• Eija Haukka, Irmeli Pehkonen, Päivi Leino-Arjas, Eira Viikari-Juntura, Esa-Pekka Takala, Antti Malmivaara, Leila Hopsu, Pertti Mutanen, Ritva Ketola, Tuija Virtanen, Merja Holtari-Leino, Jaana Nykänen, Sari Stenholm, Anneli Ojajärvi, and Hilkka Riihimäki.
• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, FI-00250, Helsinki, Finland. Eija.Haukka@ttl.fi
• Occup Environ Med. 2010 Mar 1;67(3):170-7.

ObjectivesTo study the effect of a participatory ergonomics intervention on psychosocial factors among kitchen workers.DesignA cluster randomised controlled trial.SettingFour cities in Finland, 2002-2005.Participants504 workers in 119 municipal kitchens.InterventionKitchens were randomised to intervention (n=59) and control (n=60) groups. The intervention lasted 11-14 months and was based on the workers' active participation in work analysis, planning and implementing the ergonomic changes aimed at decreasing the physical and mental workload.Main Outcome MeasuresMental stress, mental strenuousness of work, hurry, job satisfaction, job control, skill discretion, co-worker relationships and supervisor support. Data were collected by questionnaire at baseline, at the end of the intervention, and at a 12-month follow-up (PI(12)).ResultsAt the end of the intervention, the OR of job dissatisfaction for the intervention group as compared with the control group was 3.0 (95% CI 1.1 to 8.5), of mental stress 2.3 (1.2 to 4.7) and of poor co-worker relationships 2.3 (1.0 to 5.2). At the PI(12), the OR of job dissatisfaction was 3.0 (1.2 to 7.8). Analysis of the independent and joint effects of the intervention and unconnected organisational reforms showed that adverse changes were accentuated among those with exposure to both.ConclusionsNo favourable effects on psychosocial factors at work were found. The adverse changes were due to a joint effect of the intervention and the unconnected organisational reforms. The findings do not support the usefulness of this kind of intervention in changing unsatisfactory psychosocial working conditions.

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