A STAGED APPROACH TO IMPROVING HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

摘要

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common form of occupational ill-health in Great Britain. Recent research by the authors involved the development and evaluation of a new and innovative approach to reducing MSDs. A model from health psychology (stage of change model) was applied to develop interventions more closely matched to worker readiness to change. Follow up of these interventions at 6 and 15 months post-intervention showed that tailored interventions were significantly more effective in promoting risk awareness, behaviour change and in reducing self-reported pain in a number of body areas. This paper constituted a longer term follow up at 20 months post-intervention to ascertain whether the findings at 6 and 15 months post-intervention still persist. The results show that the findings are maintained over the longer period of follow up.