Understanding Factors That Affect the Adoption of Ergonomic Intervention Among EMS Workers

Ergonomics interventions are designed to reduce musculoskeletal stresses and loads on the workers. The primary goal of this study was to identify the factors that affect adoption of such ergonomic interventions. Even though these ergonomic interventions have been validated through laboratory testing, some ergonomic interventions are not adopted by the targeted workers.;According to previous research in the areas of information technology acceptance and diffusion of innovation, worker's perceptions and attitudes impact the adoption of an intervention. The current study specifically aimed at developing a model of the intervention adoption process. This model provides valuable insight into understanding the relative importance of the factors hypothesized to impact the adoption of an ergonomic intervention.;The study recruited hundred and forty seven emergency service workers (EMS) workers. The data was collected using surveys and interviews regarding worker's perceptions and attitudes towards using a specific ergonomic intervention. The intervention introduced was a transfer-board, designed to assist with lateral transfers of patients. The survey included constructs such as perceived ease of use, task-technology compatibility, organizational climate supportiveness of innovation, relative advantage, endorsement by champions, attitude towards use, intention to use the device and actual use of the device.;The results of the traditional regression analysis showed that the best predictors of "intention to use" were perceived "relative advantage and ease," "endorsed by champions" and "task compatibility." Furthermore, "adoption" defined as "used at least ten times" was predicted by "previous experience with similar tools" and perceived "relative advantage and ease.";The structural equation model developed in this study not only confirmed the results of the linear regression analysis but in addition also offered insight into relationships between the predictors and the direct and indirect causal influences of the hypothesized predictors on intention to use and actual use of an ergonomic intervention. Some of the key statistically significant indirect causal influences were: (1) influence of "task compatibility" on intention to use via "relative advantage and ease," (2) effect of organizational climate on intention to use via "endorsed by champions," and (3) causal influence of "relative advantage and ease" on "intention to use" through its effect on "attitude towards use." The model showed that the intention to use had a statistically significant predictive influence on actual use frequency. These results from this study, offers useful insights for improving implementation and adoption of worthy ergonomic interventions.