Quick Links
Customer Centres
Assessing Attitudes, Beliefs and Readiness for MSI Prevention in the Construction Industry
RS2005-SC08
Final Report Date: October 2007
| Principal Investigator: | Aleck Ostry (University of Victoria) |
| Co-investigator: | Judy Village (University of British Columbia) |
For more information about this project, please contact Dr. Aleck Ostry.
Issue
The road building sector of the construction industry has high rates of injuries most of which are musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs), also known as sprains and strains. This research was designed to develop a stage of change assessment tool to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about and readiness for MSI prevention in this sector, and recommend strategies for improving MSI prevention based on the findings.
Key findings
- A stage of change tool was developed that can be used to examine and compare worker and supervisor attitudes and beliefs about MSI prevention.
- In the participating companies:
- Workers were more likely than supervisors to be taking action to prevent MSIs, while supervisors were more likely to be contemplating such action.
- The workers most likely to be taking action were older, those experiencing current pain, and with more physically demanding jobs.
- The worker occupations most likely to be taking action were maintenance workers and general labourers.
- Supervisors were less likely than workers to be aware of the risk of MSIs, the impact of MSI risk on morale, and the impact MSIs have on workers’ home activities.
- Workers felt that there are too few resources to control MSIs and perceived less support for reporting unsafe conditions, less management support, and less involvement in health and safety compared to supervisors.
- The most common action steps to reduce MSIs were: getting help with lifting, doing stretching exercises, and taking extra care at work. Few actions involved engineering changes to equipment, tools, or work procedures.
- The researchers recommend improving MSI prevention in the road building sector through: increased support, awareness, training, and involvement in MSI prevention for supervisors; greater emphasis on MSI prevention; and outside assistance in various aspects of MSI prevention from WorksafeBC, the B.C. Construction Safety Network, industries, trade schools, and other organizations.
Objectives
- To investigate knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about and readiness for MSI prevention in the road building sector among both workers and supervisors
- To develop a “stage of change” assessment tool that can be used in other industrial sectors
- To recommend strategies to help change knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about and readiness for MSI prevention in the road building sector
Method
Fifteen companies participated in the research (3 large, 5 medium, and 7 small). These companies were invited on behalf of the research team by the B.C. Construction Safety Network, which provided assistance on many aspects of the project, including road building safety statistics, research design, and data collection.
A questionnaire to examine worker and supervisor readiness for MSI prevention was developed based on a literature review, other related survey instruments, and focus groups with road building personnel in participating companies. The questionnaire included questions in four areas:
- demographic information
- pain and discomfort
- stage of change and action taken
- items related to facilitators, barriers to change, and safety culture
The questionnaires were pilot tested with supervisors and workers. Focus groups were conducted to discuss the pilot questionnaire and receive feedback from pilot participants.
A total of 1495 worker questionnaires and 254 supervisor questionnaires were distributed in the 15 participating road building companies. Response rates were 40% (590 questionnaires) for workers and 52.4% (254 questionnaires) for supervisors.
Questionnaire data were examined using descriptive and statistical analysis. Physical demand analysis data for different occupations provided by the B.C. Construction Safety Network were used to estimate physical demands for worker participants.
For interested companies, focus groups were held to present and discuss confidential, company-level analysis of the results.
Results
- A stage of change tool was developed and tested in this study. It is useful for demonstrating key attitudes and beliefs about MSI prevention and can identify differences in these between workers and supervisors.
- The findings of the study show that in the participating road building companies:
- Workers were more likely to be taking action to reduce MSIs than supervisors.
- Those experiencing current pain were more likely to be taking action and more physically demanding jobs.
- Older workers and supervisors were less likely to be taking action to reduce MSIs than younger ones.
- The most comment action steps to reduce MSIs were: getting help with lifting, doing stretching exercises, and taking extra care at work. Few actions involved engineering changes to equipment, tools, or work procedures.
- The occupations most likely to be taking steps to reduce injury were maintenance workers and general labourers.
- Supervisors were more likely to believe there is a positive cost-benefit associated with taking action to reduce MSIs, that health and safety is given a high priority, that communication is good, and that production targets can be met while working safely. However, supervisors were less likely than workers to be aware of the risk of MSIs, the impact of MSI risk on morale, and the impact MSIs have on workers’ home activities.
- Workers felt that there are too few resources to control MSIs and that they really can’t be controlled. Workers perceive less of a supportive environment to report unsafe conditions, less management support, and less involvement in health and safety.
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the researchers recommend:
- Increased support, awareness, training and involvement in MSI prevention for supervisors in the road building sector, including:
- Direct involvement in health and safety programs, in communicating and supporting MSI prevention, and in conducting crew talks for workers
- More MSI prevention resources for supervisors, such as crew talk materials
- Visible support and encouragement from senior management for supervisors with respect to health and safety
- A shift in emphasis from traumatic injuries to MSI prevention in the road building sector
- Outside assistance in MSI prevention from organizations such as WorkSafeBC, the Construction Safety Network, and industry and trade schools, which would include:
- Identification of MSI risks
- Development of ongoing MSI prevention programs
- Investigation of and information about new equipment, tools and work procedures to reduce MSI risk
- Support for networking and communication of ideas between companies
- Inclusion of MSI prevention in apprenticeship and training program curricula
Future directions
The researchers recommend that the stage of change assessment tool be tested in other industrial sectors.
Publications and conference presentations
Presentation: Village J, Ostry A. Predictors for Taking Action to Reduce Musculoskeletal Injuries in Road Building Construction. Canadian Association for Work and Health (CARWH) Conference, Montreal, June 15-16, 2008.
Presentation: Construction Safety Network. July 12, 2007.
Presentation: One-hour workshop on results of the study and the stage of change tool. B.C. Association of Municipalities Health & Safety Conference in Penticton, B.C. September 17, 2007.
Presentation: the International PREMUS conference (Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders) in Boston. August 27-30, 2007.