Organizational Approaches to TWH for Low-Income Workers

There is an urgent need for evidence-based interventions to reduce risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and improve health and safety behaviors for low-income workers. Upstream interventions addressing these organizational characteristics and work experiences may be especially effective in preventing adverse health outcomes because they address underlying sources of elevated risk particularly important for low-wage workers. Low-wage workers have less schedule control, more irregular working hours, and shortened breaks due to time pressure to complete work tasks. The objective is to develop and test feasible intervention methods to modify the work organization and contribute to reductions in MSD risk, and improvements work-related well-being and job satisfaction. First, this study will identify characteristics of the work organization that can be feasibly modified through changes in management practices, based on interviews with food service managers and focus groups with workers. Second, the investigators will determine the feasibility and potential efficacy of an integrated TWH intervention in improving workers' ergonomic practices, MSD symptom, as well as in changing the work organization and environment related to work-related well-being and job satisfaction. The contribution of this study will be significant because it is expected to contribute to reducing disparities in these health outcomes by directly intervening on an underlying source of these disparities.