The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43862

Cora R. Roelofs, ScD¹, Elizabeth M Barbeau, ScD, MPH², Glorian C. Sorensen, PhD, MPH³, Anne M. Stoddard, ScD¹, and Anthony D. LaMontagne⁴. (1) Center for Community Based Research, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St. Smith 262, Boston, MA 02115, 978/934-2591, Cora_Roelofs@uml.edu, (2) Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St, Boston, MA 02135, (3) Center for Community Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St, Boston, MA 02115, (4) Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash Medical School, Commercial Road, Prahan,VICTORIA, 3070, Australia

Small manufacturing businesses often struggle to develop, implement and maintain worker health and safety programs. As part of a cancer prevention intervention trial, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Community-Based Research’s Small Business Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Intervention Project has developed a small business OSH assessment strategy, applied it in twenty-five Massachusetts businesses, and conducted a randomized trial of an OSH program consultation intervention in half of these. The assessment strategy consists of a walk-through inspection using an exposure index scoring tool and a program assessment determined through in-depth interview with the company personnel responsible for OSH management. The OSH program areas assessed in each business included management’s role, employee participation, hazard identification, hazard prevention and control, and training. The exposure index assessed the worksite’s hazard potential and protection levels with regard to materials, processes, and worker-hazard interface. The OSH program assessment tool will be presented, as will the results of the baseline assessments of these twenty-five companies’ health and safety programs pre-intervention.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe a tool to evaluate small business safety and health programs.
• Characterize the safety and health programs of a group of 25 small Massachusetts businesses.
• List factors that promote and inhibit small business health and safety programs.
• Describe an intervention to improve such programs.

Keywords: Organizational Change, Management

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.