Improving safety performance of nurses using a participatory ergonomics approach: a case study in a hospital affiliated to the Iranian oil industry

Participatory ergonomics refers to the active participation of all components of an organization in the development and implementation of ergonomic knowledge in order to improve workplace conditions and safety of workforce in the organization. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of participatory and educational ergonomics on nurses' safety performance.

A one-month interventional study was conducted on 90 nurses working in a Khuzestan Petroleum healthcare hospital using a convenience sampling method. The subjects were divided into three groups: participation, training, and control. The researcher-made safety performance questionnaire (scopes of safety participation and compliance with safety rules) was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance and paired t-test by SPSS 16.

There was no significant difference in safety performance level of nurses from three groups before intervention (p<0.05), but there was a significant difference in the post-intervention (p<0.001). The significant difference was seen between the participation and control group in the field of safety participation, and between the education and control group in terms of compliance with safety rules (p<0.001).

participatory ergonomics is more effective than training in improving safety performance of nurses. The implementation of participatory ergonomics in collaboration with senior management commitment could be an effective step for achieving ergonomics goals in healthcare organizations.