New tool measures effectiveness of workplace safety and health programs

As more organizations offer increasingly comprehensive programs for workplace safety and health, researchers and organizations alike look for the best examples and tools to measure their effectiveness. With so many programs available, how do organizations know which one is best?

Through a NIOSH-funded study at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, scientists designed a new tool to help, according to research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) Assessment measures policies, programs, and practices that promote worker safety, health, and well-being.

The WISH Assessment is an expansion of a previous measurement tool, developed by the same researchers in this study. The scientists created this latest assessment tool based on an extensive review of published literature on workplace wellness programs, repeated cognitive testing, and semi-structured interviews. They tested and revised the WISH Assessment to ensure that its elements were clearly understood and effectively measured the intended concepts.

The researchers finalized the tool after identifying six factors for protecting and promoting worker safety, health, and well-being: 1) leadership commitment; 2) participation; 3) policies, programs, and practices that foster supportive working conditions; 4) comprehensive and collaborative strategies; 5) adherence to federal and state regulations and ethical norms; and 6) regular evaluations that guide safety, health, and well-being activities.

Next steps include additional testing on the WISH Assessment to validate the tool across multiple samples, and designing and testing a scoring system that organizations can use. Harvard researchers plan to use the WISH Assessment in a future study focused on the association between Total Worker Health® approaches and quality-of-care outcomes in 500 nursing homes. Ultimately, the WISH Assessment could help direct priorities among organizations, guiding research in workplace policies, programs, and practices to improve worker well-being.