Strategy development in dealing with violence against employees in the workplace.

The creation of health promoting workplaces is a key development in contemporary workplace health. This paper focuses on the issue of workplace violence and the efforts which must be made to address its prevention and to deal with its consequences as a contribution towards developing a health promoting workplace. A critical overview of the issue as it is currently addressed in the international literature is a precursor to the formulation of an inclusive definition of workplace violence. This forms the basis for a framework for the development and implementation of workplace violence policies. The framework takes account of needs assessment, policy formulation in terms of prevention, incident management and reporting, and post-incident support strategies. The needs for effective education and training and good internal and external communications are also explored. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity for workplaces to take seriously the need for a coherent and well-planned workplace violence strategy.

A rapid appraisal method for reviewing the effectiveness of workplace smoking policies in large and medium sized organisations.

Workplace smoking policies have been developed in response to growing scientific evidence about the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), increasing opposition from non-smokers, concern over escalating costs of health damage and productivity losses, and the emergence of relevant laws and codes of good practice. Much has been written on the development and implementation of workplace smoking policies, but little about their evaluation. This paper describes a rapid appraisal method for the evaluation of workplace smoking policies. The four-stage process involves rapid, focused consultation with policy makers in the workplace, appropriate risk assessment, rapid consultation with those affected by the policy and focused feedback of results for planning and ongoing monitoring. In the pilot site the existing health and safety committee members were effective informants for the identification of key issues in smoking policy. The risk assessment phase was incorporated into the main appraisal which involved a canvass of staff and others on ETS issues identified by the informants. In the final stage of the process the health and safety committee proved to be both responsive to identified need, and proactive in facilitating ongoing review of the smoking policy. It therefore proved possible to develop the rapid appraisal process for administration in a limited time frame, three months for the whole process, with the rapid canvass element being achieved within one week.

A rapid appraisal method for the selection and pre-testing of environmental health leaflets.

This paper presents a rapid appraisal method for the selection and pre-testing of printed leaflets on environmental health issues. The method combines a staff questionnaire, a readability test and a target population survey and is designed to aid leaflet selection in a way which is practically feasible yet retaining an acceptable level of face validity. A multiple, embedded case study was used to field-test the method and the feedback from this is discussed. The results suggest that the method has the potential to replace ad hoc arrangements by the gatekeepers and make the selection of leaflets more a matter of structured decision-making involving representatives of all the stake-holders.

The health promotion implications of the knowledge and attitude of employees in relation to health and safety leaflets.

Selected aspects of the efficacy of printed leaflets produced by a government health and safety agency and widely distributed by the enforcement bodies and other organisations to promote workplace health and safety are examined. It is based on a study of 30 small or medium-sized enterprises and examines the views of 120 employers and employees regarding the availability, attractiveness, relevance and usefulness of the leaflets and estimates the reader comprehension and readability of the selected leaflets. The results indicate that the selected leaflets are considered acceptable and comprehensible by the majority of respondents. As these are typical of the leaflets available in the health and safety field this is a positive outcome. The discussion focuses around the ability of the leaflets to engage and to inform and suggestions are made to encourage a wider debate on the criteria which contribute to these two aspects of leaflet use. It is contended that leaflets will continue to be important in the attempts of those involved in workplace health and safety to facilitate learning and to contribute to the overall process of behaviour change. This study raises a number of key issues regarding the future design and use of such leaflets.