Prevention through Design: A Macroergonomic Conceptual Approach to Risk Reduction

Abstract

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Prevention through Design is the first U.S. macroergonomic initiative to address occupational and environmental risks associated with work operations. In the Prevention through Design approach, all aspects of the work operation (worker, equipment, materials, environment, processes) are evaluated, inherent risks identified, and design solutions generated. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health launched an initiative in 2008 to disseminate Prevention through Design methods in all industrial sectors. Innovative design solutions are being developed to reduce injury, illness, and pollution arising from agriculture, construction, manufacturing, commercial fishing, healthcare, and mining. Diffusion of new design solutions and adoption within the industries, though, remain major hurdles to implementation. Therefore, this article describes a conceptual model to predict industry acceptance of these innovations. Practicing ergonomists and occupational safety and health professionals can employ the constructs of this model in developing intervention strategies within the workplace.

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT

Background: A recent National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health initiative has established a goal to increase adoption of Prevention through Design innovation in all sectors of industry. Purpose: This article describes a new macroergonomic approach to reducing occupational risks––Prevention through Design––which involves hazard elimination at the design stage of systems, equipment, and materials. Methods: A conceptual model, the Prevention through Design Adoption Readiness Model, was developed to describe the parameters and causal relationships that influence and predict stakeholder “adoption readiness” for Prevention through Design technology innovation. The model was built upon three well-established, related, theoretical frameworks: the Health Belief Model, the Diffusion of Innovation Model, and the Technology Acceptance Model. A model development methodology was employed to build a conceptual depiction of the key constructs and the directionality and magnitude of relationships among them. Two survey instruments to measure model constructs were developed through a rigorous protocol involving construct operationalization, cognitive methods, and testing for unidimensionality, reliability, and validity. Model constructs were operationalized through a multistep process involving a review of the literature for existing scales, selection of previously validated items, adaptation of those items, and card-sorting protocols for verifying construct/item correspondence. An initial item pool was subjected to cognitive interviewing techniques, using a focus group of SMEs, to check for item understandability, clarity, and meaningfulness. A revised item pool was then administered to a group of participants (n = 100), and these data were employed in statistical analysis to determine reliability and validity through confirmatory factor analysis, Chronbach's reliability coefficient, and Bentler–Bonnett's coefficient. Results: A final conceptual model is presented. Conclusion: The conceptual Prevention through Design Adoption Readiness Model can be employed in practice and in future research endeavors to develop interventions to improve adoption of Prevention through Design solutions to occupational risks.

KEYWORDS:

• Macroergonomics
• Health Belief Model
• Diffusion of Innovation Model
• Prevention through Design
• Technology Acceptance Model

FUNDING

This article was supported by Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number 5U60OH009761 from CDC-NIOSH; its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.