Urban green spaces activities: A preparatory groundwork for a safety management system

IntroductionUrban green spaces works and maintenance are high-risk activities and usually represent possible sources of injuries. The management issues are complex and strongly influenced by companies' policies in terms of safety management and human factor. A high number of tasks—including protecting public health and safety and safe working procedures—need to be faced by professional arborists or gardeners.MethodThe present paper provides a preparatory groundwork for modeling and describing the real risk levels during the abovementioned activities. The methodology represents a useful tool for decision making both for group leaders and safety coordinators. This goal is reached by collecting data emerging from several workplaces located in North East Italy regarding the frequency and severity of injuries.ResultsThe preliminary results point out that the most frequent injuries in green maintenance activities are represented by cuts, contusions, and ocular lesions, but none of them have lead to particularly serious consequences for the operators; indeed, the high levels of severity are related to traumas, fractures, and acute lumbar herniated discs. The riskiest activities are related to pruning, especially using mobile elevating work platforms, and grass cutting, especially when operated in escarpments and banks. Workers' behavior and companies' safety policies are key elements for a correct safety management system.     

Not drowning, waving!: Safety management and occupational culture in an Australian commercial fishing port

An ethnographic study of safety management was conducted in a commercial lobster fishing industry, in a small fishing town in Southern Australia. The objectives were to test the utility of the ethnographic method for exploring the nature of the relationship between occupational culture, workplace social organization, and safety management.Available accident data suggests this particular fishery may not have the same high incidence of occupational trauma normally attributed to commercial fishing. Changes in licensing laws and improved management of fish stocks have significantly reduced risk exposure. Participants in this study had a good understanding of their physical workplace risks, but accepted some of these with too few defences. Wear rates of personal flotation devices (PFDs) were below 1% for the study period.The paper suggests that participants do not have a strong learning culture, and links this to occupation-wide cultural assumptions, other external issues and safety management issues. Assessment of the social and cultural context of safety management can offer policy makers a ‘road-map’ to guide their interventions. The utility of ethnographic methods for this type of analysis is significant, and will be enhanced by improving the transparency of the research method.     

Worker-centered investigation of issues with procedural systems: Findings from interviews with a representative sample of workers in high-risk process industries

Issues related to procedural systems have been found to contribute to incidents in many high-risk industries such as petrochemical, oil and gas, etc. While previous research has focused on understanding issues with procedural systems from the perspective of the workers (who are the end-users of procedures), most of this research suffers from samples that only include companies with programs focused on improving safety by improving procedures. These companies may have inherent differences in their safety practices and thus the experiences of these workers may not completely represent all workers’ experiences in this domain. The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the thoughts and perceptions from a representative and broad sample of workers concerning procedure use and purpose. To improve the generalizability of previous findings, interviews were conducted with workers from a broad range of high-risk process industries to investigate issues related to procedure adherence that may be present in companies not currently implementing. Findings from a qualitative data analysis provide support for the generalizability of issues previously discovered, such as: more experience workers being more likely to deviate; procedure quality being inconsistent; and the procedure revision process being problematic. However additional prominent issues were found as well. Most importantly, this study found that adherence to procedures is often motivated by potential liability issues instead of genuine concerns for safety in organizations and many deviations from procedures were due to pressure from immediate supervisors. These findings suggest a relationship between the effectiveness/quality of procedural systems and the safety climate of the organization or work unit.     

射钉枪安全——美国建筑承包商指南概述

本文主要介绍了美国有关射钉枪安全“指南”的范围和内容,特别强调了射钉枪触发器工作机制和伤害原因,提出了射钉枪安全的六项措施,以为我国相关行业提供借鉴。     

安全研究的预设和途径及新观点

由于安全问题的复杂性和多样性,安全理论一般都很难被广大安全工作者高度认同。因此,亟需研究厘清安全的维度、给出安全研究的预设、梳理安全研究的途径和开拓新的安全理论。本文运用理论研究、科学分类和逻辑思辨等方法对上述几个方面的问题开展研究,首先从安全边界、安全主体、安全物资、安全环境、安全知识、安全管理、安全信息7个方面梳理了安全的维度,给出了几条安全研究的预设;其次,梳理了从事故预防、风险管理和本源安全出发的安全研究3条途径,并比较了它们的优缺点等;最后综述了近年出现的3种安全新思想。研究结果对认识安全研究的复杂性、合理选择安全研究路径、寻找未来安全工作新方向新领域等具有重要的理论和实际意义。     

