Effect of a workplace design and training intervention on individual performance, group effectiveness and collaboration: the role of environmental control

The effects of a workplace design and training intervention and the relationships between perceived satisfaction of office workplace design factors (layout and storage) and work performance measures (individual performance, group collaboration and effectiveness) were studied with 120 office workers using the Workplace Environment Questionnaire. Further, we examined whether environmental control had a direct effect on work performance, and then explored whether environmental control mediated or moderated the relationship between workplace design factors and work performance. Results showed a significant, positive impact of the intervention on environmental satisfaction for workstation layout. Satisfaction with workstation layout had a significant relationship with individual performance, group collaboration and effectiveness; and satisfaction with workstation storage had a significant relationship with individual performance and group collaboration. Environmental control had a direct impact on individual performance and group collaboration; whereas, the mediating and moderating effects of environmental control on the relationship between workplace design factors and outcome variables were not significant.     

The PhOCoe Model--ergonomic pattern mapping in participatory design processes

The discipline and practice of human factors and ergonomics is quite rich in terms of the availability of analysis, development and evaluation tools and methods for its various processes. However, we lack effective instruments to either map or regulate comprehensively and effectively, cognitive and organizational related impacts, especially the environmental ones. Moreover, when ergonomic transformations through design - such as a new workstation design or even an entire new facility - is at play, ergonomics professionals tend to stay at bay, relying solely on design professionals and engineers. There is vast empirical evidence showing that participation of ergonomists as project facilitators, may contribute to an effective professional synergy amongst the various stakeholders in a multidisciplinary venue. When that happens, everyone wins - users and designers alike -because eventual conflicts, raised up in the midst of options selection, are dissipated in exchange for more convergent design alternatives. This paper presents a method for participatory design, in which users are encouraged to actively participate in the whole design process by sharing their real work activities with the design team. The negotiated results inferred from the ergonomic action and translated into a new design, are then compiled into a "Ergonomic Pattern Manual". This handbook of ergonomics-oriented design guidelines contains essential guidelines to be consulted in recurrent design project situations in which similar patterns might be used. The main drive is simple: nobody knows better than workers themselves what an adequate workplace design solution (equipment, workstation, office layout) should be.     

Implantation of an ergonomics administration system in a company: report of an occupational therapist specialist in ergonomics

This article aims to describe step-by-step the implementation of an ergonomics administration system in a company from March 2009 till March 2011 by an occupational therapist specialist in ergonomics based on the OSHAS 18001 guidelines and the Regulatory Norms 17 manual. The process began with the definition of five requisites with bases on the manual of application of the Regulatory Norms 17: survey; materials individual transportation and discharge; workplace furniture; workplace equipments; work environment and organization of the work to be managed with bases on the OSHAS 18001 guidelines. The following steps were established: sensitization of the company high administration, elaboration and institution of an ergonomics politics, development of ergonomics committees, ergonomics analysis of the work with recommendation of ergonomic improvements, implantation of improvements and evaluation or the results. This research experiment suggests the importance not only of a guiding axle but also of a professional qualification and participation of the company on the implementation of an ergonomics management system.     

SHOPFLOOR CULTURES: The Idioculture of Production in Operational Meteorology

Each workplace operates within a cultural context in which local features of interaction influence how employees conceptualize their workplace self. Building on small-group research, I argue that understanding these idiocultures as action arenas helps to specify how group knowledge, practices, and beliefs are expressed and affect occupational identity. To demonstrate the power of microcultures, I analyzed local offices of the National Weather Service (NWS) through ethnographic methods. I focused on the Chicago office, demonstrating how its culture, which emphasizes autonomy and resistance to authority, shapes the staff's images of scientific practice and the contours of being a scientist. The culture is revealed in their joking relations as well as in other office traditions. I then compared this culture with that of Flowerland, a spin-up office established in the 1990s. These two offices use their cultures to differentiate themselves, creating distinct work practices. As all work groups have local cultures, giving greater attention to small-group dynamics helps us understand how workers define themselves, how cultures differ, and how the effects of these differences shape the experience of work.     

