Evaluation of Occupational Health and Safety Programmes Using Programme Theory: ACC’s Workplace Safety Discount Scheme as an Example
4 likes1,059 views
The document evaluates occupational health and safety (OHS) programs, specifically focusing on the Workplace Safety Discount (WSD) scheme aimed at small businesses in high-risk industries. It outlines the need for such programs to reduce work-related injuries and discusses the application of program theory in assessing effectiveness, albeit highlighting lack of measurable results and challenges in implementation. The authors emphasize the importance of information provision, economic incentives, and the role of trusted intermediaries in improving OHS management.
Evaluation of Occupational Health and Safety Programmes Using Programme Theory: ACC’s Workplace Safety Discount Scheme as an Example
- 1. Evaluation of OHS programmes using programme theory ACC’s Workplace Safety Discount Scheme as an example Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety and Health By Kirsten Olsen, Leigh-Ann Harris & Kristina Gunnarsson At OHSIG 2011
- 2. Outline • Why and how do we evaluate OHS programmes • Programme theory introduction • The Workplace Safety Discount (WSD) Scheme • Programme theory applied to WSD Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 3. OHS programmes:- why? • To improve OHS and reduce injuries, diseases and fatalities at work • Too many work-related injuries, diseases & fatalities claim rate per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees (142 – 116) 2002–2008 http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/paid-work/workplace-injury-claims.html • Approx. 85 fatal work-related injuries in 2008 (source: DoL 2011) • Approx. 445 serious work-related injuries in 2009 (source: DoL 2011) Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 4. Why and how are OHS programmes evaluated • We want to find out if they achieve what was intended • Outcome: injury claims, accidents ... • Before and after measure (change in outcome) • Participation in programmes: attendence at training courses, uptake of guidelines, visit to websites • Surveys of self assessed effects/changes • Always possible to find evidence for failure • Programmes are seldom assessed to: • assess the implementation process • test the programme theory Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 5. Programme theory attempts to answer the question: What works for whom, in what circumstances, in what respect, and how ? Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 6. Programme theory • Intervention programmes are ‘theories’ • They begin in the heads of policy makers • Pass into the hands of practitioners and managers and • Into the heads and minds of users Intervention Policy makers’ Practitioners Target group programme programme theory Intermediares users Outcome design Context Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 7. Three basic types of mechanisms 1. Information provision (sharing of information and argumentation) 2. Incentives (economic and image promoting) 3. Punishment (demands, control and sanctions) Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 8. Workplace Safety Discount (WSD) Scheme • Small business < 10 employees • High risk industries • 10% discount in insurance levy • Demonstrate knowledge of risks and OHS management (2 free half-day courses ) • Self-assessment of OHS & OHS management • Possibility of audit • Re-apply every three years Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 9. Evaluation of Workplace Safety Discount Scheme in Agriculture Semi-structured interviews with: • ACC’s WSD programme/product manager • ACC’s Agriculture programme manager • FarmSafe manager • Three FarmSafe trainers • One financial advisor promoting the WSD • Five farmers that have applied for WSD • One auditor Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 10. What was in the creators heads • Small Businesses have high injury rate • Under estimate risks • Do not have OHS knowledge • Wants to be good employers • Do not have much time or money • They see ACC levies as an economic burden • Want to work with people in whom they have trust • Information (courses) and economic incentive 10 % discount) promoted through industry organisations should make SB owners improve OHS Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 11. WSD Programme theory • Positive attitude towards the working environment • Economic incentive (discount) • Information provision (free training courses) • Punishment/control (possible audit) • Use trusted intermediaries (industry organisations) • OHS management system => good working environment => reduction in injuries and ill-health => reduction in claims and compensation cost Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 12. The WSD proramme Want to be good employer Fear of punishment/control Awareness course info A Change in Self U benefit Control assessm D 10% discount OHS mgt ent, appl I Fewer injuries Punish- y T Reduced cost ment OHS mgt course Economic benefit Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 13. ACC’ evaluation of the WSD programme? • No evaluation reports of the programme • Uptake of WSD scheme: 3,357 had joint the scheme in 2011 a third of the expected uptake by 2009 • Injury claims: no measurable result • Numbers of injury: indications that participants have reduced injuries • The self-assessment and audit feedback not used to evaluate the scheme Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 14. Evaluation of WSD in agriculture using programme theory Minister of ACC Creator of the ACC: WSD programme programme ACC: agriculture Federated ACC audit trainers programme Farmers Tertiary FarmSafe Training WSD auditor Education courses Commission Farmers FarmSafe regional trainers Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health Financial School of Management advisers
- 15. Difficulties • Knowing about the scheme • Difficulties to reach farmers that don’t know the trainers • Only the leaders are reached? • It can be more expensive to be away from the farm if something happens to the stock, than the benefit from achieving the discount • Difficult to know what to write in the self-assessment • No funding of FarmSafe plans • Change in incentive to promote WSD from the trainers’ perspective • Reorganisation change in focus in ACC Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 16. What worked for whom? • Knowing the FarmSafe trainers, financial advisors • Helped during the self-assessment process • Emphasised benefit and punishment from trainers that knew the industry • Reaching the leaders • Farmers that had to meet audit requirements from customers Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
- 17. Thank you ! And hope to see you at: Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Safety & Health School of Management
Editor's Notes
- #7: Intervention programmes are built on a logical sequence of inputs, activities, outputs and subsequently short- and long-term effectsThe originators of the programme provides the input necessary to undertake the activities which in turn creates outputsTo get this logical sequence to work there must be a mechanism which makes it workIntervention programmes are:Theories (about what make people act)Embedded (in social sytems)Active (require active engagement of individuals)Part of an open system (influenced by other events)
- #15: One of the important points is the fact that intervention programmes are embedded in social systems, and they are changed through the participants’ activities and engagement as well as influenced by other programmes and events. They are therefore to be understood as open systems which cannot be controlled by the programme initiators. An analysis of the development of the WSD scheme in the agriculture sector exemplifies how intervention programmes change as local actors become involved.The ACC agriculture management team and the industry association (Federated Farmers) decided to deliver the approved courses through FarmSafe using two of their already-developed training courses: ‘FarmSafe awareness’ (half-day) and ‘FarmSafe plans’ (one day), both subsidized by the Tertiary Education Commission. The underlying programme theory for choosing FarmSafe was that an evaluation of the training courses concluded that they reached out to small farmers.Regional trainers to contact farmers:Promotion of OHS management: If you have an injury then you take the whole farm with you.I have implemented WSD myself now the farm run much more efficientThe other farmers in your area are coming to the coursePromotion of application for the WSD: If you have the WSD then it is more likely that DOL will assess that you have taken all practical steps => no precaution.Your OHS management system is good enough, help with filling in the form