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ISSN 1051-9815 (P)
ISSN 1875-9270 (E)
Impact Factor 2024: 1.7
WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation is an interdisciplinary, international journal which publishes high quality peer-reviewed manuscripts covering the entire scope of the occupation of work. The journal's subtitle has been deliberately laid out: The first goal is the prevention of illness, injury, and disability. When this goal is not achievable, the attention focuses on assessment to design client-centered intervention, rehabilitation, treatment, or controls that use scientific evidence to support best practice.
WORK occasionally publishes thematic issues, but in general, issues cover a wide range of topics such as ergonomic considerations with children, youth and students, the challenges facing an aging workforce, workplace violence, injury management, performing artists, ergonomic product evaluations, and the awareness of the political, cultural, and environmental determinants of health related to work.
Dr. Karen Jacobs, the founding editor, and her editorial board especially encourage the publication of research studies, clinical practice, case study reports, as well as personal narratives and critical reflections of lived work experiences (autoethnographic/autobiographic scholarship),
Sounding Board commentaries and
Speaking of Research articles which provide the foundation for better understanding research to facilitate knowledge dissemination.
Narrative Reflections on Occupational Transitions, a new column, is for persons who have successfully transitioned into, between, or out of occupations to tell their stories in a narrative form. With an internationally renowned editorial board,
WORK maintains high standards in the evaluation and publication of manuscripts. All manuscripts are reviewed expeditiously and published in a timely manner.
WORK prides itself on being an author-friendly journal.
WORK celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2015.
*WORK is affiliated with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT)* *WORK is endorsed by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA)* *WORK gives out the yearly Cheryl Bennett Best Paper Award*
Abstract: BACKGROUND: When an organization performs an integrated analysis of risks through its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, several steps are suggested to address the implications of the identified risks. Namely, the organization should make a detailed analysis of the monetary impact for the organization of each of the preventive measures considered. However, it is also important to perform an analysis of the impact of each measure on society (externalities). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to present a case study related to the application of the proposed economic evaluation methodology. METHODS: An…analysis of the work accidents in a hospital has been made. Three of the major types of accidents have been selected: needle stings, falls and excessive strain. Following the risk assessment, some preventive measures have been designed. Subsequently, the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) of these measures has been calculated, both in financial terms (from the organization's perspective) and in economic terms (including the benefits for the worker and for the Society). RESULTS: While the financial ratio is only advantageous in some cases, when the externalities are taken into account, the B/C ratio increases significantly. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to consider external benefits to make decisions concerning the implementation of preventive measures in Occupational Health and Safety projects.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Beyond workload and specific environmental factors, flight attendants can be exposed to irregular working hours, conflicting with their circadian rhythms and having a negative impact in sleep, fatigue, health, social and family life, and performance which is critical to both safety and security in flight operations. OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the irregular schedules of cabin crew as a trigger of fatigue symptoms in a wet lease Portuguese airline. The aim was to analyze: what are the requirements of the cabin crew work; whether the schedules being observed and effective resting timeouts are triggering factors of…fatigue; and the existence of fatigue symptoms in the cabin crew. METHODS: A questionnaire has been adapted and applied to a sample of 73 cabin crew-members (representing 61.9% of the population), 39 females and 34 males, with an average age of 27.68 ± 4.27 years. RESULTS: Our data indicate the presence of fatigue and corresponding health symptoms among the airline cabin crew, despite of the sample favorable characteristics. Senior workers and women are more affected. CONCLUSIONS: Countermeasures are required. Recommendations can be made regarding the fatigue risk management, including work organization, education and awareness training programmes and specific countermeasures.
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Keywords: Aviation, health, seniority, working time
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Air transportation of personnel to offshore oil platforms is one of the major hazards of this kind of endeavor. Pilot performance is a key factor in the safety of the transportation system. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to identify the ergonomic factors present in pilots' activities that may in some way compromise or enhance their performance, the constraints and affordances which they are subject to; and where possible to link these to their associated risk factors METHODS: Methodology adopted in this project studies work in its context. It is a merging of Activity Analysis…(Guerin et al. 2001) of European tradition with Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA - www.ctaresource.com) articulated with the recent approaches to cognitive systems engineering developed by Professors David Woods and Erik Hollnagel. Fifty-five hours of field interviews provided the input for analysis. RESULTS: Sixteen ergonomic constraints were identified, some cognitive, some physical, all considered relevant by the research subjects and expert advisers CONCLUSIONS: Although the safety record of the personnel transportation system studied is considered acceptable, there is low hanging fruit to be picked which can help improve the system's safety.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: At a large chemical park maintenance is contracted by the major companies operating the plants to many small firms. The cultural and psychological isolation of contractor workers was recognized a root cause of severe accidents in the recent years. That problem is common in chemical industry. OBJECTIVE: The knowledge sharing has been assumed a good key to involve contractors and sub contractors in safety culture and contributing to injuries prevention. The selection of personal protective equipment PPE for the maintenance works has been taken as benchmark to demonstrate the adequateness of the proposed approach.…METHOD: To support plant operators, contractors and subcontractors in PPE discussion, a method has been developed. Its core is a knowledge-base, organized in an Ontology, as suitable for inferring decisions. By means of this tool all stakeholders have merged experience and information and find out the right PPE, to be provided, with adequate training and information package. RESULTS: PPE selection requires sound competencies about process and environmental hazards, including major accident , preventive and protective measures, maintenance activities. These pieces of knowledge previously fragmented among plant operators and contractors, have to be pooled, and used to find out the adequate PPE for a number of maintenance works. CONCLUSIONS: The PPE selection is per se important, but it is also a good chance to break the contractors' isolation and involve them in safety objectives. Thus by pooling experience and practical knowledge, the common understanding of safety issues has been strengthened.