Using Activity Theory to Understand How People Learn to Negotiate the Conditions of Work

In a typical workplace in the United States, two knowledge-producing activity systems are in motion. Each produces knowledge about how to do the work of that workplace, but they are differently motivated: one toward productivity, and the other toward earning a living. The conflict between these two systems is addressed through the process of negotiation. A.N. Leont'ev's insight on the power of motive to shape an activity system through which consciousness is constructed provides direction for exploring how people learn to negotiate their conditions of work. Observations and interviews conducted in the course of my work as a union-based and then a university-based labor educator suggest that negotiating knowledge (NK) is similar to work process knowledge in that it is useful for the work that is being done, has a theoretical dimension, and is generated by problem solving. However, because it is generated through the second activity system, it differs from work process knowledge in its perspective. Characterizing NK makes it easier to recognize and enables research into its creation, which in turn can inform the practice of labor education. Examples considered in this article include a grocery warehouse, steel mill, cleaning company, federal office, an apartment building, public school, and musical instrument factory.     

Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in office work: a case study

Twelve recently built office work stations, where jobs imply continued use of information and communication technologies, were analyzed for ergonomic risk factors. Based on a literature review of ergonomic recommendations for computer and general office work, a checklist was devised for assistance in identifying inadequate ergonomic situations, a process that was informed by pain complaints information. RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) was selected to estimate the risk of MSDs, considering the criteria of applicability and appropriateness to the case studied. This method was applied by an occupational health and safety technician to the most critical job observed in the workplace. Criticality was estimated through observations aided by the systematic use of a checklist tailored to the specific office scenario. Recommendations for change were provided for implementation in all workplaces in the office, in order to improve work conditions, and guide the setup of a MSD prevention training program.     

The effects of gainsharing on grievance rates and absenteeism over time

We sought to better understand the long-term impact of gainsharing by analyzing longitudinal changes in two key indicators of workplace union-management relations: grievance rates and employee absenteeism. Using a seven and one-half year longitudinal data set and an interrupted time series design, we found that the introduction of a Scanlon-type gainsharing plan was followed by a gradual and permanent decline in both of these indicators. These results provide strong quantitative evidence for the ability of gainsharing to transform existing labor-management relations. Using qualitative data, we consider the relationship between labor relations outcomes and other plant-level performance improvements following the introduction of gainsharing in this case.     

Ergonomics analysis of the productive environment of fashion clothing firm in Belo Horizonte-MG

A company making women's clothing, located in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais was studied in its ergonomic aspects with regard to the layout. With this study it was possible to establish the best positioning of machines and jobs of employees. The analysis criteria used were: frequency of use, functional grouping, sequence of use, flow and intensity of preferred connections. An ideal arrangement in the workplace provides improved manufacturing quality and employee performance and consequently higher production yields.     

Let's Have a Cup of Coffee! Coffee and Coping Communities at Work

Coffee breaks are the main target in this investigation as the paper draws upon a qualitative focus group among Danish public family law caseworkers employed in a newly merged workplace Coffee breaks were identified as the utmost important factor for social and personal well‐being within an emotional taxing occupation. Indeed, communities of coping were created through coffee break encounters. However, coping communities were deeply embedded in informal workgroup cultures, which made them difficult to enter for newcomers. Newcomers entered the communities of coping through office meetings with an informal tone and atmosphere of sharing a cake. Thus, coping communities and informal workgroup cultures were found to intersect in the sociality that formed in formal as well as spontaneous coffee break encounters.     

Social networks and spatial configuration—How office layouts drive social interaction

This paper analyzes the spatial dimensions of office layouts in diverse knowledge-intensive workplace environments based on the theoretical and methodological propositions of Space Syntax, and brings this together with the analysis of intra-organizational interaction networks. Physical distances between agents are modeled in different ways and used as explanatory variables in exponential random graph modeling. The paper shows that spatial configuration in offices can be considered an important but not sole rationale for tie formation. Furthermore, it is shown that spatial distance measures based on detailed configurational analysis outperform simple Euclidean distance metrics in predicting social ties.     