Use of association rules to explore cause–effect relationships in occupational accidents in the Taiwan construction industry

Most models of the incidence of occupational accidents in the construction industry are composed of multiple factors. Although statistical techniques can be used to infer cause-and-effect relationships among these factors, the large number of factors involved and the complexity of the relationships among them make it difficult for managers to identify potential hazards in construction projects and thus develop effective safety procedures. This study addresses this problem by using the association-rule method of data mining in performing an analysis of 1347 accidents in the Taiwan construction industry during the period 2000–2007. The association-rule method enables potential cause-and-effect relationships to be identified among the many factors that play a role in occupational accidents in the construction industry. The study finds that such accidents tend to occur when certain combinations of hazards are present – especially working in high places without protective measures, loss of balance when in motion, failure to use protective equipment, insufficient experience, and injurious contact with unstable structures. These hazards are especially evident in small enterprises with less than 10 persons. The results can help management to formulate effective safety policies with regard to management shortcomings and staff training.     

Small businesses and OH&S advisors

Traditionally occupational health and safety (OH&S) enquiry has viewed the world of work as if it comprised of blue-collar male workers employed on a full-time basis in large organisations. However, to continue to analyze workplace health and safety within the narrow confines of unionized labour situated in large organisations is to ignore the health and safety in non-unionised small businesses. Therefore, this paper challenges existing OH&S research by investigating the compliance experiences of small businesses. The paper also demonstrates that small business employers are becoming increasingly reliant on their accountant to provide a range of compliance advisory services, including OH&S. However, the notion that small accounting firms act as ‘intermediary advisors’ between the OH&S regulatory agencies and the small business sector may influence the way in which regulatory agencies achieve OH&S compliance in small workplaces. Finally, the study reinforces the need for a more flexible approach to OH&S in the small business sector.     

Safety management in different high-risk domains – All the same?

In view of safety management being introduced in more and more industries, the aim of this paper is to discuss what different high-risk industries can learn from each other and what limits for generalizing safety management methods within and across industries exist. After presenting core components of safety management, three attributes crucial to any organization’s functioning are described, which also affect the way safety management systems should be designed, run, and assessed. These attributes are (1) the kinds of safety to be managed, (2) the general approach to managing uncertainty as a hallmark of organizations that manage safety, and (3) the regulatory regime within which safety is managed. By discussing safety management in the context of these three attributes, contingencies are outlined that can help decision-makers in companies to tailor safety management to their own situation and support regulators in drawing up and evaluating safety management requirements for different industries while also promoting learning between different high-risk domains. Standards and procedures, safety training, incident reporting and investigation, and safety culture are taken as examples to illustrate why and how different aspects of organizational functioning should be taken into account when designing and evaluating safety management systems or elements thereof.     

Corporate accountability. The time for consensus

This article explains the content and philosophy of the draft Bill which the author and his colleagues have compiled and promoted in efforts to increase the accountability of businesses and their management for lack of safety consciousness.     

Change in frontline supervisors’ safety leadership practices after participating in a leadership training program: Does company size matter?

Introduction: The majority of construction companies are small businesses and small business often lack the resources needed to ensure that their supervisors have the safety leadership skills to build and maintain a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program was designed to provide frontline leaders in all sized companies with safety leadership skills. This paper examines the impact of the FSL training by size of business. Methods: Leaders, defined as foremen or other frontline supervisors, from small, medium, and large construction companies were recruited to participate in a study to evaluate the degree to which the FSL changed their understanding and use of the leadership skills, safety practices and crew reporting of safety-related conditions. We used linear mixed modeling methods to analyze pre-post training survey data. Results: Prior to the training, leaders from small and medium sized companies reported using safety leadership skills less frequently than those from large ones. After the training, regardless of business size, we observed that the FSL training improved leaders understanding of safety leadership skills from immediately before to immediately after the training. Additionally, leaders reported greater use of safety leadership skills, safety practices, and crew reporting of safety-related conditions from before to two-weeks after the training. However, those from small and medium sized companies reported the greatest improvement in their use of safety leadership skills. Conclusions: The FSL training improves safety leadership outcomes regardless of the size company for which the leader worked. However, the FSL may be even more effective at improving the safety leadership skills of leaders working for smaller sized construction companies or those with lower baseline levels of safety leadership skills. Practical applications: The majority of construction companies employ a small number of employees and therefore may not have the resources to provide their frontline leaders with the leadership training they need to be effective leaders who can create a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training can help fill this gap.     

