Completed Research

Participatory Ergonomics (Completed 2009-2014)

Identifying the characteristic tasks of each trade that are most punishing for the human body, and proposing alternatives, can’t be done in the lab alone. It’s best achieved through participatory methods, where the insights of workers and contractors in the field can identify problems and seek practical solutions. Dr. Welch’s team engaged in extensive investigations of work processes in the sheet metal and drywall sectors to do just that.

Workers identified solutions that could ease work strain but the study showed mixed results of the efficacy of delivering a participatory intervention; workers showed improvements in some short-term impacts and described and reported implementing solutions for many problematic tasks. However the time expectations of the program were challenging in this fast-paced and unpredictable environment with ever-changing work crews and project schedules. Even though work groups work autonomously they are often not empowered to control their work tasks and environment to make the necessary changes to reduce the work risks.

Participatory ergonomics has been effective in solving task-specific problems in construction groups but it does not appear that providing general ergonomics training to work groups, a bottom up approach, can be effective without additional support from outside of the work group. In fact, several of the challenges encountered in implementing solutions were outside of the contractor’s control. Given the dependency on worker participation in using the tools and work practices, a top-down approach with solutions imposed by contractors may not be suitable either. The best solution may be to incorporate ergonomics into the system so all levels of the project are functioning with the same goal in mind – incorporate ergonomics into the safety program so reduction of physical risk in work tasks is considered from the design stage to the building stage of a project.