The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48226

Linda Cook¹, Tobi Lippin², Tom McQuiston¹, Gary Morris¹, and Paul Renner³. (1) PACE Union, 168 Looker Mountain Trail, Bradford, PA 16701, 814 368 9432, llcook@earthlink.net, (2) New Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc., 1429 Broad St., Durham, NC 27705, (3) Labor Institute, 31 West 15th St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10011

In this session, team members, who are worker trainers, staff, and outside evaluators, will share preliminary findings of a multi-site, three-year participatory evaluation study of a systems of safety (SOS) program conducted by the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers Union (PACE) Evaluation Team. The program involves workers from all levels in identifying and fixing root causes of health and safety problems with an emphasis on primary preventive systems such as design and engineering. The SOS program is a joint labor-management program that emphasizes worker participation in all aspects of program implementation, including training and incident investigations. The SOS framework categorizes the systematic components that exist in a workplace that allow it to operate safely. The framework highlights design and engineering as the primary system for eliminating or reducing hazardous conditions.

The study includes four sites from the paper, nuclear, and oil sectors of the union. The team created a primarily quantitative survey for workers and managers at the sites, and also conducted site visits to collect qualitative interview data and documents about the program’s implementation and outcomes. Our process utilized the construction of a conceptual model of PACE’s SOS program and worker leadership in designing instruments, gathering and analyzing data and making meaning of the findings.

Learning Objectives: After this session, participants will be able to

• Examine the study findings to learn how systems of safety programs impacted health and safety at the workplace.
• Describe how a systems of safety program can be used in the context of a joint labor-management health and safety program.
• Recognize the importance of worker participation in every phase of the research and evaluation process.
• Identify tools that can be used to enhance worker participation within their own health and safety programs.

Keywords: Participatory Research, Occupational Health Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers International Union (PACE)