Challenges in risk management in multi-company industrial parks

The trend of companies focusing ever stronger on their core businesses has led to outsourcing of certain activities, e.g. maintenance, and even to selling out parts of industrial plants. This is the case also in Finland. Clusters of neighbouring companies, commonly called industrial parks, have been formed. In these multi-company parks safety and environmental responsibilities are not always clear and the risk map has changed. It has become evident that Finnish legislation has not followed this development of the industrial sector and the formation of industrial and technology parks.A Finnish project on the safety in chemical industrial parks has studied how safety and environmental issues can be best managed in multi-company chemical parks, and how the current legislation in Finland supports companies facing problems accentuated in or specific to industrial parks. The outcome outlines the identified challenges as well as the benefits of cooperation between the independent companies in industrial parks.     

NOSA五星管理系统在神华集团公司的应用研究

神华集团有限责任公司成立于1995年,为中央直管企业之一,是集煤矿、电力、铁路、港口、煤制油煤化工一体化开发,跨地区、跨行业、多元化经营的特大型能源企业。神华集团公司为提升安全管理水平,于2001年在电力板块率先引进并推广了南非NOSA五星管理系统。该管理系统是南非国家职业安全协会创建的一套集安全、健康和环保于一体的国际上先进的风险管理系统。本文阐述了NOSA五星管理系统的基本构成、适用范围、体系的特点和优点、以及推行该体系所要经历的三个阶段。文中重点介绍了神华集团公司在电力、煤炭和港口等业务板块推行NOSA管理体系的成功实践。最后,展望了该管理系统在集团公司铁路和煤化工板块推行的可能性,以及推行该系统为神华集团所带来的经济效益和社会效益。     

氢氰酸原料化工生产装置的安全对策

由于氢氰酸既有剧毒性又有火灾爆炸的危险性,采用氢氰酸为生产原料的化工生产企业,安全生产只有依据国家规范和标准,从防毒、防火防爆等几个方面来全面制定安全对策,才能防范安全生产事故的发生.     

Current situation of certification system and future improvements of the occupational health and safety management system for loss prevention in Korea – Focused on KOSHA 18001

The world has increasingly been establishing guidelines for industrial safety and health to promote occupational safety and health. The Korean government is also providing the establishment, execution, coordination and control of the industrial safety and health policy and safety assessment and improvement for harmful and dangerous machines, instruments, and equipment, protective devices, personal protective equipment, etc. Specifically, this centered on the ILO enacted ILO-OSH 2001 guidelines, for safety and health management system in 2001. However, varied modifications were adopted because the ordinances and guidelines are diverse by nations. In addition, Korea has introduced and disseminated the safety and health management system to workplaces since 1999. However, businesses have shown reservations to introducing the safety and health management system on economic grounds. There are a lot of losses in the business because they lack experts group in the workplace and operate the quality, environment, and Safety & health management systems separately. Accordingly, in this study, KOSHA have investigated the problems and the future improvements of the safety and health management system.     

Small Business Owners’ Knowledge of Their Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Legislative Responsibilities

This article reports the results of a study investigating the nature and extent of small manufacturing business owners’ knowledge of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues. Interviews were conducted with 33 owners of small manufacturing businesses in Sydney, Australia. Results showed that whereas the majority of owners had basic awareness of the existence of OHS legislation, they were often unaware about the extent of their legal OHS responsibilities. Owners were found to have minimal OHS training and practical OHS expertise. Lack of appropriate industry specific OHS information was found to be a major factor that inhibited the owners’ ability to deal with OHS issues effectively.     

