Laing A C, Cole D C, Theberge N, Wells R P, Kerr M S, Frazer M B
School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Ergonomics. 2007 Jul;50(7):1092-109. doi: 10.1080/00140130701308708.
A participatory ergonomics programme was implemented in an automotive parts manufacturing factory in which an ergonomics change team was formed, composed of members from management, the organized labour union and the research team. It was hypothesized that the participatory nature of this change process would result in enhanced worker perceptions of workplace communication dynamics, decision latitude and influence, which in conjunction with anticipated mechanical exposure reductions would lead to reduced worker pain severity. Utilizing a sister plant in the corporation as a referent group, a quasi-experimental design was employed with a longitudinal, repeat questionnaire approach to document pre-post intervention changes. Nine participatory activities (psychosocial interventions) were implemented as part of the process. Communication dynamics regarding ergonomics were significantly enhanced at the intervention plant compared to the referent plant. However, there were no significantly different changes in worker perceptions of decision latitude or influence between the two plants, nor did pain severity change. Possible explanations for these results include limited intervention intensity, context and co-intervention differences between the two plants, high plant turnover reducing the statistical power of the study and lack of sensitivity and specificity in the psychosocial measures used. Further research should include the development of psychosocial tools more specific to participatory ergonomic interventions and the assessment of the extent of change in psychosocial factors that might be associated with improvements in pain.
在一家汽车零部件制造工厂实施了一项参与式人机工程学计划，其中组建了一个人机工程学变革团队，成员包括管理层、有组织的工会和研究团队。假设这一变革过程的参与性质将提高工人对工作场所沟通动态、决策自由度和影响力的认知，再加上预期的机械暴露减少，将导致工人疼痛严重程度降低。以公司内的一家姊妹工厂作为参照组，采用了准实验设计，并采用纵向重复问卷调查方法来记录干预前后的变化。作为该过程的一部分，开展了九项参与式活动（心理社会干预）。与参照工厂相比，干预工厂在人机工程学方面的沟通动态得到了显著增强。然而，两家工厂在工人对决策自由度或影响力的认知方面没有显著差异，疼痛严重程度也没有变化。这些结果的可能解释包括干预强度有限、两家工厂的背景和共同干预存在差异、工厂人员流动率高降低了研究的统计效力，以及所使用的心理社会测量方法缺乏敏感性和特异性。进一步的研究应包括开发更适用于参与式人机工程学干预的心理社会工具，以及评估可能与疼痛改善相关的心理社会因素的变化程度。
