Worksite Environment Research Articles

Relationship between subjectively perceived working conditions and alcohol consumption: results of the TACOS study

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between subjectively perceived working conditions and alcohol consumption based on a stress coping model. The investigation is part of the study 'Transitions in Alcohol Consumption and Smoking' (TACOS), a representative general population survey in a Northern German region. The current evaluation includes 2,471 working individuals, aged 18-64 years. Data with regard to alcohol consumption were collected via the 'Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview' (M-CIDI). The three scales of the 'Normative and Subjective Assessment of working analysis' (NUSA) Contents of work, Physical work conditions and Intensity of work gathered differentiated information on subjectively perceived working conditions. The ANOVA results show that alcohol consumption does not account for variance in the scales of subjective working conditions. Further correlation and regression analyses do not reveal a relationship between the scales of NUSA and the quantity of drinking.A substantial relationship between subjectively perceived working conditions and moderate alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence could not be established. The reported results appear to indicate complex and multifactorial associations between subjectively perceived working conditions and alcohol consumption. Implications for alcohol prevention in worksite environments are discussed.

Work site, physician's office, or medical university clinic: The effect of setting on success in a multidisciplinary weight-loss program

The effect of treatment setting on success in a 16-week multidisciplinary cognitive–behavioral weight-management program was examined. Twenty-seven women and six men with an average initial weight of 198.13 lb (±39.10) participated in the program at a medical university (MU), their primary care physician's office (PCP), or their work site (WS). The average amount of weight lost, body mass index (BMI) decrement, and number of sessions attended were compared as measures of success between programs. Results supported the hypothesis that treatment setting affects program success [ F(6,40)=0.54, P<.05]. WS was more effective than PCP [Wilk's lambda=0.59, P<.05] in promoting weight loss [ F(1,2)=5.22, P<.05]. Results indicate that the ongoing contingencies in the WS environment promote weight loss through more consistent adherence to suggested weight-loss strategies.

Can Posters Prompt Stair Use in a Worksite Environment?

Up to a third of the population in industrialised countries is completely sedentary, and, as a consequence, runs a two-fold risk of increased mortality . Encouraging the sedentary to be more active is, therefore, a public health priority. In light of evidence of an inverse gradient of risk between clinical disease and physical activity, such that some activity is better than none, exercise recommendations have been expanded to include the accumulation of lifestyle activities, such as walking and stair-climbing. Opportunities for stair-climbing are free and readily available to most population groups. Regular stairclimbing also has well documented health dividends such as increased fitness and strength, weight loss, improved lipid profiles and reduced risk of osteoporosis. Research in shopping centres and train stations has shown that poster prompts, placed at the choice point between adjacent escalators and stairs, can significantly increase stair use. Health promoters have, therefore, championed the use of such posters in public places, including worksites. Worksites have been targeted as an important setting for physical activity interventions as most adults spend half their waking hours at their workplace. In a recent review, however, the authors concluded that typical worksite interventions did not increase physical activity levels and that the scientific evaluation of such programmes was poor. While Knadler and Rogers reported that a stair-climbing contest, with incentives and cues, encouraged stair-climbing in a worksite, baseline stair use was not reported. Hence, there has been no formal evaluation of the effectiveness of simple poster prompts in a worksite. This study assessed the effectiveness of a poster prompt to increase stair use in two workplaces. Methods

Can community organization strategies be used to implement smoking and dietary changes in a rural manufacturing work site?

