Healthy Work Assessment Tool - Obtaining a composite score
The Healthy Work Assessment Tool - Obtaining a composite score - provides one way of assessing the overall perception of a job by a person.
Its uses might be to:
- Get a picture of the nature of the work being done by a person or in your organisation;
- Gather information about a person’s difficulties in a job;
- Identify stressors in a person’s job;
- Explore the extent of agreement between an employee and a supervisor about a person’s work;
- Gather information to spot trends across an organisation;
- Gather baseline data for later comparison with evaluations.
The tool can be used to identify the unhealthy features of work. There are many ways of using such a tool – with people working singly or in groups – to list individual concerns or to agree about a group conclusion. A worker and a supervisor could complete the table together to better understand its opportunities and difficulties.
This approach provides a reproducible summary of an assessment. Common sense and your knowledge of the job and person take precedence. Interpretation of the score must be made internally/locally because the demands of working, for each individual employee, are represented by some net effect of the organisation, its management, its employees, its activities and its clients/customers.
This means that no key to the significance of the scores you obtain can be provided. Experience and integrity will show the significance of scores you obtain.
The ranges of the scores that can be applied in columns B – E and the scores applied in Column A are suggestions only. Scoring criteria may be determined in-house.
Care should be taken to view the job as a whole and to avoid fixing on single items and allowing them to dominate the discussion.
When using this tool the practical realities faced by employers and employees and their possibly limited abilities and opportunities to respond need to be acknowledged.
Healthy Work Assessment Tool - Obtaining a composite score
A Category of Work
Select one category
Category One - Healthy work– an interesting and stimulating job, adequately appreciated, with specific project endpoints that are acknowledged. Peaks of excess demand do not occur with monotonous regularity and there is adequate recuperative time. +50
Category Two Personal Choice– neither inherently stressful nor so organized as to be difficult to cope with but the individual is choosing to work unreasonable routines. 0
Category Three – not inherently stressful but so organised as to be difficult to cope with. -15
Category Four – Work that is inherently emotionally challenging, draining or even repugnant. -20
B Work Organisation
(Possible total for category ranges from -12 to +12)
- There is a good person-job fit (aptitude, training, experience and skills for the tasks and job).
- Training is ongoing and of good quality and coverage. There is ‘safe’ peer audit and support.
- Planned time away from the customer interface is available.
- Performance feedback is prompt and comprehensive.
- There are opportunities to do interesting tasks.
- Disputes and differences are identified and resolved promptly.
Score each item on the scale below and sum for this category
| - 2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
| poor | average | excellent | ||
C Context of work
(Possible total for category ranges from -12 to +12)
- The organisational function and culture avoids rigid work practices, poor communication and promotes a supportive work culture.
- The role in the organisation avoids task ambiguity, uncertainty or conflict.
- Employment is organised to avoid uncertainty and a stagnant or insecure career development.
- Decision latitude or control is present and rigid work practices are avoided.
- Physical isolation or poor relationships at work, including violence at work, are avoided.
- Conflicting demands from work on personal life requirements is avoided.
Score each item on the scale below and sum for this category
| - 2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
| poor | average | excellent | ||
D Content of work
(Possible total for category ranges from -8 to +8)
- Task design avoids tedious or fragmented work, a lack of variety or short work cycles.
- The content of work avoids under-utilisation of skills or continual customer interactions.
- There is control of work rate, and work overload or under- load are avoided. High levels of work pacing (time pressure) are avoided.
- Work scheduling avoids inflexible work schedules, unpredictable work hours or long and unsociable working hours. Shiftwork is well designed.
Score each item on the scale below and sum for this category
| - 2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
| poor | average | excellent | ||
E Personal Factors
(Possible total for category ranges from -10 to +10)
- The employee’s total work hours allow adequate recuperation.
- There is a degree of support at home.
- There are few significant personal difficulties outside work.
- The employee does not have poor physical health and/or low fitness.
- The employee’s personal limitations are acknowledged.
Score each item on the scale below and sum for this category
| - 2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
| poor | average | excellent | ||
From 'Healthy Work Managing Stress and Fatigue in the Workplace', Table 7.3 (page 59)
