Procedure for the determination of regulatory obstacles in the work activity

Regulatory obstacles in RHIA

The procedure for determining regulatory obstacles in work activity ( RHIA ) consists of the analysis of regulatory obstacles. The term regulatory handicap is understood to mean those burdens that arise from unnecessary hindrances to work or endanger the health of the worker.

Note: RHIA and the associated VERA were developed separately, but it makes sense to always apply them together. This is also evident from the last joint publication of the procedures.

Process description

Regulatory hindrances (Image: Regulatory hindrances in RHIA) occur when the specific implementation conditions contradict the achievement of objectives. This can have the following consequences:

1. Regulation obstacle: Dealing with the handicap forces the worker to put in additional effort or risky action.
2. Overstrained regulation: The handicap overstrains the general performance requirements of the worker with regard to his regulatory ability.

Regulation obstacles directly hinder the workflow; they require short-term reactions - there is either additional effort or a willingness to take risky action. There are different forms of additional effort:

• Action termination, complete restart: This is the case, for example, when the worker has to leave his workplace and then has to think back to the problem.
• Repetition of individual work steps: If the work result is unsatisfactory, multiple corrections are made - and thus the work steps are repeated.
• Additional work steps not provided for: detour. Additional problems arise, for example a component is not available and a redesign is required.
• Increased workload or increased concentration: Reflecting monitors or unfavorable operating elements make individual work steps unnecessarily difficult.

Assuming that the amount of additional effort is constant, a worker with a high time constraint (i.e. with many externally defined times) has more work to do per time interval than would be the case with a low time constraint level. The same amount of additional effort leads to an increasing intensification of the regulatory processes with a stronger temporal commitment, i.e. it is more demanding to solve the same tasks under time pressure ( stress ) than without. Permanent states that do not directly hinder human action regulation , but rather mediate it, are referred to as excessive demands on regulation . This results in a hindrance to work (for example impaired concentration or attention) or a willingness to take risky action.

The survey method of the RHIA procedure is the observation interview . The work analyst observes and questions the worker while he is performing the individual work tasks. For the interview with the worker, the RHIA manual contains a detailed catalog of questions that can be used to specifically ask about regulatory obstacles. The work analyst uses this catalog as a structuring guide during the analysis. The worker is to be asked specific questions that are based on the - rather abstract - questions of the RHIA.

The task analysis with the RHIA method leads to four parameters that quantify different aspects of stress:

• The sum of the additional work caused by regulatory obstacles is an indicator of the effort that a worker must make to compensate for difficulties and interruptions in his work.
• The level of the time constraint indicates the extent to which the worker must observe the times set by the company or the extent to which he or she is free to dispose over time.
• The duration of monotonous activities indicates whether the worker is performing a task that is characterized by very little thought requirements and uniformity with a high level of attention-grabbing.
• Time pressure is a measure to describe the required pace of work.

Flow diagram at RHIA

With these four variables, an integrated assessment of the task-related psychological stress can be carried out. The schematic sequence of the RHIA is shown in the picture.

With the procedure for the determination of "Regulatory obstacles in the work activity" (RHIA) it can be determined which and how strong psychological stress a worker is exposed to during the execution of his work task. The analysis with the RHIA is limited to the “task-related stresses” of the specific work activity. Stresses that are only generally related to work, such as long journeys to work, are not examined. Therefore, there are operational purposes in the determination and evaluation of stress factors associated with work activities in the commercial sector of industry. In this context, the procedure also enables recommendations for workplace design and structuring to be drawn up . The RHIA has three fields of application:

• Assessment of technical and organizational changes with regard to humanization measures. An examination before and after the introduction of the changes can describe the changes in the psychological stress. A comparison of different technical and organizational concepts is possible by analyzing similar work tasks with different boundary conditions.
• By analyzing future work systems, work tasks can be derived in such a way that stressful implementation conditions for a work task are avoided from the outset.
• Likewise, work tasks that arise through the use of new technologies can be improved with the help of the RHIA process already in the design stage.

Advantages and disadvantages of the RHIA

• The RHIA, like the VERA, differentiates between the requirements of the work activity and the possible stresses that may arise. This enables a differentiated recording of the actual effects of the work activity.
• The structure of the procedure and the operationalization of the RHIA characteristics are based on the theory of action regulation .
• From the results of the RHIA analysis, specific loads can be systematically found within the sequence of actions and their effects can be assessed. On the basis of this integrated assessment, it is possible to identify problem areas and thus immediately make design suggestions.
• As experience shows, the combined use of VERA and RHIA can provide a comprehensive basis for redesigning work systems.
• Due to its complexity, the RHIA, like the VERA, can only be carried out with difficulty without a consultant.
• The authors recommend the parallel application of the two work analysis methods RHIA and VERA. But that means a lot of research effort.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leitner, Konrad et al .: Analysis of psychological stress in work: The RHIA procedure. Cologne: Verlag TÜV Rheinland, 1987.