scholarly journals Improving Working Conditions to Promote Worker Safety, Health, and Wellbeing for Low-Wage Workers: The Workplace Organizational Health Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glorian Sorensen ◽  
Susan Peters ◽  
Karina Nielsen ◽  
Eve Nagler ◽  
Melissa Karapanos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Organizational Health ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Work Intensity ◽  
Improve Working

This paper addresses a significant gap in the literature by describing a study that tests the feasibility and efficacy of an organizational intervention to improve working conditions, safety, and wellbeing for low-wage food service workers. The Workplace Organizational Health Study tests the hypothesis that an intervention targeting the work organization and environment will result in improvements in workers’ musculoskeletal disorders and wellbeing. This ongoing study is being conducted in collaboration with a large food service company. Formative evaluation was used to prioritize outcomes, assess working conditions, and define essential intervention elements. The theory-driven intervention is being evaluated in a proof-of-concept trial, conducted to demonstrate feasibility and potential efficacy using a cluster randomized design. Ten worksites were randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. The 13-month intervention uses a comprehensive systems approach to improve workplace policies and practices. Using principles of participatory engagement, the intervention targets safety and ergonomics; work intensity; and job enrichment. The evaluation will provide a preliminary assessment of estimates of the intervention effect on targeted outcomes and inform understanding of the intervention implementation across worksites. This study is expected to provide insights on methods to improve working conditions in support of the safety and wellbeing of low-wage workers.

scholarly journals Implementation of an organizational intervention to improve low-wage food service workers’ safety, health and wellbeing: findings from the Workplace Organizational Health Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Glorian Sorensen ◽  
Susan E. Peters ◽  
Karina Nielsen ◽  
Elisabeth Stelson ◽  
Lorraine M. Wallace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Team ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Organizational Health ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Senior Leadership ◽  
Work Intensity ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Site Managers

Abstract Background Many organizational interventions aim to improve working conditions to promote and protect worker safety, health, and well-being. The Workplace Organizational Health Study used process evaluation to examine factors influencing implementation of an organizational intervention. This paper examines the extent to which the intervention was implemented as planned, the dose of intervention implemented, and ways the organizational context hindered or facilitated the implementation of the intervention. Methods This proof-of-concept trial was conducted with a large, multinational company that provides food service through contractual arrangements with corporate clients. The 13-month intervention was launched in five intervention sites in October 2018. We report findings on intervention implementation based on process tracking and qualitative data. Qualitative data from 25 post-intervention interviews and 89 process tracking documents were coded and thematically analyzed. Results Over the 13-month intervention, research team representatives met with site managers monthly to provide consultation and technical assistance on safety and ergonomics, work intensity, and job enrichment. Approximately two-thirds of the planned in-person or phone contacts occurred. We tailored the intervention to each site as we learned more about context, work demands, and relationships. The research team additionally met regularly with senior leadership and district managers, who provided corporate resources and guidance. By assessing the context of the food service setting in which the intervention was situated, we explored factors hindering and facilitating the implementation of the intervention. The financial pressures, competing priorities and the fast-paced work environment placed constraints on site managers’ availability and limited the full implementation of the intervention. Conclusions Despite strong support from corporate senior leadership, we encountered barriers in the implementation of the planned intervention at the worksite and district levels. These included financial demands that drove work intensity; turnover of site and district managers disrupting continuity in the implementation of the intervention; and staffing constraints that further increased the work load and pace. Findings underscore the need for ongoing commitment and support from both the parent employer and the host client. Trial registration This study was retrospectively registered with the Clinical Trials. Gov Protocol and Results System on June 2, 2021 with assigned registration number NCT04913168.

scholarly journals Implementation of An Organizational Intervention To Improve Low-Wage Workers' Safety, Health And Wellbeing: Findings From The Workplace Organizational Health Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glorian Sorensen ◽  
Susan E. Peters ◽  
Karina Nielsen ◽  
Elisabeth Stelson ◽  
Lorraine M. Wallace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Team ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Organizational Health ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Senior Leadership ◽  
Work Intensity ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Site Managers

Abstract Background: Many organizational interventions aim to improve working conditions to promote and protect worker safety, health, and well-being. The Workplace Organizational Health Study used process evaluation to examine factors influencing implementation of an organizational intervention. This paper examines the extent to which the intervention was implemented as planned, the dose of intervention implemented, and ways the organizational context hindered or facilitated the implementation of the intervention.Methods: This proof-of-concept trial was conducted with a large, multinational company that provides food service through contractual arrangements with corporate clients. The 13-month intervention was launched in five intervention sites in October 2018. We report findings on intervention implementation based on process tracking and qualitative data. Qualitative data from 25 post-intervention interviews and 89 process tracking documents were coded and thematically analyzed.Results: Over the 13-month intervention, research team representatives met with site managers monthly to provide consultation and technical assistance on safety and ergonomics, work intensity, and job enrichment. Approximately two-thirds of the planned in-person or phone contacts occurred. We tailored the intervention to each site as we learned more about context, work demands, and relationships. The research team additionally met regularly with senior leadership and district managers, who provided corporate resources and guidance. By assessing the context of the food service setting in which the intervention was situated, we explored factors hindering and facilitating the implementation of the intervention. The financial pressures, competing priorities and the fast-paced work environment placed constraints on site managers’ availability and limited the full implementation of the intervention.Conclusions: Despite strong support from corporate senior leadership, we encountered barriers in the implementation of the planned intervention at the worksite and district levels. These included financial demands that drove work intensity; turnover of site and district managers disrupting continuity in the implementation of the intervention; and staffing constraints that further increased the work load and pace. Findings underscore the need for ongoing buy-in and support from both the parent employer and the host client.Trial registration: This study was retrospectively registered with the Clinical Trials.Gov Protocol and Results System on June 2, 2021 with assigned registration number NCT04913168.

