Search

Manual material handling training (MMHT) is of questionable value according to five meta-analyses. However, little is known about why this is so. The aim of this study is to take a closer look at how MMHT are evaluated in order to identify what could explain judgement about their (lack of) effectiveness. Seventy-seven studies were included in a scoping review, and were analyzed using an inductive grid comprising numerous criteria. Workplace training programs, being the most frequent, were described in these papers in greater detail. Given the broad range of contexts it was found that MMHT differed greatly from one study to the other. All the while, contents presented through these programs were surprisingly uniform, with an emphasis on adopting the safe handling technique commonly known as "straight back, bent knees", although such training approach principally focuses on the trainee's behaviours, while paying little (to no) attention to the work conditions that might condition correct behavioral display. Limitations of current MMHT are discussed and explanations are given in order to better explain why they are reported to be so ineffective. Concrete recommendations on how to improve them close the paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

At the 2018 IEA conference, the Gender and Work Technical Committee organized three symposia with over 20 presentations. Overall, these contributions positioned ergonomics as a theoretical and pragmatic approach developing innovative methods to integrate sex/gender analysis into the construction and evaluation of interventions. This special issue of Applied Ergonomics includes diverse approaches to the consideration of sex and gender in ergonomics, including methods in accident analysis, musculoskeletal disorders, work-family interactions, work schedule analysis, prevention programs and evaluation of interventions. The contents are summarized in this introduction., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this article is to examine the impacts of incorporating sex and gender (s/g) analysis in integrated knowledge translation (iKT) initiatives in the field of ergonomics and occupational health. The article presents findings based on a retrospective analysis of twelve intervention-research (IR) studies, including a thematic content analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 15 researchers involved in these IRs. The findings offer an overview of various categories of impacts, such as changes in partners' views, in workplace settings and conditions, in practices and policies, and in economic outcomes. In these types of IR, health effects measurement is not the main objective, and direct health outcomes are difficult to assess. Explicitly talking about sex/gender led more often to system-level changes but less often to workplace-level changes, compared to interventions where sex/gender was not identified as a specific object of the intervention., (Crown Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)