Methodological criteria for evaluating occupational safety intervention research1On behalf of the Scientific Committee on Accident Prevention (SCOAP) of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH).1

We describe the importance of evaluating workplace safety interventions. Based on the literature and other scources, we list eight areas for which readers can assess the quality of reports evaluating these interventions. The areas are: intervention objectives and their conceptual basis; study design; external validity; outcome measurement; use of qualitative data; threats to internal validity; statistical analysis; and study conclusions. Good quality evaluations can help avoid wasting limited time, money and effort on ineffective or even harmful interventions.