A cost-benefit analysis of peer coaching for overhead lift use in the long-term care sector in Canada.

Objectives: To evaluate whether a peer-coaching programme for patient lift use in British Columbia, Canada, was effective and cost-beneficial.

Methods: We used monthly panel data from 15 long-term care facilities from 2004 to 2011 to estimate the number of patient-handling injuries averted by the peer-coaching programme using a generalised estimating equation model. Facilities that had not yet introduced the programme served as concurrent controls.

Economic evaluation of a participatory ergonomics intervention in a textile plant.

In this study we report on the economic evaluation of a participatory ergonomics process undertaken at a clothing manufacturer in Southwestern Ontario, Canada that employs approximately 300 workers. We undertake a cost-benefit analysis from the company perspective. Intervention costs amounted to $65,787 and intervention benefits $360,614 (2011 Canadian dollars).

Attitudes towards disability management: A survey of employees returning to work and their supervisors.

Objectives: Return to work after a leave on disability is a common phenomenon, but little is known about the attitudes of employees or their supervisors towards the disability management process. We report on employee and supervisor feedback from one disability management experience.

Participants: 389 consecutive employees from the Ontario offices of a single private Canadian insurance company returning to work from short-term disability, and their supervisors.

A systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic analyses.

Introduction: This article reports on a systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic evaluations. The review sought to answer the question: "what is the credible evidence that incremental investment in ergonomic interventions is worth undertaking?" Past efforts to synthesize evidence from this literature have focused on effectiveness, whereas this study synthesizes evidence on the cost-effectiveness/financial merits of such interventions.

Methods: Through a structured journal database search, 35 intervention studies were identified in nine industrial sectors.

A systematic review of occupational health and safety interventions with economic analyses.

Objective: We reviewed the occupational health and safety intervention literature to synthesize evidence on financial merits of such interventions.

Methods: A literature search included journal databases, existing systematic reviews, and studies identified by content experts. Studies meeting inclusion criteria were assessed for quality.

An economic evaluation of a participatory ergonomics process in an auto parts manufacturer.

Problem: We assess the costs and consequences of a participatory ergonomics process at a Canadian car parts manufacturer from the perspective of the firm.

Method: Regression modeling was used with interrupted time series data to assess the impact of the process on several health measures. Consequences were kept in natural units for cost-effectiveness analysis, and translated into monetary units for cost-benefit analysis.

A systematic review of disability management interventions with economic evaluations.

Introduction: We present the results of a systematic literature review of disability management interventions to answer the question: "what is the credible evidence that incremental investment in disability management interventions is worth undertaking?"

Methods: We identified studies through searches in journal databases and requests to content experts. After assessing the quality of studies that met content requirements, we employed a best-evidence synthesis approach. Studies were stratified across several dimensions for evidence synthesis, with industry as the core stratification criterion.

Precarious employment experiences and their health consequences: towards a theoretical framework.

Fundamental shifts in the structure of labour markets, work systems, and employment relations of industrialized countries have outpaced changes in legislative, social and political mechanisms. As a result, a growing number of workers are exposed to precarious employment experiences, which we define as experiences that give rise to instability, lack of protection, insecurity, and social and economic vulnerability. These experiences represent a potentially significant occupational health risk.

Practice and potential of economic evaluation of workplace-based interventions for occupational health and safety.

Background: We review economic analyses in studies of workplace-based occupational health and safety interventions in order to report on evidence of their financial merits and assess the quality of application of economic evaluation methodologies. The focus of the review is interventions applicable to an office setting.

Materials And Methods: We draw on several systematic reviews to identify studies that consider both the costs and consequences of an intervention, or simply the consequences in monetary terms.