A one-year intervention project was developed and implemented to demonstrate the utility of using community organization methods to mobilize a rural, predominantly minority work site community toward smoking and dietary change. This intervention for smoking and dietary change was conducted in a rural work site (n = 235 at baseline) and guided by employees. It involved activities to change the work site environment and the behaviors of individuals. A community advisory board (n = 15) made up of members of the work site was established, and it met monthly with members from the research team to design and implement nine cancer prevention activities that were targeted to the needs of this community. Activities and information were disseminated to the employees during a nine-month period. Surveys were administered prior to and following the delivery of the intervention. This project was successful in engaging a rural manufacturing work site community in thinking about cancer prevention strategies. Results of this intervention demonstrated significant increases in numbers of smoking cessation attempts, reported fruit and vegetable consumption, self-efficacy for dietary change and perceived risk for cancer. Work site social norms changed as evidenced by employee perceptions of co-worker support of dietary and smoking change (all ts > 1.95, all Ps < 0.05). Other results with marginal statistical significance (P < .015) but potentially useful for future studies include increased intentions to reduce the fat in the diet. In light of the low-intensity and time-limited nature of this community organization intervention, the observed changes in dietary and smoking behaviors are encouraging and support the use of these strategies in rural, culturally diverse work sites.

Stages of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy across four health behaviors in a worksite environment.

This study examined differences in decisional balance and self-efficacy scores across the five stages of change and across four health behaviors (exercise, protection from sun exposure, smoking, and dietary fat consumption), and explored the relationship between the frequency of subjects at each stage across four health behaviors. Data for this study were collected as part of a health behavior survey of employees. The study was conducted in a municipal government worksite in Arizona. A total of 393 employees completed the survey. The sample was predominantly white (84.9%) and male (64.4%), with an average age of 42.2 years and a median annual household income of between $40,000 and $59,999. Previously validated questions to measure stages of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy were administered, along with questions about demographic variables. Significant differences were found for decisional balance and self-efficacy scores across the five stages of change, but they were not significantly different between the four health behaviors. A minority of subjects (18.6%) were in the same stage of change for all four health behaviors. This study provides preliminary evidence that there is considerable stage specificity across multiple health behaviors. Because employees at each stage of change possess differences in terms of their pros, cons, and self-efficacy, wellness programs need to focus on stage-specific interventions.

Electromagnetic interference from welding and motors on implantable cardioverter-defibrillators as tested in the electrically hostile work site

This study was designed to determine the susceptibility of an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator to electromagnetic interference in an electrically hostile work site environment, with the ultimate goal of allowing the patient to return to work. Normal operation of an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator depends on reliable sensing of the heart's electrical activity. Consequently, there is concern that external electromagnetic interference from external sources in the work place, especially welding equipment or motor-generator systems, may be sensed and produce inappropriate shocks or abnormal reed switch operation, temporarily suspending detection of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. The effects of electromagnetic interference on the operation of one type of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (Medtronic models 7217 and 7219) was measured by using internal event counter monitoring in 10 patients operating arc welders at up to 900 A or working near 200-hp motors and 1 patient close to a locomotive starter drawing up to 400 A. The electromagnetic interference produced two sources of potential interference on the sensing circuit or reed switch operation, respectively: 1) electrical fields with measured frequencies up to 50 MHz produced by the high currents during welding electrode activation, and 2) magnetic fields produced by the current in the welding electrode and cable. The defibrillator sensitivity was programmed to the highest (most sensitive) value: 0.15 mV (model 7219) or 0.3 mV (model 7217). The ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation therapies were temporarily turned off but the detection circuits left on. None of the implanted defibrillators tested were affected by oversensing of the electric field as verified by telemetry from the detection circuits. The magnetic field from 225-A welding current produced a flux density of 1.2 G; this density was not adequate to close the reed switch, which requires approximately 10 G. Our testing at the work site revealed no electrical interference with this type of defibrillator. Patients were allowed to return to work. The following precautions should be observed by the patient: 1) maintain a minimal distance of 2 ft (61 cm) from the welding arc and cables or large motors, 2) do not exceed tested currents with the welding equipment, 3) wear insulated gloves while operating electrical equipment, 4) verify that electrical equipment is properly grounded, and 5) stop welding and leave the work area immediately if a therapy is delivered or a feeling of lightheadedness is experienced.

The worksite environment as a cue to smoking reduction

The worksite environment as a cue to smoking reduction

A survey of occupational health professionals' preventive pulmonary practices and worksite environments: development and initial findings.