African American Men and the Experience of Employment Discrimination

The economic marginalization of African American men has been studied in a variety of contexts, from trade union exclusion, to joblessness, to disparate wages and mobility. Discrimination is often inferred as an influential mechanism, yet seldom directly examined in its own right. Drawing on a unique sample of verified workplace discrimination cases, this article analyzes forms and processes of discrimination that African American men face in employment. Our results denote the prevalence of discriminatory firing, with on-going racial harassment and discriminatory promotional and hiring practices also quite evident. In-depth immersion into case materials highlights the centrality of racial stereotyping and significant discretion on the part of gatekeepers within organizational environments-discretion in the use of “soft skills” criteria to exclude and debilitate mobility, and in selective (or even targeted) use of seemingly neutral organizational policies and sanctions. Moreover, harassment on the job—something that conventional workplace inequality research has overlooked—is quite problematic and well-represented in these data. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results for the conceptualization of inequality reproduction and that pertaining to race, status, and the workplace in particular.     

Identification of the mental workload of public employees in the administrative sector at a public university

In the workplace there are risk factors that can overwhelm the health of the worker causing physical and psychological disorders. Among these disorders, is occupational stress. Thus, this research proposes to measure the mental workload of job stress from the identification of demand, control and social support. It is an observational cross-sectional epidemiological character, performed with the Rectory office workers at the State University of West Paraná (Unioeste). Data collection was due to the application of the "Job Stress Scale" (JSS) and in its reduced version adapted to Portuguese. The survey sample consisted of 44 individuals. Statistical analysis was correlated inversely with medium intensity (r = -0.404) between age and social support. For males was found between control and age (r = 0.603). According to the data obtained, we conclude that most workers are exposed to passive work, leading to loss of skills or disinterest in the job. This study highlights the importance of research in the area and the need for new actions that change the conditions of stress at work.     

Workplace aesthetics: Impact of environments upon employee health?

Associations between self-reported need for aesthetic improvements in the workplace and the need for ergonomic improvement and health factors were investigated to determine the possible impact of aesthetic needs on job performance. The need for aesthetic improvements were compared with the need for ergonomic improvements. All employees at a Swedish broadcasting company were invited to participate in this cross sectional study. Of those who fulfilled the inclusion criteria the participation rate was 74% (1961/2641). Demographic data was obtained from company files and pre-validated questionnaire was used for data collections from the participants. additional questions on needs for improvement were developed, tested for repeatability, and demonstrated to be within acceptable limits. Differences between 'high rank' and 'low rank' aesthetic needs and ergonomic needs were correlated to set ups of demographic, work environmental and organisational and health variables.The perceived needs for aesthetic and ergonomic improvements showed significantly different distributions (p<0.001). Aesthetic needs were more frequently reported than ergonomic needs. There was no significant gender related difference in response distribution of aesthetic or ergonomic needs, whereas differences between occupational groups were shown (0.006 and 0.003). 'High rank' needs for aesthetic improvement were associated to psychologically demanding work, negative work stress, sleep disturbances, problems at work, musculoskeletal pain and lower age. Gender and physical training did not differ between 'high and low rank' responders regarding neither aesthetic nor ergonomic needs. Sick leave was stronger related to ergonomics. The independently tested associations with aesthetic needs were similar to, but fewer than those for ergonomic needs with regard to the variable set ups. Sixteen studied factors out of 24, showed significant difference between 'high and low rank' aesthetic needs, and 21/24 of ergonomic needs, independently tested. The study results show a relation between work place aesthetics and health and well-being. Future work health promotion and prevention may benefit from the inclusion of an assessment of workplace aesthetics.     

Chapter 9: Disaster Consequence Management

SUMMARY

The critical element in a workplace approach to consequence management for disaster, terrorism and other critical incidents is the integrated planning and response across numerous workplace functions including human resources, employee assistance, security and facilities, medical, occupational health, wellness and work-life. These corporate functions ensure the performance, health, safety and human continuity of the workplace. In this model, workplace professionals charged with the human capital and continuity of their organizations play new crucial roles that require an understanding of (1) the integration of mental health into a public health approach for managing the psychological and behavioral implications of terrorism; (2) the integration of operational continuity planning with human continuity resources; and (3) the integration of workplace preparedness into the larger sphere of population health interventions for the 21st century. This new role of workplace health and productivity professionals is necessary to the health and resiliency of our global community and its citizens in the workplace and at home.     

