approaches have in common is to utilize ergonomic tools such as action-oriented checklists and group work dynamics for finding and prioritizing points to be improved and planning immediate preventive action.…”