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Keywords: Personal protection equipment, ontology, cognitive ergonomics
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The construction industry is one of the sectors with the highest accident rates and the most serious accidents. A multi-agent safety response approach allows a useful diagnostic tool in order to understand factors affecting risk and accidents. The special features of the construction sector can influence the relationships among safety responses along the model of safety influences. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to test a model explaining risk and work-related accidents in the construction industry as a result of the safety responses of the organization, the supervisors, the co-workers and the worker.…METHODS: Sample: 374 construction employees belonging to 64 small Spanish construction companies working for two main companies participated in the study. Instruments: Safety responses were measured using a 45-item Likert-type questionnaire. Methodology: The structure of the measure was analyzed using factor analysis and the model of effects was tested using a structural equation model. RESULTS: Factor analysis clearly identifies the multi-agent safety dimensions hypothesized. The proposed safety response model of work-related accidents, involving construction specific results, showed a good fit. CONCLUSIONS: The multi-agent safety response approach to safety climate is a useful framework for the assessment of organizational and behavioral risks in construction.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Furniture companies can analyze their safety status using quantitative measures. However, the data needed are not always available and the number of accidents is under-reported. Safety climate scales may be an alternative. However, there are no validated Portuguese scales that account for the specific attributes of the furniture sector. OBJECTIVE: The current study aims to develop and validate an instrument that uses a multilevel structure to measure the safety climate of the Portuguese furniture industry. METHODS: The Safety Climate in Wood Industries (SCWI) model was developed and applied to the safety climate analysis…using three different scales: organizational, group and individual. A multilevel exploratory factor analysis was performed to analyze the factorial structure. The studied companies' safety conditions were also analyzed. RESULTS: Different factorial structures were found between and within levels. In general, the results show the presence of a group-level safety climate. The scores of safety climates are directly and positively related to companies' safety conditions; the organizational scale is the one that best reflects the actual safety conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The SCWI instrument allows for the identification of different safety climates in groups that comprise the same furniture company and it seems to reflect those groups' safety conditions. The study also demonstrates the need for a multilevel analysis of the studied instrument.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: This study investigated the impact of workload demands on perceived job risk using the Job Demand-Control model as a research framework. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to test the hypothesis that employee control over work scheduling and overtime would moderate the relationship between workload demands and perceived job risk. METHOD: Ninety-six participants working in a variety of industries completed measures of workload demands, and of control over work scheduling and overtime, and a measure of perceived job risk. RESULTS: Workload demands predicted higher perceptions of job risk. However, the results also…suggest that control over overtime moderated this relationship, where those with the combination of high workload demands and low control over overtime reported higher levels of perceived risk. The results indicate that the JDC model is applicable to safety research. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that employee control over workload demands is an important variable to consider in terms of managing workplace safety. The present study also points to important areas for future research to explore in order to further understand the connection between demands and safety.
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Keywords: Occupational safety, perceived job risk, job demands, control over work scheduling and overtime
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Most developed countries have considered population ageing as one of the economic challenges that need to be overcome. Managing ageing has led to consideration of a number of policies where it is essential to increase the employment rate for older workers. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the working conditions which tend to be perceived as hindering continuity in the workplace at the age of 60. PARTICIPANTS: 1234 workers from different sectors and socio-professional categories (52% men and 48% women; 64.5% younger than 45 years old). METHODS: A quantitative overview was…adopted with the use of logistic regression models. The INSAT was used (Work and Health Questionnaire). RESULTS: Apart from factors of great physical constraint, other less visible aspects play a role in the idea of workers not being able to continue to work by the age of 60, namely factors linked to work organizational options and relationships with others. CONCLUSIONS: Working conditions have a great influence in the idea of inability to perform the same type of work at 60. This notion does not only apply to older workers. In fact, even younger workers under certain working conditions hold the same view, thus raising social concerns that should be taken into account by public policies.
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Keywords: Ageing in and due to work, organization and working conditions, workers' perspective, work constraints, early-retirement
Abstract: BACKGROUND: In many enterprises the semi-quantitative approach turns out to be the available and most suitable technique to perform a risk assessment. Despite its advantages, we cannot disregard the existing gap in terms of validation of this type of applications. OBJECTIVE: This paper reports a study about risk assessments' reliability, namely both inter-coder (reproducibility) and intra-coder (stability) reliability of the semi-quantitative approach. METHODS: This study comprised 4 fundamental stages. Data collection relied on free and systematized observations and made use of video recording, documental research, analysis grids and questionnaires specifically developed for this purpose.…A set of different analysts were asked to use four semi-quantitative risk assessment methods (in two different moments) to estimate and assess six risks identified in two tasks accomplished to produce Airbags. The Krippendorff's Alpha Coefficient (α K ) was the agreement measure selected to evaluate both inter-coder and intra-coder consensus. RESULTS: The preliminary results revealed a general low concordance (α K < 0.6) for both reliability evaluations. Apparently there are no relevant differences between the risk assessment results obtained by individuals with different levels of experience or expertise. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the use of the semi-quantitative approach should be done with caution.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: The hospital environment has many occupational health risks that predispose healthcare workers to various kinds of work accidents. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare different methods for work accidents investigation and to verify their suitability in hospital environment. METHODS: For this purpose, we selected three types of accidents that were related with needle stick, worker fall and inadequate effort/movement during the mobilization of patients. A total of thirty accidents were analysed with six different work accidents investigation methods. RESULTS: The results showed that organizational factors were the group of causes which…had the greatest impact in the three types of work accidents. CONCLUSIONS: The methods selected to be compared in this paper are applicable and appropriate for the work accidents investigation in hospitals. However, the Registration, Research and Analysis of Work Accidents method (RIAAT) showed to be an optimal technique to use in this context.
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