A Nonreactive Measure of lost time Among Employees

A nonreactive measure is described, involving an automobile trip from one point in a city to another point, over which route the activities of public utility and telephone crews were observed. Since employees cannot be working while their trucks are parked at fast food restaurants, it was believed that this measure, called a round trip unit (RTU), would serve as a nonreactive unit of measurement of lost work time among employees. In the study, 36 RTUs were conducted in which approximately 30-50 utility and telephone trucks were observed in one of three categories. Results yielded significant differences in terms of the types of trucks that were cited, the locations of the trucks, and the importance of outside events that might interfere with work. Results are discussed in terms of this nonreactive measure as a methodology for observing lost work time among employees.