Identifying management practices that drive production-line workers’ engagement through qualitative analysis

Introduction: Engagement research - most often defined by a worker’s psychological state of vigor, dedication, and absorption - pays little attention to production-line workers. This study therefore explores factors that drive workers’ engagement with health and safety (H&S) in a production-line context as well as their perception of managerial influence Furthermore, the study adds to the body of research by exploring H&S engagement concepts through the use of qualitative research methods. Method: 38 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed through template analysis to identify themes that promote and hinder engagement. Results: The main engagement drivers were found to be: (a) the displayed safety focus of the company in organizational and social aspects; (b) the quality of the communication approach with respect to quality, consistency and direction; and (c) the environment encompassing the relationship between workers and supervisors and peers as well as the psychological environment. Notably, a trusting relationship between supervisors and workers appeared to be the most influential driver in determining engaged H&S behavior. Discussion and impact in industry: The study highlights factors that could be adapted to improve engagement and consequently enhance H&S approaches. Originality: The study reported in this paper offers a unique insight into individual production workers’ perceived drivers of H&S engagement using Qualitative Analysis. Practical applications: The study identified the important role that supervisors play in workers’ H&S engagement levels and what skills they need to employ to enhance workers’ engagement in general and in the context of H&S behavior and performance. Furthermore, the importance of psychological and sociological factors in safety approaches are highlighted and were found to be key for creating safer workplaces.     

Quantitative evaluation of precautions on chemical tanker operations

Large quantities of liquid chemicals are carried by chemical tankers all over seas. Chemical cargoes have different properties and chemical tankers are complex ships that are designed to carry different types of chemical cargoes. Carriage of chemical cargoes contains different hazards both for human life and marine environment. There are several cargo operations that are regularly done on chemical tankers such as loading, discharging, inerting, washing tanks, sampling, and freeing gas. These operations constitute their own risks. Therefore, risk assessment has become a critical issue in maritime industry. The present investigation of this study is attempting to examine the priorities of precautions that are taken by chemical tankers before, during, and after cargo operations. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used for prioritizing the precautions in order to clarify the risk assesment option that will be used for pro-active approach to prevent marine casualties. The main aim of this study is to identify an appropriate management tool to increase the level of safety for chemical tankers during cargo operations at a terminal by using the results of AHP application.     

Impact of work boots and load carriage on the gait of oil rig workers

Effects of work boots and load carriage (6.4?kg and 12.8?kg) on gait pattern were investigated. The protective work boots were examined by comparison with running shoes through human performance tests with 15 male participants. The loads were carried symmetrically and asymmetrically on the shoulder and hand. Statistical data analysis showed a prolonged stance phase and decreased double support for work boots. A significantly increased ground reaction force was found in work boot conditions as the weight of loads increases. This study demonstrates that inflexible and heavy work boots restrict foot movement and require greater torque at the ankle to propel the body forward, which may increase physical strain and the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Development of improved fixation methods for work boots, increased use of flexible protective layers and further study of anthropometry of human foot morphology for improved safety and work efficiency of industry workers are suggested.     

Enhancement of occupational health and safety requirements in chemical tanker operations: The case of cargo explosion

Operational precautions for chemical tankers are vitally important in reducing the potential threat to shipboard crew by products carried. This paper enhances the International Safety Management (ISM) code in compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS 18001:2007) requirements in respect to operational constraints related to chemical tankers. As research methodology, Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are referred to redesign the extended ISM code procedure, which identifies key points for occupational accident prevention on board chemical tankers. To illustrate the expected benefits of an extended ISM code procedure, the principle root causes of chemical tanker explosion are also discussed. In particular, the main results of the case study highlight the urgent need to ensure the competency of shipboard personnel and their familiarization with the characteristics of chemical cargos under differing circumstances. The outcomes set out in this paper contribute to regulatory compliance and to the management of occupational health and safety requirements on board chemical tankers.     

Bystander injury evaluation of children from midwestern agricultural operations

Background

With more than a million youth living on agricultural operations, it is important for parents to understand the consequences of bystander injuries that children experience in these environments. We identified the childhood injuries for bystander status and compared the severity of these injuries to the working children in the Regional Rural Injury Study-II (RRIS-II).

