Evaluation of the effectiveness of policy initiatives

IOM carries out evaluations of policy initiatives across a range of sectors.  These have included evaluations of smoking bans in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales, the Farmsafe initiative to improve health and safety on farm premises, the integrated provision of occupational health services on two large construction sites and an evaluation of the Safety Development Advisors initiative to improve access to health and safety training in small and medium sized organisations.

Evaluations are usually carried out using a range of methods such as:

• Quantitative analysis of any existing data collected during the course of the initiative e.g. uptake rates, measurable effects (such as reduction in exposure, raising of awareness)
• Collection and analysis of new quantitative and qualitative evaluation data from stakeholders, employers and/or employees through use of survey instruments (paper, phone or web-based) and structured interviews (face-to-face or by phone)
• Hosting of focus groups for more in-depth discussions of issues arising from the evaluation
• Review of the literature on the effects of similar initiatives
• Synthesis of the findings of all of the above to provide an overall evaluation of the policy initiative, including recommendations for improvements where applicable, and/or advice on ongoing evaluation (including what data should be routinely collected)

Our evaluation work draws as necessary on the range of skills available across the organisation including exposure assessment, health and safety advisors, statisticians, public health specialists and ergonomists.

IOM carries out evaluations of policy initiatives across a range of sectors.  These have included evaluations of smoking bans in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales, the Farmsafe initiative to improve health and safety on farm premises, the integrated provision of occupational health services on two large construction sites and an evaluation of the Safety Development Advisors initiative to improve access to health and safety training in small and medium sized organisations.

Evaluations are usually carried out using a range of methods such as:

• Quantitative analysis of any existing data collected during the course of the initiative e.g. uptake rates, measurable effects (such as reduction in exposure, raising of awareness)
• Collection and analysis of new quantitative and qualitative evaluation data from stakeholders, employers and/or employees through use of survey instruments (paper, phone or web-based) and structured interviews (face-to-face or by phone)
• Hosting of focus groups for more in-depth discussions of issues arising from the evaluation
• Review of the literature on the effects of similar initiatives
• Synthesis of the findings of all of the above to provide an overall evaluation of the policy initiative, including recommendations for improvements where applicable, and/or advice on ongoing evaluation (including what data should be routinely collected)

Our evaluation work draws as necessary on the range of skills available across the organisation including exposure assessment, health and safety advisors, statisticians, public health specialists and ergonomists.