scholarly journals Using Total Worker Health® Implementation Guidelines to Design an Organizational Intervention for Low-Wage Food Service Workers: The Workplace Organizational Health Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9383
Author(s):  
Eve M. Nagler ◽  
Elisabeth A. Stelson ◽  
Melissa Karapanos ◽  
Lisa Burke ◽  
Lorraine M. Wallace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Worker Health ◽  
Implementation Guidelines ◽  
Food Service Workers ◽  
Total Worker Health

Total Worker Health® (TWH) interventions that utilize integrated approaches to advance worker safety, health, and well-being can be challenging to design and implement in practice. This may be especially true for the food service industry, characterized by high levels of injury and turnover. This paper illustrates how we used TWH Implementation Guidelines to develop and implement an organizational intervention to improve pain, injury, and well-being among low-wage food service workers. We used the Guidelines to develop the intervention in two main ways: first, we used the six key characteristics of an integrated approach (leadership commitment; participation; positive working conditions; collaborative strategies; adherence; data-driven change) to create the foundation of the intervention; second, we used the four stages to guide integrated intervention planning. For each stage (engaging collaborators; planning; implementing; evaluating for improvement), the Guidelines provided a flexible and iterative process to plan the intervention to improve safety and ergonomics, work intensity, and job enrichment. This paper provides a real-world example of how the Guidelines can be used to develop a complex TWH intervention for food service workers that is responsive to organizational context and addresses targeted working conditions. Application of the Guidelines is likely transferable to other industries.

How to improve working conditions for spinal cord injured? An intervention study at the workplace

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Sandsjo ◽  
Lena Grundell ◽  
Kirsi Valtonen ◽  
Ann-Katrin Karlsson ◽  
Eira Viikari-Juntura
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Intervention Study ◽  
Improve Working ◽  
Spinal Cord Injured

Progressive Law, Activism, and Lawyering in an Age of Preemption

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-267
Author(s):  
Rashmi Dyal-Chand
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Global Supply Chain ◽  
Environmental Movements ◽  
Improve Working ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
History Of ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Core Questions

Preemption is one of the most important legal doctrines for today’s progressives to understand because of its power to constrain progressive policymaking and social movement lawyering at the state and local level. By examining the detailed history of a decades-long campaign by the labor and environmental movements to improve working conditions in an industry at the heart of the global supply chain, Scott L. Cummings’s Blue and Green: The Drive for Justice at America’s Port (2018) provides a case study about the doctrine and impacts of preemption. The study also inspires lawyers and activists alike to reexamine core questions of factual relevance, representation and voice, and precedent.

scholarly journals Calculating the True Costs of Food Service in Long-Term Care: Development of a Costing Methodology

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 88-88
Author(s):  
Mikaela Wheeler ◽  
Karen Abbey ◽  
Sandra Capra
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Oral Nutrition ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Real Cost ◽  
Future System ◽  
Care Development

Abstract As population’s age and the need for long term care (LTC) increases, so too does the focus on the costs to provide that care. Providing food, oral nutrition supplements and meals, can be a considerable expense to a home. The objective of this research was to develop a valid foodservice costing tool (FCT), to calculate the real cost of providing foods and meals in LTC. Current costing methodologies are not specific to LTC and do not account for all costs of a foodservice, including staff, procurement and nutrition supplements. An initial tool was developed using the systems approach in conjunction with literature and professional knowledge. This was piloted in real world contexts, using volunteer LTC homes. Four iterations of the tool were completed to assess its feasibility in calculating costs and useability. Managers were interviewed after completing the tool to gather an understanding of how the tool was interpreted and to refine completion. Following feedback, the resulting tool consists of nine sections, measuring both costs incurred in meal production and service as well as analysis of staff workloads. Preliminary results show consistency between homes within Australia, indicating that the true cost is much higher than that reported in the literature to date. The development of a comprehensive, usable tool which captures the total cost of foodservice allows homes to accurately report and understand costs from a systems level. This information can be used to demonstrate cost effectiveness of a foodservice and the potential to justify and plan future system changes.

scholarly journals Labour Politics in a Naval Dockyard: The Case of Karlskrona, Sweden c. 1880–1925

2001 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Hilson
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Shipbuilding Industry ◽  
Improve Working ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
State Employees ◽  
Military Discipline ◽  
Unique Relationship

Naval dockyards have been largely neglected by labour historians, a surprising omission given their importance as industrial workplaces with a distinct culture of labour and labour relations. This article considers labour politics in Karlskrona dockyard, Sweden, in the light of a growing body of research on work and labour relations in the British and other European dockyards. Evidence from Karlskrona suggests that, rather than being repressed by military discipline or bought off by generous state benefits, the dockyard workforce drew on aspects of its unique relationship with the national state to improve working conditions. Particular attention is given to the role of the dockyard trade union in creating a sense of workforce identity as state employees. This is in contrast to the British dockyards where unionism was founded on the rigid division of labour in the shipbuilding industry.

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