Methods

RRIS-II followed 16,546 children (∼ 85% of eligible) from rural communities in the Midwest for two six-month recall periods in 1999 and 2001. Demographic, injury, and exposure data were collected through comprehensive computer-assisted telephone interviews. Child injuries were cataloged using narrative scenarios into four categories: (a) directly work-related; (b) indirectly work-related; (c) non-working accomplice; and (d) non-working attendant; the latter three all being bystander categories. Poisson regression modeling was used to calculate rates of bystander injuries. Frequencies were used for comparison of severity measures.

Results

Among the 463 child injuries (aged < 20 yrs), 102 were bystander injuries. Of the bystander-related injuries, 14 were identified as indirectly work-related (working bystanders), 27 as non-working accomplice (passengers/tag-alongs), and 60 as non-working attendant (playing on the operation). The overall rate of bystander injuries was 6.4 per 1,000 people, 95% CI (5.0, 8.1). Males, compared with females, had more than twice the injury rate (8.7; 95% CI 6.4-11.8, and 3.9; 95% CI 2.7-5.7, per 1,000 people, respectively). Bystanders in this population had more severe injuries with 4% having life-threatening circumstances; of these, 4% of the accomplices and 2% of the attendants subsequently died.

Conclusions

Children who live or work on agricultural operations are vulnerable to many hazards. Therefore, this study examined child injuries and found a clear difference in the consequences of these injuries between working-related and bystanding-related injuries.

Impact on Industry

Unlike occupations such as construction and mining, where laws and organizations have been created for the protection of bystanders, agricultural bystanders have remained unprotected and have had to face the consequent injury and death outcomes. As public health professionals considering these risks, it is necessary that we work to develop more intervention studies and continue to propose suggestive guidelines for child safety in these environments so as to challenge family traditions and possibly spark public policies that will give further protection to this population.     

Does safety climate moderate the influence of staffing adequacy and work conditions on nurse injuries?

PROBLEM: Hospital nurses have one of the highest work-related injury rates in the United States. Yet, approaches to improving employee safety have generally focused on attempts to modify individual behavior through enforced compliance with safety rules and mandatory participation in safety training. We examined a theoretical model that investigated the impact on nurse injuries (back injuries and needlesticks) of critical structural variables (staffing adequacy, work engagement, and work conditions) and further tested whether safety climate moderated these effects. METHOD: A longitudinal, non-experimental, organizational study, conducted in 281 medical-surgical units in 143 general acute care hospitals in the United States. RESULTS: Work engagement and work conditions were positively related to safety climate, but not directly to nurse back injuries or needlesticks. Safety climate moderated the relationship between work engagement and needlesticks, while safety climate moderated the effect of work conditions on both needlesticks and back injuries, although in unexpected ways. DISCUSSION AND IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Our findings suggest that positive work engagement and work conditions contribute to enhanced safety climate and can reduce nurse injuries.     

Inherent thermal runaway hazard evaluation method of chemical process based on fire and explosion index

Thermal runaway hazard assessment provides the basis for comparing the hazard levels of different chemical processes. To make an overall evaluation, hazard of materials and reactions should be considered. However, most existing methods didn't take the both into account simultaneously, which may lead the assessment to a deviation from the actual hazard. Therefore, an integrated approach called Inherent Thermal-runaway Hazard Index (ITHI) was developed in this paper. Similar to Dow Fire and Explosion Index(F&EI) function, thermal runaway hazard of chemical process in ITHI was the product of material factor (MF) and risk index (RI) of reaction. MF was an indicator of material thermal hazards, which can be determined by initial reaction temperature and maximum power density. RI, which was the product of probability and severity, indicated the risk of thermal runaway during the reaction stage. Time to maximum rate under adiabatic conditions and criticality classes of scenario were used to indicate the runaway probability of the chemical process. Adiabatic temperature rise and heat of the desired reaction and secondary reaction were used to determine the severity of runaway reaction. Finally, predefined hazard classification criteria was used to classify and interpret the results obtained by this method. Moreover, the method was validated by case studies.     

Sensitivity of Head and Cervical Spine Injury Measures to Impact Factors Relevant to Rollover Crashes

Objective: Serious head and cervical spine injuries have been shown to occur mostly independent of one another in pure rollover crashes. In an attempt to define a dynamic rollover crash test protocol that can replicate serious injuries to the head and cervical spine, it is important to understand the conditions that are likely to produce serious injuries to these 2 body regions. The objective of this research is to analyze the effect that impact factors relevant to a rollover crash have on the injury metrics of the head and cervical spine, with a specific interest in the differentiation between independent injuries and those that are predicted to occur concomitantly.

