Hazard screening and proposals for prevention by occupational health service: an experiment with job load and hazard analysis at a Finnish construction company.

In this study a systematic method for workplace investigation was developed and then tested as part of the regular occupational health care procedures in the building trade. Workplace investigation is a concept which entails the analysis of hazards inherent in the work as well as assessment of their effects on workers' well-being. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the workplace investigation method. The newly developed method, called Job Load and Hazard Analysis, has the following characteristics: a job analytic approach; the application of group problem-solving; and cooperation between occupational health professionals, occupational safety personnel, and line management. The method comprises the identification of health hazards, their assessment, and conclusions and proposals as to their prevention and follow-up. The method was tested as part of one constructor's actual occupational health care programme, over a 2.5-year period. The method worked well as a central component of preventive occupational health care. It yielded concrete data that could be applied to make the occupational health care programme better suited to preventing the hazards inherent in the building trade. The contents of the occupational health care programme were clearly enhanced, the number of preventive measures increased, and the organizational climate improved; the workers praised the increased emphasis on safety. More research is needed, eg in other production settings and to determine the most effective utilization of the data gathered by the method.