Development of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Worker Well-Being Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychometrics
• Survey Development

Background:

• Worker well-being is a critical component of occupational health and safety.
• Existing measures may not comprehensively capture the multifaceted nature of worker well-being.
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified a need for a robust assessment tool.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of the NIOSH Worker Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ).
• To create a reliable and valid instrument for measuring worker well-being.
• To provide a comprehensive tool for assessing various aspects of workers' lives.

Main Methods:

• Literature reviews and expert panel recommendations informed the development process.
• A pilot study was conducted using a representative sample of the US working population.
• Psychometric analyses were performed on data from 975 respondents to refine the questionnaire.

Main Results:

• The final NIOSH WellBQ includes 16 scales, 5 indices, and 31 single items.
• The questionnaire covers 5 key domains: work evaluation/experience, workplace policies/culture, physical environment/safety climate, health status, and home/community/society.
• The instrument demonstrated adequate reliability and validity.

Conclusions:

• The NIOSH WellBQ is a reliable and valid instrument.
• The questionnaire comprehensively measures worker well-being.
• This tool can be valuable for research and practice in occupational health and safety.