Saf Health Work.  2018 Jun;9(2):140-143. 10.1016/j.shaw.2017.07.006.

Development and Validation of a Practical Instrument for Injury Prevention: The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT)

• Sun Y
• Arning M
• Bochmann F
• Börger J
• Heitmann T

• KMID: 2415414
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2017.07.006

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT) is a practical instrument that is currently used in the German woodworking and metalworking industries to monitor safety conditions at workplaces. The 12-item scoring system has three subscales rating technical, organizational, and personnel-related conditions in a company. Each item has a rating value ranging from 1 to 9, with higher values indicating higher standard of safety conditions.
METHODS
The reliability of this instrument was evaluated in a cross-sectional survey among 128 companies and its validity among 30,514 companies. The inter-rater reliability of the instrument was examined independently and simultaneously by two well-trained safety engineers. Agreement between the double ratings was quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient and absolute agreement of the rating values. The content validity of the OSH-MAT was evaluated by quantifying the association between OSH-MAT values and 5-year average injury rates by Poisson regression analysis adjusted for the size of the companies and industrial sectors. The construct validity of OSH-MAT was examined by principle component factor analysis.
RESULTS
Our analysis indicated good to very good inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.64-0.74) of OSH-MAT values with an absolute agreement of between 72% and 81%. Factor analysis identified three component subscales that met exactly the structure theory of this instrument. The Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant exposure-response relationship between OSH-MAT values and the 5-year average injury rates.
CONCLUSION
These analyses indicate that OSH-MAT is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used effectively to monitor safety conditions at workplaces.

Keyword

injury prevention; OSH-MAT; safety assessment

MeSH Terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Occupational Health*