Clinical trial NCT05039398: 'Dialogue and Guidance' - a Policy Intervention for Improved OHS Among Workplaces With WEA Violations
Official title: A Policy Developed Intervention With Additional Participatory Dialogue and Guidance for Improved Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Among Workplaces With WEA (Working Environment Authority) Violations
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Occupational Diseases
Occupational Injuries
Safety Issues
Lead sponsor: Danish Labor Inspectorate
Sponsor class: OTHER_GOV
Collaborators: name: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark
First posted: 2021-09-09
Enrollment: 4500
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Parallel Assignment Each workplace assigned for inspection by the WEA is randomized to either of two intervention groups (physical meeting dialogue and guidance, telephone meeting dialogue and guidance) or a control group. If the workplace receives a WEA notice of material violations of work environment regulations, the workplace receives an offer for dialogue and guidance if they are in one of the two intervention groups. The comparison group receives treatment as usual.

Randomization as follows:

1/3 are randomized to treatment-as-usual comparison status 1/3 are randomized to receive dialogue and guidance over telephone 1/3 are randomized to receive dialogue and guidance at a physical meeting
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: With the aim to inspire and motivate workplaces in their work to prevent and reduce occupational health and safety hazards, the Danish Working Environment Authority (WEA) developed the intervention 'Dialogue and Guidance' aimed at workplaces receiving notices (prohibition notice, immediate improvement notice and notice with time limit) from WEA during inspections. At present, WEA gives dialogue and guidance as standard practice during WEA inspections to all workplaces receiving a notice with the purpose to help workplaces resolve the occupational health and safety problem that led to the notice. In the intervention 'Dialogue and Guidance' the experimental groups are receiving additional dialogue and guidance at a subsequent meeting (over the telephone or physical presence) that takes place after the inspection and after the deadline for appealing the notice has expired. The control group is receiving dialogue and guidance during inspection as usual.

The aim of this RCT study is to evaluate the policy-developed intervention with additional 'Dialogue and Guidance' in regards to the effect on motivation and priority of occupational health and safety work at the workplace after 6 months follow-up and for WEA notices by next WEA inspection (approx. follow-up by 12-18 months).

Study is risk assessed and approved under Danish Data Protection Agency via the National Research Centre for the Working Environment's umbrella approval.


Eligibility criteria: Subjects under inspection are workplaces, and respondents of the questionnaires are the workplace manager and a work environment representative or shop steward.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Workplaces (production units) who receives a WEA notice during WEA inspection through the period of intervention. The following WEA notices are included:

* Immediate improvement notice
* Notice with time limit (material)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Companies with 0-1 employees.
* Production units from the construction industry met on temporary worksites (such as construction sites) that have more than one employee and does not have a certified occupational health and safety management system.
* Companies receiving notices only about issues in the formal/procedural aspects of the work environment (such as flaws in the workplace risk assessment) and no other notices.
* Companies receiving more than four reactions from WEA at the inspection (as these receive a competency notice and are not included in the study).
* Companies that receive a prohibition notice by the WEA inspector due to severity of work environment violations.
* A WEA improvement notice is not eligible for inclusion in the study if the workplace has entered into a collaborative agreement with WEA on improvement of the issue, or if they have received a competency notice on the WEA issue.
* Companies receiving WEA inspections in relation to initiatives targeting social dumping

Primary outcomes:
measure: WEA notices - specific
timeFrame: Through study completion, approx. 12-18 months
measure: WEA notices - all
timeFrame: Through study completion, approx. 12-18 months
measure: OHS problem solution
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
measure: Sustainable OHS solutions
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: OHS motivation
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
measure: OHS priority
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
measure: OHS practice efficacy
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
measure: Diffusion of OHS knowledge
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
measure: Other WEA reactions
timeFrame: Through study completion, approx. 12-18 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Copenhagen
country: Denmark
facility: Working Environment Authority
state: Copenhagen Ø
Study officials:
affiliation: The National Research Centre for the Working Environment
name: Johan S. Abildgaard, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: