Evaluation of Educational Programs Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior on Employee's Safety Behaviors

Background and Health organizations consider behavior as one of the main causes of today’s common diseases and health problems. In order to modify behavior and also to reduce occupational risks, it is always recommended to combine ergonomics interventions with health promotion activities. This study assessed the impact of educational interventions based on theory of planned behavior on safety behavior of workers in Qazvin industrial Town, 2009. This quasi-experimental randomized controlled trial was done in 150 workers who were assigned into intervention (n=75) and control (n=75) groups. Demographic information and data regarding theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs, and knowledge and safety performance were recorded two weeks before the intervention, and three months and six months after the intervention using a questionnaire and safe operation checklist. Panel of Experts, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, test-retest reliability coefficients, and Kappa coefficients were used to confirm the psychometric properties of measurement tools. Educational intervention was carried out through group discussion according to TPB constructs in four training sessions of 45-60 mins attended by 8-15 people in each class. The data was analyzed using SPSS ver.16, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA, Repeated measure ANOVA. The mean age of participants was 31 ± 7.4 and 65% were male. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding demographic features and the study variables. But the results after the training sessions showed significant increases in the mean scores of attitude (from 17.2 ± 5.3 to 25.6 ± 4.5, P<0.001), subjective norms (from 4.7 ± 2.1 to 7.0 ± 1.5, P<0.05), perceived behavior control (from 2.7 ± 1.1 to 6.8 ± 1.6, P<0.001), intention (from 8.0 ± 3.6 ± 10.9 ± 2.8, P<0.05), self-report behavior (from 2.2 ± 1.0 to 3.6 ± 1.2), knowledge (from 7.0 ± 1.8 to 9.8 ± 1.5), and safety behavior (from 6.3 ± 1.5 to 8.5 ± 2.1, P<0.05) in experimental group. But no significant changes were found for these variables in the control group. The results showed that educational intervention is able to change the consciousness, attitude, perceived behavior control, subjective norms, intention and safety behavior of workers and improve their safety performance. Therefore, applying this model of change in behavior is recommended in other settings.