Impact of a worker notification program: Assessment of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes

Abstract

Background Hundreds of worker noti®cation programs are conducted each year to communicate occupational risks to workers. However, few attempts have been made to evaluate their effectiveness and few have described how communication theories are applied in developing noti®cation messages. We developed and assessed the effectiveness of a worker noti®cation program at a beryllium machining plant. Methods We compared self-protective attitudinal and behavioral responses among workers in two plants: (1) an intervention plant that received beryllium risk noti®cation and (2) a matched control plant that did not receive noti®cation. Results Workers receiving noti®cation reported signi®cantly stronger perceptions of threat and ef®cacy, more positive attitudes toward safety practices, and engaged in more protective behaviors than the workers at the control plant. Conclusions This study demonstrates the utility of applying communication theories in the development of noti®cation messages and the results suggest that mass presentations may be just as effective, if not more so, than one-on-one noti®cations.

Factors associated with cancer distress in the Asbestos Post‐Exposure Survey (APEXS)

“…Ignorance of health status in relation to asbestos exposure is associated with a significantly elevated OR for abnormal PCQ of 3.9 [2.7-5.6]. This finding suggests that medical surveys might enhance psychological well-being in subjects undergoing screening programs, as medical surveillance has been shown to reduce uncertainty about health status and increase a sense of control [Meyerowitz, 1989;Tan-Wilhelm et al, 2000]. Conversely, self-reporting of an asbestos-related disease was associated with very high distress ).…”

Evaluating The Swedish Approach to Motivating Improved Work Safety Conditions on Farms: Insights from Fear Appeals and the Extended Parallel Processing Model

“…35 In Sweden, the program Safe Farmers' Common Sense, the largest safety intervention ever in Sweden, was fronted by a farmer who had lost his leg, as a telling example of what can happen on the farm. 6 A number of previous studies have investigated campaigns and interventions aimed at reducing occupational injuries through fear, [36][37][38][39] but their focus has not been on identifying the range of fear appeals employed in practice. Thus, we know very little about how farm work safety interventions try to stimulate fear using threats other than personal death and injury.…”

Strategies for effective management of health and safety in confined site construction

“…This process is aided through developing a safety culture through communication on-site (Hofmann & Stetzer 1996) and is fostered with the introduction and utilisation of toolbox talks, where site personnel are encouraged to discuss the various issues identified among themselves and also with site management. Where both lateral and vertical communication is evident throughout the organisational structure, there is a propensity for reduced incidents and accidents through effective identification, discussion and implementation of effective protocol, to assist in the mitigation of accidents on-site (Harper et al 1997;Tan-Wilhelm, et al 2000). Therefore, it is appropriate to conclude that communication, particularly with regards confined site construction, is an effective strategy, predominantly where the lines of communication are clear and direct, resulting in increased management intervention to reduce accidents and incidents on-site.…”