However, there are excellent examples of interventions that have been evaluated and shown to be effective. Successful interventions to reduce musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities include worker participation programs to identify problems, coupled with the development and implementation of process changes or engineering controls. Hearing loss interventions have included regulations requiring auditory testing and noise control programs at the worksite. These programs can be effective when testing is done with care, when workers are educated about results and when the program is carefully maintained, updated, and implemented by a committed team of workers and management. Although many intervention strategies have been applied to industrial settings, knowledge about what works best is limited.
Many questions remain unanswered.
Intervention research is a new and multidisciplinary field that requires skills and disciplines not traditionally applied to occupational safety and health research. Behavioral scientists, economists, organizational theorists, and engineers, among others, should be included in interdisciplinary efforts to identify, develop, and evaluate practical prevention and control strategies. Employers, public decision-makers, and workplace safety and health teams need this information to assure better use of limited resources by making informed decisions about which prevention strategies work best. There has been little research evaluating the impact of interventions on safety and health outcomes. The Office of Technology Assessment evaluated selected OSHA standards.