Overview
Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety; Manager; Ergonomics; MSD
Timeline: 2010 - 2012
Researchers: Patrick Neumann (Principal Investigator, Ryerson University), Nancy Theberge (University of Waterloo), Shane Dixon (Ryerson University)
Funder: Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)
Project type: Seed grant
Sector/Workplace type: All
Theme:
Theme
5
Implementation
Background/rationale
Managers are key players in MSD prevention. The literature on occupational health and safety (OHS) and ergonomics both emphasize the importance of management support for the effectiveness of programs in each domain. There remains, however, virtually no research on the factors that condition management commitment to ergonomics issues in general and MSD prevention specifically.
Research question/objectives/methods
The specific goals were threefold:
- to conduct a pilot study of 7 OHS managers
- to use the pilot study to refine a qualitative interview guide
- to use the information gathered from the pilot interviews, in conjunction with peer-reviewed literature, to lay the ground work for a large grant application
Key findings
The interviews found the most common topics revolved around MSDs as a critical aspect of OHS companies as well as the work OHS managers do, the tactics they utilize, the goals they have, the relationships they share within the company and some of the facilitators and barriers of their job.
Implications for the prevention of MSDs
We developed greater insight into the working lives of OHS managers and to develop a well-crafted interview guide that will be utilized in our future research endeavours. We believe there is merit in investigating the work of OHS managers across sectors and that the findings of such research will lead to improved understanding of the dynamic nature of managers’ work, and ultimately to more effective actions aimed at reducing workers’ exposures to work-related injuries, such as MSDs.