Message from the Director of the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health
This
guide is intended for managers interested in improving their
business by ensuring the health and safety of workers. It invites
managers to look carefully at changes they have made to improve
occupational health and safety in the workplace, and to ask
the question, “Does it Really Work?”
When you
evaluate safety and health changes, you will find that some
are successful, some need to be modified, and some have no
positive impact on the workplace. Obtaining this valuable
information is vital to any business manager, and is the primary
focus of this guide. A systematic process is needed to evaluate
both a plan or idea for change as well as any implemented
intervention. This requires a collaborative effort by both
management and employees that should be celebrated, along
with any successes in protecting their health and safety at
work.
The guide is divided into the following three sections: case
studies that illustrate the collaborative effort of employers
and workers to evaluate occupational safety and health changes
in the workplace; four easy steps outlining how to conduct
your own evaluation of safety and health changes in the workplace;
and a list of additional resources about these evaluations.
The authors of this guide are members of the Intervention
Effectiveness Research Team of the National Occupational Research
Agenda (NORA) effort, sponsored by the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). They are an interdisciplinary
team of business, academic, labor, and government professionals
who believe that the best solutions for workplace health and
safety problems are those that have been adequately and thoroughly
evaluated. I encourage you to try the methods described in
the guide which will enhance your evaluation skills, and add
value to your business and your role as a manager and leader.
John Howard, M.D.
Director, NIOSH
|
|
Acknowledgements
This guide is a product of the National Occupational Research
Agenda Intervention Effectiveness Research Team. We have been
inspired and guided by the authors of the Guide to Evaluating
the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Work Injuries:
Lynda Robson, Harry Shannon, Linda Goldenhar, and Andrew Hale.
We are also grateful to those who conducted the case studies
we describe: Michael Smith, James Collins, Leonard Banco,
Scott Earnest, and those who worked with them. We appreciate
the graphic and Web design work done by Vanessa Becks, Anne
Stirnkorb and Rohit Verma for this project as well as the
editorial work of Susan Feldmann, Amanda Gust and John Diether. |