Methods: A series of head impacts was simulated using a detailed finite element model of the human body, the Total HUman Model for Safety (THUMS), in which the impactor velocity, displacement, and direction were varied. The performance of the model was assessed against available experimental tests performed under comparable conditions. Indirect, kinematic-based, and direct, tissue-level, injury metrics were used to assess the likelihood of serious injuries to the head and cervical spine.

Results: The performance of the THUMS head and spine in reconstructed experimental impacts compared well to reported values. All impact factors were significantly associated with injury measures for both the head and cervical spine. Increases in impact velocity and displacement resulted in increases in nearly all injury measures, whereas impactor orientation had opposite effects on brain and cervical spine injury metrics. The greatest cervical spine injury measures were recorded in an impact with a 15° anterior orientation. The greatest brain injury measures occurred when the impactor was at its maximum (45°) angle.

Conclusions: The overall kinetic and kinematic response of the THUMS head and cervical spine in reconstructed experiment conditions compare well with reported values, although the occurrence of fractures was overpredicted. The trends in predicted head and cervical spine injury measures were analyzed for 90 simulated impact conditions. Impactor orientation was the only factor that could potentially explain the isolated nature of serious head and spine injuries under rollover crash conditions. The opposing trends of injury measures for the brain and cervical spine indicate that it is unlikely to reproduce the injuries simultaneously in a dynamic rollover test.     

At-risk behaviour analysis and improvement study in an academic laboratory

Academic laboratories contain inherently substantial risk conditions that students could expose to chemical and physical hazards. Procedures and guidelines related to laboratory safety are commonly available for students to adhere. However, many injuries and accidents or even fatalities are reported due to students’ violated safety practices while working in the laboratory. There was no reported proactive method or systematic technique to monitor and control students’ at-risk behaviour in the laboratory. This paper presented a program known as laboratory at-risk behaviour and improvement system (Lab-ARBAIS) to monitor and control students’ at-risk behaviours in the laboratory. Lab-ARBAIS used computer database for data acquisition and analysis on students’ at-risk behaviours observed. Pre-program questions on students’ at-risk behaviours that frequently violated safety regulations were utilized by observers to give observation feedback. The collected feedback was analysed and the results were posted in students’ portal to allow everyone to acknowledge their safety habits and practices. The routine observations and posted results are to instill a psychology effect in student’s habitual safety practices by reminding them on their frequently violated safety regulations. The implementation of the Lab-ARBAIS program to chemical engineering laboratory as a case study had shown a significant improvement on students’ frequent at-risk behaviours. The Lab-ARBAIS can easily be adopted in any academic laboratories to manage students’ at-risk behaviours to ensure safe work environment. With minor enhancement, the Lab-ARBAIS can easily be extended to be used in industrial laboratories.     

Epidemiology of injury patterns for 4- to 10-year-olds in side and oblique impacts

Abstract

Objectives: With regard to the pediatric population involved in vehicle side impact collisions, epidemiologic data can be used to identify specific injury-producing conditions and offer possible safety technology effectiveness through population-based estimates. The objective of the current study was to perform a field data analysis to investigate injury patterns and sources of injury to 4- to 10-year-olds in side and oblique impacts to determine the potential effect of updated side impact regulations and airbag safety countermeasures.

Methods: The NASS-CDS, years 1991 to 2014, was analyzed in the current study. The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2005–Update 2008 was used to determine specific injuries and injury severities. Injury distributions were examined by body region as specified in the AIS dictionary and the Maximum AIS (MAIS). Children ages 4 to 10 were examined in this study. All occupant seating locations were investigated. Seating positions were designated by row and as either near side, middle, or far side. Side impacts with a principal direction of force (PDOF) between 2:00 and 4:00 as well as between 8:00 and 10:00 were included. Restraint use was documented only as restrained or unrestrained and not whether the restraint was being used properly. Injury distribution by MAIS, body region, and source of injury were documented. Analysis regarding occupant injury severity, body region injured, and injury source was performed by vehicle model year to determine the effect of updated side impact testing regulation and safety countermeasures. Because the aim of the study was to identify the most common injury patterns and sources, only unweighted data were analyzed.

Results: Main results obtained from the current study with respect to 4- to 10-year-old child occupants in side impact were that a decrease was observed in frequency of MAIS 1–3 injuries; injuries to the head, face, and extremities; as well as injuries caused by child occupant interaction with the vehicle interior and seatback support structures in 1998 model year passenger cars and newer.

