Characteristics of Effective Job Health and Safety Committees

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite widespread advocacy for and use of worker-management job health and safety committees (HSC), there is surprisingly very little empirical evidence on characteristics of committees that make them more effective. This proposal is based within a newly formed NIOSH-funded Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace at the University of Connecticut Health Center. It has three primary objectives: (1) to describe the current structure and functions of health and safety committees in the manufacturing sector, (2) to assess by both qualitative and quantitative methods the characteristics of committees that are associated with perceived effectiveness by committee members and also the level of reported injury and illness rates, and (3) to assess the suitability of health and safety committees as a platform for future intervention research involving participatory methods to improve effectiveness of the committees. The study uses several complementary sources of data: (1) interviews with 50 HSC members, (2) a survey of 500 manufacturing HSC companies, (3) administrative records from the CT Workers' Compensation Commission, including inspection checklists and HSC committee minutes for the 500 companies, and (4) workers' compensation first report of injury rates from 1995-2004. Comparisons will be made of HSC characteristics, including (a) committee membership and structure, (b) perceived importance of committee, (c) worker involvement, (d) management commitment and resources, and (e) committee activities to both HSC self-assessed efficacy and injury and illness rates in order to understand the characteristics that lead to more effective committees. Project Narrative Job Health and Safety Committees (HSC) are worker-management committees that are intended to try to reduce work-related injuries and illnesses in the workplace. This study is designed to better understand the characteristics of HSC (such as membership, activities, and communication) that make them more or less effective. This information is expected to lead to interventions to improve the effectiveness of HSC, which in turn should reduce work-related injuries and illnesses.