2SAFE: a health belief model-integrated framework for participatory ergonomics

Abstract

Initiating ergonomics interventions in a business environment requires changes in the behaviour of relevant actors. When participating in an intervention, researchers need to collect and share information with practitioners to help them make better behaviour-related decisions. This paper describes the five-step 2SAFE (Surveillance, Screening, Assessment, Framing, and Evaluation) planning framework, which can be used to guide research-practice collaboration in participatory ergonomics programmes. This framework combines the understanding of work-related musculoskeletal disorders with the principles of the health belief model. This theoretical synthesis empowers the framework to address the following critical challenges: (1) how to make data collection processes attuned to the nature of ergonomic injuries; and (2) how to transform the data collected into immediately usable information for practitioners to change their behaviours. The framework is interdisciplinary and can facilitate transfer of knowledge between ergonomics and health behaviour science. The framework can enhance the ability of researchers to collaborate with practitioners and bring participatory ergonomics programmes closer to success. In the long term, we hope that this framework can lead to more high-quality interventions that are able to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders in various industrial settings.

Keywords:

• Participatory ergonomics
• planning framework
• health belief model
• work-related musculoskeletal disorders
• intervention programme

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank to our industry partner Snyder Roofing of Washington LLC who provided data and access to its projects for us to explore the planning framework.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhenyu Zhang

Dr. Zhenyu Zhang is a postdoctoral scholar in the department of construction management at the University of Washington, Seattle. His work focuses on construction worker safety, ergonomic risk analysis, participatory intervention, and storytelling in safety training. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. from the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington in 2021. Dr. Zhang possesses a Bachelor in Metallurgical Engineering and a Masters in Architecture and Civil Engineering, both from Chongqing University, China.

Ken-Yu Lin

Dr. Ken-Yu Lin is a P.D. Koon Endowed Associate Professor in the Department of Construction Management at the University of Washington. Dr. Lin is interested in research applications that contribute to smart safety and health in construction; construction education and training; and sustainable practices. Her technical backgrounds land in serious gaming and visualization; information and communication technology; intelligent sensing and monitoring; and ontologies and semantic approaches. She is the director for the Construction Management Occupational Safety and Health (CMOSH) program at the Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Health (NCOSH). Dr. Lin also serves on the Executive Committee for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Computing and Information Technology Division since 2014.

Jia-Hua Lin

Dr. Jia-Hua Lin is a research ergonomist at Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. His core research interests are in the fields of physical ergonomics, occupational biomechanics, exposure assessment, and anthropometry. He has a rich background in laboratory research, biomedical instrumentation, motion analysis, and computer programming. Dr. Lin is an Affiliate Associate Professor at Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences of University of Washington. He serves as a scientific editor for the journal Applied Ergonomics.He is also a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and a certified professional ergonomist.