NOIRS intervention contest paper (Perform.pdf) March 19, 2003 A Randomised and Controlled Trial of Participative Ergonomics for Manual Tasks (PErforM) Robin Burgess-Limerick BHMS(Hons) PhD CPE School of Human Movement Studies The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA Roxanne Egeskov BOccTher GDip(OH&S) MHealthSc(OH&S) CPE Department of Industrial Relations Queensland, AUSTRALIA Clare Pollock BA(Hons) PhD School of Psychology Curtin University of Technology, AUSTRALIA Leon Straker BAppSc(Physiotherapy) MSc(Ergonomics) PhD School of Physiotherapy Curtin University of Technology, AUSTRALIA Abstract A participative ergonomics approach to reducing injuries associated with manual tasks is widely promoted, however only limited evidence from uncontrolled trials was available to support the efficacy of such an approach. This paper reports on a randomised and controlled trial of PErforM, a participative ergonomics intervention designed to reduce the risks of injury associated with manual tasks. One hundred and seventeen small to medium sized food, construction, and health workplaces in South-East Queensland were audited by government inspectors using a manual tasks risk assessment tool (ManTRA). Forty-eight volunteer workplaces were then randomly assigned to Experimental and Control groups with the Experimental group receiving the PErforM program. Inspectors audited the workplaces again, nine months following the intervention. A significant decrease in estimates of manual task risk was observed in the intervention group, as was an increase in risk assessment activity and improved management systems for manual task risk assessment and control. These data provide strong evidence for the efficacy of participative ergonomics approaches to reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury associated with manual tasks.