BACKGROUND

Absenteeism, workers’ compensation claims, disability claims, and healthcare expenses cost transit agencies millions of dollars each year. These financial impacts highlight the need for interventions that could lead to cost savings, directly benefiting the bottom line of agencies. Workload and time pressure, shift work and fatigue, workplace violence and aggression, poor ergonomics, reduced opportunities to eat healthily, and traffic congestion are key contributors to declining health among transit workers. These stressors lead to mental and physical health concerns, behavioral issues, and heightened fatigue. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach, including implementing countermeasure tactics such as clear policies and procedures, improving the work environment, offering additional resources and support, optimizing ergonomics, managing traffic congestion, and conducting regular psychosocial risk assessments to mitigate these risks.

According to an article in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine (2024), exposure to work‐related psychosocial hazards is projected to become a major occupational health and safety threat. Factors such as organizational culture, interpersonal relationships at work, and working conditions such as shift work can have adverse effects on the mental and physical well-being of operators. TCRP Research Report 217: Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line (2020) identified the potential exposures relevant to the transit industry. APTA Transit Workforce Shortage Report (2023) identified that operator assaults have a major impact on workers mental health. TCRP Research Report 245: Mental Health, Wellness, and Resilience for Transit Systems (2024) found transit frontline employees experience mental health and well-being impacts due to job stressors. There remains a gap in understanding the specific risk factors and effective mitigation strategies that can be implemented to enhance the health and safety of transit workers. 

OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of this study is to determine effective interventions that help improve the health and safety of transit workers. The objectives of this research are:

• Investigate and address the gaps highlighted in TCRP Research Report 217, with promising approaches, interventions, and strategies.
• Provide actionable, evidence-based recommendations and implementation frameworks that transit agencies and adjacent sectors have employed.
• Identify transit agencies and/or adjacent sectors that have tools to measure return on investment (ROI). If none, provide recommendations for tools or any other methods agencies use to measure the value added.

Building on research findings from TCRP Research Report 217, TCRP Research Report 245, and the APTA Transit Workforce Shortage Report, this research will focus on innovative safety protocols, ergonomic improvements, mental health needs, and health programs specifically designed for transit work environments. By identifying and assessing these methods, the study seeks to provide actionable recommendations for transit agencies to enhance worker safety, improve health outcomes, and potentially lower associated costs.

TASKS

Task 1. Identify interventions. Conduct a literature review of existing materials on interventions that improve the health and safety of transit workers.

Task 2. Determine the most effective interventions. Prepare case studies of transit agencies that have successfully implemented safety interventions to identify best practices and lessons learned.

Task 3. Validation. Conduct stakeholder engagement with transit workers, management, and safety experts through surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gather insights and validate findings.

Task 4. Provide a stand-alone technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products.”

The research plan shall describe the appropriate deliverables to include, but are not limited to the following (which also represent key project milestones):

• Amplified research plan (APR) that responds to comments provided by the project panel at the contractor selection meeting.
• Kick-off meeting to present the APR to the project panel for discussion and feedback. Due to the expedited nature of this project, at the kick-off meeting the selected research team shall present the survey approach and instrument, with the expectation of administering the survey immediately following the kick-off meeting.
• Surveying of transit agencies that have implemented strategies discussed in the literature review, in addition to the strategies identified in TCRP Research Report 217, TCRP Research Report 245, and the APTA Transit Workforce Shortage Report.
• Case studies that provide an in-depth examination of transit agencies experiences with implementing interventions to enhance the health and safety of transit workers.
• Interim report that includes the analyses and results of completed tasks.
• Final deliverables to include a draft report and final report.
• Panel meeting after submission of the draft report. After the meeting, the contractor shall incorporate the panel’s comments into the final report.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.