Dataset Information

Standardizing industrial hygiene data collection forms used by workers' compensation insurers.

ABSTRACT: Workers' compensation (WC) insurers collect large amounts of industrial hygiene (IH) data in the United States. The data collected is not easily accessible for research or surveillance purposes. Individual WC insurers are using computerized systems to standardize and store the IH data, leaving a gap in standardization among the different WC insurers. This study sought to standardize IH data collection among WC insurers and to determine the feasibility of pooling collected IH data. IH air and noise survey forms were collected from WC insurers. Data fields on the forms were evaluated for importance and a study list of core fields was developed. The core study list was presented to an IH review panel for review before finalization. The final core study list was compared to recommendations published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Fifty-nine forms from 10 organizations were collected. Industrial hygienists from research organizations, state-based WC insurers, and private WC insurers participated in the data field evaluation and on the review panel. For both air and noise survey forms, more than half the data fields (55% and 54%, respectively) were ranked as "essential." Three of the four fields in the worker and control observations category ranked "essential" were found less than half of the time on both types of survey forms. The study list of core data elements consisted of more than half of the data fields from both the air and noise survey forms. Three additional fields were added based on the comparison to the ACGIH-AIHA recommendations. Data fields essential to standardizing IH data collection were identified and verified. The "essential" data fields will be made available and have the potential to be incorporated into WC insurers electronic IH data management systems. Future research should focus on other IH survey forms, such as those used in ergonomic assessments and specific chemical exposures, and methods to transfer data fields to electronic platforms.

SUBMITTER: Babik KR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6755662 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Standardizing industrial hygiene data collection forms used by workers' compensation insurers.

Babik Kelsey R KR Shockey Taylor M TM Moore Libby L LL Wurzelbacher Steven J SJ

Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene 20180901 9

Workers' compensation (WC) insurers collect large amounts of industrial hygiene (IH) data in the United States. The data collected is not easily accessible for research or surveillance purposes. Individual WC insurers are using computerized systems to standardize and store the IH data, leaving a gap in standardization among the different WC insurers. This study sought to standardize IH data collection among WC insurers and to determine the feasibility of pooling collected IH data. IH air and noi ...[more]

PMID: 29985777

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Project description:Despite substantial financial and personnel resources being devoted to occupational exposure monitoring (OEM) by employers, workers' compensation insurers, and other organizations, the United States (U.S.) lacks comprehensive occupational exposure databases to use for research and surveillance activities. OEM data are necessary for determining the levels of workers' exposures; compliance with regulations; developing control measures; establishing worker exposure profiles; and improving preventive and responsive exposure surveillance and policy efforts. Workers' compensation insurers as a group may have particular potential for understanding exposures in various industries, especially among small employers. This is the first study to determine how selected state-based and private workers' compensation insurers collect, store, and use OEM data related specifically to air and noise sampling. Of 50 insurers contacted to participate in this study, 28 completed an online survey. All of the responding private and the majority of state-based insurers offered industrial hygiene (IH) services to policyholders and employed 1 to 3 certified industrial hygienists on average. Many, but not all, insurers used standardized forms for data collection, but the data were not commonly stored in centralized databases. Data were most often used to provide recommendations for improvement to policyholders. Although not representative of all insurers, the survey was completed by insurers that cover a substantial number of employers and workers. The 20 participating state-based insurers on average provided 48% of the workers' compensation insurance benefits in their respective states or provinces. These results provide insight into potential next steps for improving the access to and usability of existing data as well as ways researchers can help organizations improve data collection strategies. This effort represents an opportunity for collaboration among insurers, researchers, and others that can help insurers and employers while advancing the exposure assessment field in the U.S.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Mobile data collection systems are often difficult to use for nontechnical or novice users. This can be attributed to the fact that developers of such tools do not adequately involve end users in the design and development of product features and functions, which often creates interaction challenges. OBJECTIVE:The main objective of this study was to assess the guidelines for form design using high-fidelity prototypes developed based on end-user preferences. We also sought to investigate the association between the results from the System Usability Scale (SUS) and those from the Study Tailored Evaluation Questionnaire (STEQ) after the evaluation. In addition, we sought to recommend some practical guidelines for the implementation of the group testing approach particularly in low-resource settings during mobile form design. METHODS:We developed a Web-based high-fidelity prototype using Axure RP 8. A total of 30 research assistants (RAs) evaluated this prototype in March 2018 by completing the given tasks during 1 common session. An STEQ comprising 13 affirmative statements and the commonly used and validated SUS were administered to evaluate the usability and user experience after interaction with the prototype. The STEQ evaluation was summarized using frequencies in an Excel sheet while the SUS scores were calculated based on whether the statement was positive (user selection minus 1) or negative (5 minus user selection). These were summed up and the score contributions multiplied by 2.5 to give the overall form usability from each participant. RESULTS:Of the RAs, 80% (24/30) appreciated the form progress indication, found the form navigation easy, and were satisfied with the error messages. The results gave a SUS average score of 70.4 (SD 11.7), which is above the recommended average SUS score of 68, meaning that the usability of the prototype was above average. The scores from the STEQ, on the other hand, indicated a 70% (21/30) level of agreement with the affirmative evaluation statements. The results from the 2 instruments indicated a fair level of user satisfaction and a strong positive association as shown by the Pearson correlation value of .623 (P<.01). CONCLUSIONS:A high-fidelity prototype was used to give the users experience with a product they would likely use in their work. Group testing was done because of scarcity of resources such as costs and time involved especially in low-income countries. If embraced, this approach could help assess user needs of the diverse user groups. With proper preparation and the right infrastructure at an affordable cost, usability testing could lead to the development of highly usable forms. The study thus makes recommendations on the practical guidelines for the implementation of the group testing approach particularly in low-resource settings during mobile form design.

Dataset Information

Standardizing industrial hygiene data collection forms used by workers' compensation insurers.

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Standardizing industrial hygiene data collection forms used by workers' compensation insurers.

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