Safety Voice for Ergonomics as a Preventive Approach for Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Masonry Apprentices

Status unconfirmed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

In brief

Masons have the highest rate of overexertion injuries among all construction trades and rank second as an occupation for back injuries in the United States. Identified ergonomic solutions are the primary method of reducing exposure to risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. However, many construction workers lack knowledge about these solutions, as well as basic ergonomic principles. Construction apprentices, as they embark on their careers, are greatly in need of ergonomics training to minimize the cumulative exposure that leads to musculoskeletal disorders. Apprentices receive safety training; however, ergonomics training is often limited or non-existent. In addition, apprenticeship programs often lack "soft skills" training on how to appropriately respond to work environments and practices that are unsafe. The SAVE program - SAfety Voice for Ergonomics - strives to integrate evidence-based health and safety training strategies into the mason apprenticeship skills training to teach ergonomics, problem solving, and speaking up to communicate solutions that reduce musculoskeletal injury risk. The central hypothesis is that the combination of ergonomics training and safety voice promotion will be more effective than no training or either ergonomics training alone or safety voice training alone. Following the development and pilot testing of the SAVE intervention, SAVE will be evaluated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial at 12-15 masonry training centers across the U.S. Clusters of apprentices within centers will be assigned at random to one of three intervention groups (n = 32 per group): (1) ergonomics training only, (2) combined ergonomics and safety voice training, or (3) control group with no additional training intervention. Outcomes assessed at baseline, at the conclusion of training, and then at six and 12 months post training will include: musculoskeletal symptoms, general health perceptions, knowledge of ergonomic and safety voice principles, and perception and attitudes about ergonomic and safety voice issues.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02676635

Run by

Eastern Washington University

People needed

108

Starts

2016-02-01

Expected to finish

2019-08-01

Last updated by the study team

2018-09-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Currently employed masonry apprentices in their first two years of training and at least 18 years of age will be recruited to participate and provide signed informed consent. No potential participant will be excluded because of co-morbid medical conditions.

You may not qualify if…

• Apprentices who do not have reliable access to a computer or who do not use a cell phone will be excluded from participation.

Where it is running

• Eastern Washington University — Spokane, Washington, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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