IOM secures HSE PROTECT NCS contract - Behavioural factors of face mask use within retail consulting premises.

The IOM human factors team has secured another prestigious contract to support HSE in their National Core Study (NCS) on Transmission (“PROTECT”).  The project, which will focus on understanding the behavioural factors that impact effective facemask use amongst worker populations and consumers within retail consulting rooms, is another way IOM is helping to inform COVID-19 policy and industry practice. Making our world safer.  Rebecca Canham, Principal Scientist in Human Factors at IOM had this to say “It’s such a great project to be working on.  Retail consulting rooms, such as those used by pharmacists and beauticians, bring consumers and workers together in a small space, often with a need for physical contact so it’s important to understand the things that affect mask wearing behaviours as this becomes more of a consumer choice and no longer a regulatory requirement as government restrictions ease.” Project work is set to start in September with interviews and surveys with consumers and workers delivering personal health services and hair and beauty treatments within one or more retail consulting rooms.