Effectiveness and feasibility of a 10-minute employee stress intervention: Outdoor Booster Break

There is a growing recognition that workplace environments affect employee health. Nature contact exposures in the workplace have been shown to be healthful for employees. This pilot study was designed to test the feasibility and efficacy of a daily outdoor work break (Outdoor Booster Break) compared to a daily indoor break. A census of university office staff was invited to participate (N?=?244). Phase 1 focused on feasibility—participants (n?=?119) reported that the Outdoor Booster Break was feasible (74%), practical (80%), and worthwhile (83%). During Phase II we used a single-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effects of an Outdoor Booster Break—compared with a control indoor work break group—for 4 weeks on employee stress. Perceived stress was measured at pretest and posttest for both conditions. Mean posttest stress scores were lower for both the control group (n?=?19) and the treatment group (n?=?18). A main effects ANCOVA model controlling for baseline stress revealed posttest stress was lower for the treatment group compared to controls (p?=?.041). Taking a work break appears to have stress-reducing benefits, but the Outdoor Booster Break reduced stress significantly more than an indoor break. Implications for employers, worksite health promoters, and future research are discussed.     

More than Money: The Importance of Social Exchanges for Temporary Low-Skilled Migrant Workers’ Workplace Satisfaction

Research has focused on the happiness of immigrants, but the workplace satisfaction of temporary low-skilled migrant workers has rarely been explored. By utilizing survey data for two years, 2010 and 2013, along with interviews with migrant workers, we explored how economic or social factors could trigger diverse impacts on the satisfaction of temporary low-skilled migrant workers in different work environments. Results showed that economic factors triggered more notable impacts in 2010, while the importance of social factors increased with improvements in work environments in 2013. The results indicated that moving motive premises and social exchange theory effectively explain attitudes of temporary low-skilled migrant workers. Theoretical and practical contributions and suggestions of the results are also included.     

Charting the attitudes of county child protection staff in a post-crisis environment

Three children died while in the Erie County Child Protective Services (CPS) system between 2012 and 2014. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to understand the impact on CPS workers in the post-crisis environment. The results of the ProQOL Ver. 5.0 survey we administered to Erie County CPS workers revealed low levels of compassion satisfaction, but surprisingly low levels of burnout and compassion fatigue as well. The qualitative phase of this study, consisting of 10 focus groups, revealed dissatisfaction with continued high caseloads, bureaucratic and punitive agency practices, work-life imbalance, inconsistent and inadequate supervision, unsafe work environments, unappealing office conditions and lack of workplace amenities, weak organizational support, inconsistent procedures and policies, limited opportunities for peer support, and shuffling of work teams with little to no input from CPS workers. We conclude that Erie County's CPS Division adheres to an antiquated machine bureaucracy (top-down) organizational structure which is out of step with efficient and effective management of the contemporary workforce in a field where child abuse and maltreatment is a persistent if not growing problem.     

The effects of workstation changes and behavioral interventions on safe typing postures in an office

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of an ergonomic and behavioral safety intervention for improving participants' safe typing postures in a library office setting. A single-subject multiple baseline design across five participants was employed to evaluate the effects of the four independent variables (workstation adjustment, equipment trial (rollermouse mouse alternative), peer observations, and graphic feedback). Six participant postures were observed repeatedly while participants worked at their workstations throughout the study. Each of the interventions resulted in improvements in safety for more than one posture compared to the previous phase. Results of the study indicate that a comprehensive ergonomic program that includes a workstation adjustment and a behavioral safety approach may be helpful to produce maximum improvements in employees' safe ergonomic postures.     

Resiliency in the Aftermath of Repetitious Violence in the Workplace

Summary

The definition and occurrence of traumatic events is expanding and impacts everyone's lives in some way. The degree to which a violent event impacts an individual, a group, a workplace or the community varies. Unfortunately violent events are all too common. Businesses are realizing the significance of violence as a workplace problem and the varying degrees of trauma that has a devastating impact on employee retention, workplace functionality and personal well-being. The events can include industrial or natural disasters; worksite accidents; organizational changes; suicide; homicides; robbery; assault; threats of violence and even terrorism. How prepared an organization is varies and may be correlated with how resilient individuals and the entire workplace are after workplace violence/trauma. This article focuses on what workplace violence and trauma includes, the effects of repeat events, how resilient people are while trying to prevent additional events if possible in the workplace.