ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in tree and forest work: technologies, risks and worker's safetyView all articles
Bridging the Occupational Policy to Practice Gap: User-Centered Designed Toolbox Talks for Landscaping and Tree Care
Provisionally accepted
- 1East Carolina University, Greenville, United States
- 2Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, United States
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Introduction: Landscaping and tree care work are among the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. with fatality rates more than five times the national average, and injury rates twice as high. Despite these alarming statistics, these occupations remain largely unregulated, with little safety training information available for workers. Aim: This study aimed to address this gap by developing culturally relevant, policy-driven, safety "Toolbox Talks," tailored to the landscaping and tree care industry. The specific objectives were to evaluate the usability of prototype Toolbox Talks, and validate their clarity, applicability, and usefulness for small business environments. Methods: This was a mixed-methods study that involved workers and supervisor participants (N=60) from small landscaping and tree care companies. Prototype Toolbox Talks were developed and field tested with participants. User "pain points," or issues related to design layout, terminology, graphics, were identified in group sessions, and revised based on iterative testing. Results: In final testing sessions, workers (n=37) and supervisors (n=23) consistently described Toolbox Talks being "highly needed" and "relevant" for addressing workplace hazards and promoting safe practices. Narrative "true story" examples strongly resonated with workers, reinforcing hazard recognition and prevention strategies. Supervisors reported increased confidence in delivering Toolbox Talks, noting improved clarity during trainings. The use of Spanish terminology and phrasing enhanced accessibility for Spanish-speaking participants. Conclusion: Engaging users directly in the development process significantly improved the relevance, clarity, cultural fit, and alignment of Toolbox Talks with the needs of landscaping and tree care workers and supervisors. This participatory approach enhanced usability and demonstrated that Toolbox Talks can serve as a practical, scalable model for strengthening safety communication in high-risk occupations with limited regulatory oversight.
Keywords: Health Promotion, injury prevention, Occupational Health, Small Business, Community-Based Participatory Research
Received: 21 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kearney, Getto and Hisel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gregory D Kearney, kearneyg@ecu.edu
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