Interviews with Restaurant Owners about Knowledge and Attitudes towards Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevention

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-0940

Exp. Date 03/31/2018

Interview Script

Introduction (1 minute)

Thank you for talking with me today. We are talking with people in the restaurant business to learn your opinions about the health and safety of your employees at work. We will keep your information and what you say to me today secure. We will not use your name in any report. We are recording this discussion to make sure that we write your comments correctly. Only the researchers doing this study will be able to listen to the recording. There are no right or wrong answers. We are only want to hear your honest opinions and ideas. It is important to tell us what you think, not what you think we want to hear. We will give you $75 for helping us after the interview.

General Work Information (5 minutes)

• What is your role in this business?

• What are your responsibilities?

• How long have you worked in this role at this restaurant?

• How long have you worked in the restaurant industry?

• What are the top priorities for your restaurant(s)?

General Workplace Health and Safety Attitudes (15 minutes)

We want to learn more about the health and safety activities for your employees.

• What does your restaurant do to help your employees be healthy? Do you have any written programs or materials you can share with us?

• What do you do to help keep employees from getting hurt at work?

• What do you do to help keep employees from getting sick from things they come into contact with at work?

• Why is the health and safety of your employees important to you?

Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 63 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing 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 (0920-0940).

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Knowledge and Attitudes (15 minutes)

Some illnesses and injuries that are related to work develop slowly over a long period of time. For example, you can get wrist pain from cutting food items, leg pain from standing in one spot, and back pain from leaning over or lifting heavy things.

• These types of illnesses are sometimes called “musculoskeletal disorders,” “soft-tissue injuries,” or “repetitive motion injuries.” Are any of these terms familiar to you? If not, do you know of other ways these types of injuries can be described?

• Have you ever had these types of injuries? Have any employees in this workplace had these types of injuries? If yes, how did these types of injuries affect your business? If no, how do you think these types of injuries could affect your business?

• How serious do you think these injuries are?

• What does your restaurant do to prevent these types of injuries?

There are different things employers can do to help prevent these injuries. For example, you can get new equipment. Work stations that can move to the height of the employee can reduce strain. Cushioned mats to stand on and sharp knives can help. You can also make changes to how your employees work. For example, have employees lift heavy boxes together. Employees can also rotate between tasks during a shift, such as having the dishwasher clean tables or the cashier wash dishes periodically.

• Have you ever done any of these types of things in your restaurant? If yes, could you describe them?

• If no, how difficult would it be to make these types of changes and why?

• What would stop you from making these changes?

• What would motivate you to make these changes?

Communication Preferences (15 minutes)

• Where do you get your information about protecting the health and safety of your employees (family, friends, media, internet, etc.)? How would you like to get information in the future?

• Can you tell me about an advertisement or training tool that helped you to make improvements related to employee health and safety in your restaurant? What did you like about it? Why was it so helpful?

• What type of information would help your restaurant prevent wrist, leg and back pain and other injuries in your employees? How do you want to receive this information?

• If we were to make a video for owners and managers about preventing these types of injuries in the restaurant business, what would you want to see in it? How could we make the video helpful for you? Where would you be likely to see the video? Would a training video help your restaurant to prevent wrist, leg and back pain and other injuries? What would you like to see in the video? How should we share the video?

Closing Thoughts (5 minutes)

• Do you have any other thoughts or opinions about workplace health and safety that you would like to share?

• Would you like to be kept updated on any materials we develop from this study? If so, we will add you to a list.

• Here is information about a free health and safety program at NIOSH that can evaluate your business. We can also connect you to an occupational health expert to answer any questions or concerns you have about employee health and well-being.

• Thank you for participating.