This article describes the development of a worksite survey to evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) program to improve preventive pulmonary practices and worksite environments of occupational physicians and nurses, and baseline findings from the survey. The two-part instrument assessed individual counseling practices for preventing lung disease and worksite environments. Eighty-one occupational physicians and nurses completed the survey before the CME program. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) were calculated for five test subsections: smoking counseling (.72), workplace hazards (.70), environmental programs (.78), workplace environment (.94), and smoking policies (.91). Baseline findings indicated that 80% of respondents reported that their employees/patients were exposed to various workplace hazards. This instrument can be used to evaluate occupational health professionals' performance and worksite environments and may be useful for evaluating change over time or following a training program for occupational health professionals.

The Working Well Trial: Baseline Dietary and Smoking Behaviors of Employees and Related Worksite Characteristics

Background. The Working Well Trial, the largest randomized worksite health promotion trial to date, tests the effects of cancer prevention and control interventions on dietary and smoking behaviors of employees and the worksite environment. The trial is a 5-year cooperative agreement conducted in 57 matched pairs of worksites in 16 states by four study centers, a coordinating center, and the National Cancer Institute. The dual aims of this paper are to: (a) present a baseline description of the dietary and smoking habits of 20,801 employees, who are predominantly blue-collar workers; and (b) describe the social and physical environments of their worksites that may facilitate or hinder health behavior changes. Methods. The self-administered baseline survey of individuals consisted of a core set of questions common across all study centers on diet and smoking. The organizational survey consisted to eight instruments administered via interviews with key informants in each worksite. Continuous variables were analyzed by a mixed linear model and binary data were analyzed by the Generalized Estimating Equation. Results. The population represented is largely male (67.5%) and blue collar (53.5%). Mean levels of fat and fiber intakes were close to the national averages (36.6% of calories as fat and 13.1 g of fiber). Smoking prevalence (25.2%) was slightly lower than the national average. The worksites had a high level of health promotion activites (42% had nutrition programs, 53% had smoking control programs), but lacked environmental support for dietary behavior change and perceived support for smoking cessation. Conclusions. These findings replicate and extend previous research results to a large sample of diverse, largely blue-collar worksites. In addition the baseline results lay a foundation for the development of new insight into the relationship between individual and organizational level variables that may interact to influence behavioral and cultural norms.

Relationships of barriers and facilitators to breast self-examination, mammography, and clinical breast examination in a worksite population

The American Cancer Society recommends a regimen for breast cancer screening that includes mammograms, clinical breast examination, and breast self-examination. Compliance with breast cancer screening guidelines has been linked to a number of barriers and facilitators. These barriers and facilitators seem to lie within the cognitive framework and generalized beliefs of women, and in the situational contexts in which they lead their lives. A comprehensive study was designed to investigate variables related to breast cancer screening behaviors (breast self-examination, mammography, and clinical breast examination) of working women > or = 35 years of age at their worksite environments. A factor analysis identified similar sets of composite variables related to each of the screening modalities, and a discriminant analysis was performed for each screening technique to identify those variables that were most significant in predicting compliance with screening guidelines. The variables discomfort, perceived efficacy, and desire for control over health were significant for all three screening behaviors. Perceived importance was identified as a fourth variable for mammography and clinical breast examination, and lack of knowledge was a fourth variable for breast self-examination. Effective breast cancer screening programs involve all three screening techniques. In the design of education and intervention programs at worksites, it is critical to emphasize the commonalities of the variables that emerged in this study as important for each screening technique. Health-care professionals who implement such intervention programs need to explore and bring into the open these common barriers and facilitators to maximize working women's compliance with breast screening guidelines.

Wellness in the Family Business

This article addresses the unique opportunity that family business owners have to create worksite environments that promote wellness in employees while increasing productivity. By giving physical and psychological well-being the same importance as economic well-being, the company benefits through healthier employees, reduction of absenteeism, lower insurance costs, and increased productivity and worker satisfaction.