Health and safety practitioners, ergonomists and occupational hygienists are being invited to participate in a UK-wide study into the sources of information they use, either in their workplaces or when giving guidance to others.
Commissioned and funded by IOSH, the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IoM) research has already raised questions about the accessibility of information and knowledge sources for different aspects of occupational health and safety. An earlier phase of the project identified that, although there is a large number of resources available, little is known about the extent of their usage, including the reasons for the choice of different sources.
Joanne Crawford, principal investigator for the research project, said: “We would like to invite practitioners and other groups involved in occupational safety and health, such as ergonomists and occupational hygienists, to complete our survey. This will really help us explore the sources and formats they use to access information on occupational safety and health and related topics and how they communicate these to others.
“We are also interested in the factors that they think help or prevent knowledge being communicated and acted upon by the workforce.”
In an effort to examine how occupational safety and health information is identified and communicated from source to employees within organisations, the IOM survey is broadly aimed at all those who have a role in safety and health information in their workplace, including professional practitioners and non-professionals tasked with safety and health responsibilities.
“The data will be used to identify the sources of knowledge and information people use, how they transfer knowledge in their own workplaces, and their experiences of barriers and facilitators in the process of transferring safety and health knowledge in the workplace,” added Crawford.
“We would like to discuss further with participants any recent changes that have occurred in their workplace, if they would be willing to share this.”
The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, with the option to take part in a prize draw to win a Kindle. The deadline for responses is 20 November. The survey is available at: https://www.surveymk.com/s/OSHinformationandknowledge
