Interview Script for Small Business Owners

Attachment E

Interview Probes

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-xxxx

Exp. Date xx/xx/201x

Interview Probes

Demographics

Organizational

Industry:

Number of employees:

Number of family members employed:

Years in business:

Major occupations:

Annual sales:

Have you ever been cited by OSHA?

Who manages safety?

Who manages wellness?

What employee benefits are offered?

What memberships does the organization maintain?

e.g., Trade associations, community organizations

Personal

Position

Are you an owner? If so, what percentage?

How many years in this position?

Gender observed

Age

Education

What occupational safety and health training have you received?

What wellness training have you received?

Please rate your overall health:

excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor

Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 90 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to CDC/ATSDR Information Collection Review Office, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS D-74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; ATTN: PRA (0920-xxxx).

Behavior

The purpose of this section is to find out about the types of safety and health-related activities participants currently utilize, and any that they may be considering.

Does this organization have what you would consider a workplace safety program? (if no, go to activities)

If yes, is there anything in writing about this program?

If yes, would you be willing to share any of that?

Tell me about the elements of your workplace safety program.

What elements of a workplace safety program has this organization had at any time over the last two years?

• Management commitment and employee involvement

• Worksite analysis

• Hazard prevention and control

• Training for employees, supervisors and managers

• Evaluation

For each of these elements you’ve selected, can you tell me what specifically your organization has done?

Which of the following workplace safety activities has your organization done at any time over the last two years?

• Employer posting

• Recordkeeping

• Medical services and first aid

• Fire protection

• PPE and clothing

• Hazardous substance exposure prevention

  • Respirator use

  • Environmental sampling

• Air quality monitoring

• Periodic workplace inspection

• Emergency preparedness

• Fall prevention

• Machine guarding

• Vehicles

• Forklifts/heavy equipment

• Hazard communication

• Ergonomics

• Violence prevention

For each of these activities you’ve selected, can you tell me what specifically your organization has done?

Does this organization have what you would consider a workplace wellness program? (if no, go to activities)

If yes, is there anything in writing about this program?

If yes, would you be willing to share any of that?

Tell me about the elements of your workplace wellness program.

What elements of a workplace wellness program has this organization had at any time over the last two years?

• Health education, which focuses on skill development and lifestyle behavior change along with information dissemination and awareness building, preferably tailored to employees’ interests and needs.

• Supportive social and physical environments. These include an organization’s expectations regarding healthy behaviors, and implementation of policies that promote health and reduce risk of disease.

• Integration of the worksite program into your organization’s structure.

• Linkage to related programs like Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and programs to help employees balance work and family.

• Worksite screening programs, ideally linked to medical care to ensure follow-up and appropriate treatment as necessary.

Which of the following workplace wellness activities has this organization done over the last two years?

• Biometric screenings

• Health Risk Appraisals

• Educational seminars on improving health

• Group Health counseling/coaching

• Health risk appraisals

• Individual health counseling/coaching

• Nutritional counseling

• Physical fitness activities

• Smoking cessation

• Stress management

• Weight loss management

• Disease management

• Recreational safety

• Dental care

For each of these activities you’ve selected, can you tell me what specifically your organization has done?

Behavioral Intentions

For each of the activities we’ve just covered, are there any activities you are currently doing that you plan to drop?

Are there any activities that you’ve done previously that you plan to not do again?

If yes, why?

Are there any that you tried previously that you will bring back?

Are there any that you will try for the first time?

If yes, why?

Outcomes

The purpose of this section is to get participants thinking and talking about positive opportunities, outcomes and benefits; and challenges and barriers for safety and health at their worksite.

For the programs and activities we’ve discussed, what are your impressions of the benefits to the business?

What are your impressions of the benefits to employees?

Which of the following specific benefits has your business experienced:

Reductions in:

• Absenteeism

• Presenteesim

• Chronic illness/disability

• Workers’ compensation claims

• Injuries

• Illnesses

• Property damage

• Employee replacement

• Return to work activities

• Training costs

• Health insurance premiums

• Liability insurance premiums

• Employer stress

• Regulatory compliance burden

Increases in:

• Productivity

• Quality

• Efficiency

• Reputation as a good employer

• Ability to recruit quality employees

• Employee morale

• Employee health

• Positive work environment

• Profits

• Access to customers

• Community reputation

• Employer health

• Regulatory compliance

For each of the benefits we’ve discussed, which activities resulted in which benefits?

For each of the benefits that we’ve discussed, what evidence do you have to support your impressions?

Barriers

What are the challenges your organization has faced over the past two years regarding your workplace safety and wellness program activities?

Which of the following specific challenges has your organization faced over the past two years regarding your workplace safety and wellness program activities?

• Concerns about confidentiality of health data

• Concerns about legal issues

• High employee turnover

• Lack of awareness regarding wellness program benefits

• Lack of financial resources

• Lack of human resources

• Lack of upper management support

• Low employee interest

• Low employee participation

• Low to no return-on-investment (ROI)

• Remote work locations

• Unreasonable regulation

• Lack of time

• Lack of safety vendors in the community

• Lack of wellness vendors in the community

• Lack of competent assistance

• Lack of knowledge

• Lack of motivation

• Lack of need

Which of the challenges you’ve identified relate to particular workplace safety or wellness activities we’ve discussed? For example: the cost of a smoking cessation program.

Combining Wellness with Workplace Safety

Some people have suggested that workplace safety and workplace wellness activities can be managed best if they are combined. For example, some employers have combined smoking cessation with their respirator program.

What would be some workplace safety-related benefits to your organization of including workplace wellness activities with workplace safety activities?

In what ways might a safer workplace result in a worker who would take better care of his/her health and his/her family’s health?

Have you seen any of these benefits?

What makes you think it was helpful?

What would make it difficult to include workplace wellness with workplace safety?

For example, how consistent is it with existing practices?

How difficult would it be to experiment with it?

How difficult to understand is the idea of it?

How expensive would it be?

How effective would it be at increasing the benefits to the organization we’ve discussed previously?

Vendors

What could vendors do to better position their products and services to help you take advantage of this idea?

Would you have a preference for receiving wellness assistance from a safety professional or safety assistance from a wellness professional?

Preferred Services

In your operation, what combinations of workplace safety and workplace wellness activities would make sense to you?