The role of participatory ergonomics in supporting the safety of healthcare workers; a systematic review

Abstract

Despite the special attention given to safety in healthcare, most of the efforts are centered around patients. This study reviews the literature to explore the use of participatory ergonomics approaches to promote the safety of healthcare workers in clinical settings and the implementation challenges faced. This review follows PRISMA guidelines and utilizes the Pico framework to search databases for peer-reviewed articles on participatory ergonomics interventions for workers’ safety. The search was conducted in April 2023. Quality assurance included the snowball method and manual searches in relevant safety and ergonomics journals. Several studies (N = 36) were included in the review. The identified safety issues addressed by participatory ergonomics are Musculoskeletal injuries (N = 14), occupational injuries (N = 8), performance in complex systems (N = 7), medication errors and management (N = 3), physical load (N = 2), and occupational stress (N = 2). Many implementation challenges were faced, such as infections, violence, burnout, staffing retention, and Covid-19-related challenges. These findings can contribute to the development of evidence-based policies, guidelines, and recommendations to support the integration of participatory ergonomics in healthcare safety programs, which can help reduce occupational hazards.

KEY POINTS

• Participatory ergonomics (PE) is an efficient approach to supporting healthcare workers’ safety.

• Issues such as medication errors, workplace injuries, MSD issues, physical load, occupational stress, and performance can be addressed by PE.

• Many challenges can be faced in the implementation of PE approaches.

• Proactive and intentional support from management and organization (i.e. the organizational culture of safety), along with appropriate financial and personnel resources, is crucial for successful PE implementation.

Keywords:

• Human factors
• participatory ergonomics
• healthcare safety
• staff
• doctors
• nurses

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.