Can occupational health professionals successfully apply the Goldilocks Work Paradigm in a simulated work redesign?

Abstract

This study aimed to assess occupational health professionals’ application of the Goldilocks Work Paradigm in redesigning jobs for healthier physical behaviours while maintaining productivity. During a group simulation exercise, participants (n = 16) created job descriptions for four different occupation cases (factory worker, office worker, teacher, train driver) and then redesigned the jobs using the Paradigm. Substantial changes in the time spent in sitting (9–30%), standing (8–42%), walking (6–14%), and high-intensity (0–24%) physical behaviours were achieved, which if implemented would likely result in enhanced health for workers. Overall, occupational health professionals were able to successfully redesign fictitious jobs aligned with the Goldilocks Work Paradigm. The simulation task used in this study may be useful to train professionals and assist workplaces to understand and implement the Goldilocks Work Paradigm into practice.

Practitioner summary: This study assessed whether occupational health professionals could be trained in the Goldilocks Work Paradigm through a job redesign simulation task. Participants were able to redesign jobs to achieve a healthier ‘just right’ balance of physical behaviours. Simulations may help workplaces understand and implement a Goldilocks Work approach into practice.

Keywords:

• Job design
• occupational physical activity
• Goldilocks
• occupational health
• simulation task

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the workshop participants, and the conference organisers for enabling this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was partly supported by funding from the Australian Research Council [DP200103570].