基于循证方法的施工现场安全事故预防体系研究

为提高施工现场安全绩效,构建基于循证方法的施工现场安全事故预防体系。阐明施工现场安全循证预防(EBP)的定义、内涵、核心思想,梳理循证预防解决安全问题的思路,并且提出施工现场安全管理循证预防的流程框架。结果表明:针对施工现场安全事故预防中的不足,循证方法解决问题的思路体现在理论和方法 2个层面;施工现场安全管理循证预防体系分为循证诊断和循证干预2个阶段,具体包括安全检查表、框架表示法、荟萃(Meta)分析等关键步骤。     

基于行为科学的组织安全管理方案模型

社会组织的安全管理工作方法的集合可以看做是该组织的安全管理方案,根据文化导向组织行为,组织行为决定个人行为的行为科学基本原理,该安全管理方案可以结构化为由安全文化、组织结构和安全方法3个基本模块组成的模型。其工作原理,即安全管理原理,是该模型运行产生组织内员工的安全知识、安全意识、安全习惯等中间结果和组织员工的安全行为、安全设施的安全状态以及组织安全业绩等最终结果。组织安全管理方案模型的优劣可以用诊断方法量化诊断,其运行结果也可以用个人行为纠正方法进行补充改善。组织安全管理方案模型内的内容组成了安全科学技术学科的主体内容,也是本学科学历教育方案形成、发展的依据。     

中小民营企业安全管理内在动力激发的策略研究

依据安全管理学相关知识,分析中小民营企业安全管理的现状;指出中小民营企业安全管理的内部动力,即经济利益、自我实现、品牌形象及社会责任四种动力,提出中小民营企业应克服传统观念,树立"以人为本"的安全生产管理新理念,发挥内在动力,克服安全管理阻力,建立起中小民营企业安全管理内在动力策略和长效机制,形成一种创新的安全管理力量源泉,以达到安全生产的目的。     

Process Safety Management (PSM) for managing contractors in process plant

Accidents involving contractors continue to occur with regular frequency. By using the standard set within the PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations, it has been identified that certain aspects of the way contractors do work are not up to the stipulated regulatory requirements especially regarding matters like not providing mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) to the workers, not discussing hazards related to handling procedures with the workforce and improper control of non-routine activities during changes in shifts. The PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations promulgated in 1992 provides standards that covered processes to obtain and evaluate data regarding contractors' health and safety programs as well as the contractors' performance evaluation. Many of the accidents involving contractors are direct result of poor training of contractors and/or poor control of the contracted work. Even though most organizations have their own contractor management systems, there are issues in meeting the requirements of PSM. The PSM standard only state “what to do” not “how to do it”. This is known as self-regulatory policy which depends on the industries understanding to interpret the standard that also contribute to this problem. This paper presents a structured and easy technique to plan and implement a practical and comprehensive contractors' management system in process industries that will comply with OSHA CFR 1910.119. A model has been developed based on this technique and its application has been tested in a pilot plant for compliance to PSM regulation. The model is beneficial to the process industries as any deficiencies in the PSM contractors' management program will be highlighted by the model which will then easily correct the identified deficiency so as to minimize and prevent catastrophic accidents.     

The context and habits of accident investigation practices: A study of 108 Swedish investigators

The context and habits of accident investigation practices were explored by means of questionnaire data obtained from accident investigators in the healthcare, transportation, nuclear and rescue sectors in Sweden. Issues explored included; resources, training, time spent in different phases of an investigation, methods and procedures, beliefs about causes to accidents, communication issues, etc. Examples of findings were: differences in the extent to which the ‘human factor’ was perceived as a dominant cause to accidents; manning resources to support investigations were perceived as rather scarce; underutilization of data from safety related processes such as risk analysis and auditing data; the phase of suggesting remedial actions (recommendations) were comparatively brief and generally not well supported. A majority of the investigators thought that the investigations were free from pressures to follow a specific direction; the investigators also thought that performing an investigation in itself (regardless of the specific results) had positive influences on safety. A majority of the investigators thought that upper management had a relatively strong influence on safety in the organizations. The results are discussed in terms of suggestions for strategies to strengthen investigation practices – particularly those conducted as part-time work in organizations.