1. Institutional Review Board
University of Central Florida
Human Research Protocol
1) Protocol Title
Human factors analysis of worker tasks in a food pantry
2) Investigators
Principle Investigator: Nicholas A. Higgins
Co-Investigators: Jennifer Rachel Beltran, Jimmy D. Joseph, Keshia D. Pierre, Danielle
Vanderhill, Nicholas Fraulini, Andrew Talone, & Jeremy DaCruz
3) Objectives
The goal of this study is to investigate the necessary actions for performing key worker
tasks in certain food pantries from a human factors perspective. By observing and
interviewing the workers/volunteers, we aim to understand the processes of basic task
performance and any concerns workers may have while operating various equipment.
We aim to draw some basic design recommendations to optimize employee performance
in the food pantry industry.
4) Background
Ramos (2014) recently conducted a study on Knights Helping Knights Pantry to help
stimulate a flow of volunteers and donations within the pantry since there has been an
escalating demand. This demand has been caused by the climbing tuition and lack of aid
being provided to the students within the University of Central Florida school system.
Ramos focused on improving the pantry specifically through recruitment of volunteers
and donations; however, research on food pantries in general is very limited for
improving the efficiency of the facilities and processes, especially research with a focus
on human factors and ergonomic improvements (i.e., redesigning processes and
equipment to improve them through thorough analysis of worker tasks and the
environment).
The present study aims to better understand and evaluate the food pantry design
(environmental processes and workflow) and potential physical demand on the worker
(e.g., heavy lifting, etc.) as well as to develop a better understanding of the cognitive
component of tasks performed by the workers; e.g., perceptual-motor skills, disuse or
misuse of the equipment, mental workload, decision-making, and error-recovery
strategies. This understanding will provide further insight to optimize the environment of
the volunteer/worker and worker performance (i.e., increasing comfort and efficiency) by
applying human factors design guidelines and principles.
1
2. Institutional Review Board
University of Central Florida
Human Research Protocol
Recommendations that we will draw from this study should be applied at the immediate
level to the food pantry of interest, as well as at the broader level applying it to other food
pantries.
5) Setting of the Human Research
Workers (i.e., volunteers) will be observed at the University of Central Florida’s Knights
Pantry and the Catholic Charities Semoran Food Pantry. Researchers will observe
workers as appropriate, not interfering with workflow. Permission for this has been
secured from the facility supervisors.
6) Resources available to conduct the Human Research
Workers may be observed during working facility hours. Workers will be interviewed
upon their consent. Participation is voluntary. Research will be conducted over the
course of approximately three months.
The primary investigator is a graduate student in the Applied Experimental and Human
Factors Psychology doctoral program and has basic qualifications, experience, and
resources for performing this research. Co-investigators will be under the supervision of
the primary investigator.
The facilities for conducting research are small food pantries with adequate space to view
the tasks and record information (pen-and-pencil method).
Data collection will be conducted by the investigators in the Psychology department,
under the supervision of Dr. Janan Smither.
7) Study Design
a) Recruitment Methods
Workers will be recruited from the University of Central Florida’s Knight Pantry
and the Catholic Charities Semoran Food Pantry. All participants will provide
voluntary informed consent. The study will aim for 100 participants.
b) Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Participants will need to be at least 18 years of age.
c) Study Endpoints
2
3. Institutional Review Board
University of Central Florida
Human Research Protocol
N/A
d) Procedures involved in the Human Research.
Workers will first be observed as they complete the various tasks involved in their
job as workers at the local food pantries. Based on the observations, workers will
then be interviewed about the tasks they perform and any difficulties they may
experience with these tasks. The facility supervisors will also be interviewed in a
similar manner. After these initial steps, a task analysis will be performed. Then a
cognitive task analysis will be performed to determine the underlying cognitive
components of the tasks. The experiment data collection should be completed
within a three month time span.
e) Data management
The data will be saved on a secure database and only the approved researchers
will have access to it.
f) Provisions to monitor the data for the safety of participants (Required
when Human Research involves more than minimal risk to participants.)
All data will be anonymous and there will be no identifiable markers. The data
will be saved for a minimum of 5 years in a digital format.
g) Withdrawal of participants
Participants will be free to withdraw from the study at any time.
8) Risks to participants
There are no anticipated risks associated with the study.
9) Potential benefits to participants
While there is no direct benefit to participation, the corporation as a whole could benefit
from any final evaluations and recommendations for improving work flow and task
efficiency.
10) Provisions to protect the privacy interests of participants
This study is anonymous, and there will be no identifiable markers for this study. The
researchers do not anticipate there to be any privacy issues
3
4. Institutional Review Board
University of Central Florida
Human Research Protocol
11) Provisions to maintain the confidentiality of data
All data will be stored electronically on a secured server and there will be no identifiable
markers for the study. Links between the identity of individual subjects and their data
will be destroyed, and de-identified data will be securely archived. No individually
identifiable information will be published, shared, or otherwise disseminated markers for
the study.
12) Medical care and compensation for injury
N/A
13) Cost to participants
None
14) Consent process
All participants will provide informed consent prior to participation in the study.
15) Process to Document consent in writing
N/A
16) Vulnerable populations (Pregnant Women, Minors, Prisoners, Decisionally
compromised adults, others)
N/A
17) Drugs or Devices
N/A
18) Multi-site Human Research
N/A
19) Sharing of results with participants
The results of the experiment will be available for participants upon the completion of the
experiment, if requested.
4
