EarCovered at work

Introduction

Companies invest in hearing protection and yet it is not always worn (consistently) in the workplace. The company does not really know why the hearing protection is not being used and therefore what needs to be changed to achieve an improvement. To map those needs in the company, work is done according to the Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP): 'Needs assessment', (Bartholomew Eldrigde et al., 2016). Innovatively, attention is paid to influencing factors from the environment and context from behavioural explanatory models such as the behavioural wheel (VIGL, 2020).

The exploratory PWO study resulted in an assessment tool for employee, shift manager and prevention advisor as the first step of the IMP.

During the follow-up research, the following research questions were posed:

• Which determinants of hearing protection non-use from the exploratory PWO study should be part of the digital assessment instrument in companies?
• Are the different parts of the assessment tool clear and easy to use?
• In what way can this research be taken forward to complete the next steps of the IMP (follow-up funding)?

Method

The assessment tool is created digitally from the findings from the qualitative research of the exploratory study. This instrument will be evaluated by employees for clarity and ease of use through a loud thinking protocol. In addition, a try-out in a company is organised to check the extent to which the instrument is clear and easy to use, and to get a first look at its validity and reliability. For this purpose, a number of questions on the questionnaire will be added to the assessment instrument. An application to the TETRA programme will also be developed.

Step-by-step plan to motivate employees to wear hearing protection

We want to provide a solution to this problem by providing effective methods and techniques tailored to the company. We will do this during a 2-year trajectory financed with a TETRA program (VLAIO).

• STEP 1: First we examine the possible reasons/determinants of (non-)use. For this purpose, in our previous research we designed a questionnaire in the form of an assessment instrument (AI) to gauge the (non-)use of hearing protection within the company. Both the input of the employees/shift leaders who work in noise and the input of the prevention adviser/management are important here. The AIs originated both from the literature and from practice after focus discussions and interviews with employees and prevention advisers in ten companies. In the first pilot projects in January and February 2022 ten companies will implement the AI.
• STEP 2: Based on the answers, we will formulate change goals (March – April 2022).
• STEP 3: The selection of methods and techniques is discussed in the second project year. During the second testing grounds (September - November 2022) the practice will test them.

Results

The roll-out was done with 50 workers where the extent of the problem was once again confirmed: only 8% of workers wear their hearing protectors (almost) all the time. 72% of workers find the questions clear, however, the majority of workers (78%) also find the list too long. In addition, application for the TETRA programme was approved, allowing the project to continue with 2 FTEs for another 2 years.

Discussion

During the digitisation of the questionnaires, it turned out that there is no need for 2 different assessment instruments as far as the employee and the shift manager are concerned; these will be combined into one instrument. The foreman's results will be analysed separately: both as a function of their own behaviour and as an environmental factor for the employee's behaviour. The findings from the qualitative survey are taken into account in the follow-up study.

Conclusion

On the basis of the pilot study, the assessment instrument was optimised. Thanks to the TETRA programme as follow-up funding, interventions can be developed and further optimised in various living labs together with some 40 Flemish multisectoral SMEs, GOs and trade organisations. These results and good practices will result in an implementation guide to pass on this knowledge and expertise.

Disadvantages of not wearing hearing protection

Hearing protection is not worn enough at work and that despite all the efforts a company makes. Not wearing hearing protection has disastrous consequences:

• both for the individual (hearing loss, ringing in the ears, ear and headache, cardiovascular disease, reduced mental well-being, …)
• as for the company (greater risk of accidents, less productivity, more absenteeism, …)
• and society (major health care system burden).

Guide with findings for businesses

All findings are poured into a user-friendly and accessible implementation guide . In this way, companies can themselves initiate a sustainable behavioral change with employees who work in a noisy environment .