Citation

Zahiri Harsini A, Ghofranipour F, Sanaeinasab H, Amin Shokravi F. BMC Public Health 2019; 19(1): e776.

Affiliation

Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12889-019-7126-1

PMID

31215406

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The worldwide concern about safety has created a need for new and effective strategies to improve safety in the workplace. Based on reported studies, approximately 90% of workplace accidents are due to unsafe behaviour and human error. Therefore, the most important strategy in reducing the rate of these accidents is training workers regarding safe behaviour and avoiding human error. There is limited research on understanding the barriers to promoting safe behaviour amongst petrochemical workers. This paper presents a protocol for an intervention study, using training sessions in combination with an educational software (application). The intervention aims to both promote workers' safe behaviour and reduce the rate of occupational accidents.

METHODS: One hundred seventy-six workers will be recruited to this study from an Iranian petrochemical industry. The study is Mixed Methods Research (MMR) which will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, using a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews will identify the causes of unsafe behaviour in the petrochemical industry. In the second phase, models of safe behaviour used in workplaces and the petrochemical industry will be investigated. The findings of the first phase will be matched with the constructs of these models to produce a well-suited conceptual model. Questionnaires and an educational intervention will be designed based on the results of the two phases. The workers will receive training interventions using direct methods, involving training sessions and workshops, and in an indirect method for which educational software will be designed. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) will assess comparability between the intervention group and the control group at baseline, after the intervention, and at a three-month follow up.

DISCUSSION: This research will provide a practical approach for promoting safe behaviours and reducing occupational hazards amongst industrial workers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: IRCT20170515033981N2. Registered 19 June 2018.

Language: en

Keywords

Educational intervention; Occupational hazards; Petrochemical workers; Safe behaviours