Liberty Mutual Best Paper Award 2011

Jan de Leede and his co-authors received the 2011 Liberty Mutual Award for their scientific paper, “Effects of the New Fast Forward Rotating Five-Shift Roster at a Dutch Steel Company.” The paper, published in Ergonomics (Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 727-738, June 2010), discusses a scientific field study of a shift roster change at a large Dutch steel producer. The winning researchers include John Klein Hesselink, Ph.D., of TNO; Jan de Leede, Ph.D., of the University of Twente, Institute for Innovation and Governance Studies, and ModernWorkx; and Anneke Goudswaard, Ph.D., also of TNO. The award was presented at the recent Annual Conference of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors held at the Stoke Rochford Hall, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.

The winning study investigated the effects of shift systems on worker health and safety. Researchers examined a new five-shift roster at Corus Steel (The Netherlands). The company previously used a backward rotating roster (three night shifts, two days off, three evening shifts, two days off, three morning shifts, and two days off). However, due to health risks in this roster, the company’s medical department proposed a new forward rotating roster (shifts that rotate from mornings into evening). In the new roster, employees worked successively four (two morning, two evening) and two (night) consecutive shifts; where as, the old roster used a three-shift format. Further, the old roster had only two days off following the night shifts versus three days off in the new roster.

The investigation included more than 4,600 shift workers, primarily men (more than 97% male workers) with an average age of 45 years. Almost all of the workers were full-time. The study examined data on reported accidents and absenteeism (due to sickness), as well as information from the health interviews. Researchers compared the data obtained from one year after the new roster implementation to that of the prior year. Further, the researchers evaluated the data of the experimental group (the five-shift workers) with the data of the day workers to control for general company developments.

The researchers found a 0.6% decrease in absence figures, particularly in mid-term sickness absence. Further, the study revealed improvements in health indicators, such as fatigue, musculoskeletal complaints, relationship of work and health, and workload in the year after implementation of the new roster. These positive effects were also stronger for older workers (50+ years old). The results were significantly more positive for the shift workers compared with the control group.

“We are honored to win this award,” says Dr. de Leede, the study’s corresponding author. “Our findings confirm the current ergonomics shift-work recommendations. The results are especially meaningful for older workers. Given the aging workforce, it is one of the measures for older workers to stay fit. It was a satisfying experience to conduct this study within a real-life context and to see the process of changing a shift system involving more than 4,600 people that had been in place for 25 years.”

The Best Paper Award promotes excellence in safety and health research. The annual Award, established in 2005 by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the UK Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factors (formerly the Ergonomics Society), recognizes the paper published in the journal Ergonomics that best contributes to the advancement of ergonomics. The editors of Ergonomics, in conjunction with the Institute’s Honors Committee, select the winner from all of the papers published in the journal over the given year. All papers published in the journal are considered.

“The Liberty Mutual Award celebrates the best research published in Ergonomics,” says Roger Haslam, coordinating editor of Ergonomics. “I am pleased to congratulate Jan De Leede and his colleagues on winning the award. Their paper presents the findings of a major field study, with a large population of workers. We were impressed with its scope, scale, and outcomes. It is an excellent demonstration of the positive impact of ergonomics.”

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<< MB home Home News & Events News Events Prices & Awards Organization Education Publications Search	News \| Events \| Prices & Awards Liberty Mutual Best Paper Award 2011 Jan de Leede and his co-authors received the 2011 Liberty Mutual Award for their scientific paper, “Effects of the New Fast Forward Rotating Five-Shift Roster at a Dutch Steel Company.” The paper, published in Ergonomics (Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 727-738, June 2010), discusses a scientific field study of a shift roster change at a large Dutch steel producer. The winning researchers include John Klein Hesselink, Ph.D., of TNO; Jan de Leede, Ph.D., of the University of Twente, Institute for Innovation and Governance Studies, and ModernWorkx; and Anneke Goudswaard, Ph.D., also of TNO. The award was presented at the recent Annual Conference of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors held at the Stoke Rochford Hall, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. The winning study investigated the effects of shift systems on worker health and safety. Researchers examined a new five-shift roster at Corus Steel (The Netherlands). The company previously used a backward rotating roster (three night shifts, two days off, three evening shifts, two days off, three morning shifts, and two days off). However, due to health risks in this roster, the company’s medical department proposed a new forward rotating roster (shifts that rotate from mornings into evening). In the new roster, employees worked successively four (two morning, two evening) and two (night) consecutive shifts; where as, the old roster used a three-shift format. Further, the old roster had only two days off following the night shifts versus three days off in the new roster. The investigation included more than 4,600 shift workers, primarily men (more than 97% male workers) with an average age of 45 years. Almost all of the workers were full-time. The study examined data on reported accidents and absenteeism (due to sickness), as well as information from the health interviews. Researchers compared the data obtained from one year after the new roster implementation to that of the prior year. Further, the researchers evaluated the data of the experimental group (the five-shift workers) with the data of the day workers to control for general company developments. The researchers found a 0.6% decrease in absence figures, particularly in mid-term sickness absence. Further, the study revealed improvements in health indicators, such as fatigue, musculoskeletal complaints, relationship of work and health, and workload in the year after implementation of the new roster. These positive effects were also stronger for older workers (50+ years old). The results were significantly more positive for the shift workers compared with the control group. “We are honored to win this award,” says Dr. de Leede, the study’s corresponding author. “Our findings confirm the current ergonomics shift-work recommendations. The results are especially meaningful for older workers. Given the aging workforce, it is one of the measures for older workers to stay fit. It was a satisfying experience to conduct this study within a real-life context and to see the process of changing a shift system involving more than 4,600 people that had been in place for 25 years.” The Best Paper Award promotes excellence in safety and health research. The annual Award, established in 2005 by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the UK Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factors (formerly the Ergonomics Society), recognizes the paper published in the journal Ergonomics that best contributes to the advancement of ergonomics. The editors of Ergonomics, in conjunction with the Institute’s Honors Committee, select the winner from all of the papers published in the journal over the given year. All papers published in the journal are considered. “The Liberty Mutual Award celebrates the best research published in Ergonomics,” says Roger Haslam, coordinating editor of Ergonomics. “I am pleased to congratulate Jan De Leede and his colleagues on winning the award. Their paper presents the findings of a major field study, with a large population of workers. We were impressed with its scope, scale, and outcomes. It is an excellent demonstration of the positive impact of ergonomics.”