Conclusions: Results from this study could be useful in design advances of pediatric anthropomorphic test devices, child restraints, as well as vehicles and their safety countermeasure systems.     

Occupational injury rates among Norwegian farmers: A sociotechnical perspective

Introduction: This study addressed relative injury risk among Norwegian farmers, who are mostly self-employed and run small farm enterprises. The aim was to explore the relative importance of individual, enterprise, and work environment risks for occupational injury and to discuss the latent conditions for injuries using sociotechnical system theory. Method: Injury report and risk factors were collected through a survey among Norwegian farm owners in November 2012. The response rate was 40% (n = 2,967). Annual work hours were used to calculate injury rates within groups. Poisson regression using the log of hours worked as the offset variable allowed for the modeling of adjusted rate ratios for variables predictive of injury risk. Finally, safety climate measures were introduced to assess potential moderating effects on risk. Results: Results showed that the most important risk factors for injuries were the design of the workplace, type of production, and off-farm work hours. The main results remained unchanged when adding safety climate measures, but the measures moderated the injury risk for categories of predominant production and increased the risk for farmers working with family members and/or employees. An overall finding is how the risk factors were interrelated. Conclusions: The study identified large structural diversities within and between groups of farmers. The study drew attention to operating conditions rather than individual characteristics. The farmer’s role (managerial responsibility) versus regulation and safety climate is important for discussions of injury risk. Practical Applications: We need to study sub-groups to understand how regulation and structural changes affect work conditions and management within different work systems, conditioned by production. It is important to encourage actors in the political-economic system to become involved in issues that were found to affect the safety of farmers.     

人体热应变预测方法标准在热安全评价中的应用

工业生产中存在着大量的高温工作环境,如高温生产车间或夏季露天作业环境等。高温工作环境可能导致人体体温升高、出汗脱水,对人体安全造成危害。建立人体热生理响应模型,通过计算得出人体生理指标变化,从而判断人体安全状态,是有效的人体安全评价方法。ISO 7933是人体热应变计算方法的国际标准。在考虑了环境和人体的多种情况下,给出人体相关生理参数的计算方法。基于此方法,与人体热安全阈值相结合,建立人体热安全评价方法,并给出了典型热环境下的算例。该方法也可用于评价热防护服的有效性。     

Factors contributing to US chemical plant process safety incidents from 2010 to 2020

Process safety incidents can result in injuries, fatalities, environmental impacts, facility damage, downtime & lost production, as well as impacts on a company's and industry's reputation. This study is focused on an analysis of the most commonly reported contributing factors to process safety incidents in the US chemical manufacturing industry. The database for the study contained 79 incidents from 2010 to 2019, partly investigated by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB). To be included in the study, the CSB archive of incident investigations were parsed to include only incidents which occurred at a company classified as 325 in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), assigned to businesses that participate in chemical manufacturing. For each incident, all of the identified contributing factors were catalogued in the database. From this list of identified contributing factors, it was possible to name the ‘top three’ contributing factors. The top three contributing factors cited for the chemical manufacturing industry were found to be: design; preventive maintenance; and safeguards, controls & layers of protection. The relationship between these top contributing factors and the most common OSHA citations was investigated as well. The investigation and citation history for NAICS 325 companies in the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) citations database was then analysed to assess whether there was any overlap between the top reported contributing factors to process safety events and the top OSHA citations recorded for the industry. A database consisting of the inspection and citation history for the chemical manufacturing industry identified by NAICS code 325 was assembled for inspections occurring between 2010 and 2020 (August). The analysis of the citation history for the chemical manufacturing industry specifically, identified that the list of the top contributing factors to process safety incidents overlapped with the most common OSHA violations. This finding is relevant to industry stakeholders who are considering how to strategically invest resources for achieving maximum benefit – reducing process safety risk and simultaneously improving OSHA citation history.     

Extinguishment of hydrogen laminar diffusion flames by water vapor in a cup burner apparatus

Transient computations with full hydrogen chemistry were performed to reveal the flame structure and extinguishment process of co-flow, hydrogen diffusion flame suppressed by water vapor. As the concentration of water vapor was increased, the flame detached away from the burner brim and formed an edge flame at the flame base. Water vapor showed larger chemical inhibition effect than nitrogen when extinguishing hydrogen flame, which was attributed to its enhanced third body effect in the reaction H + O₂ + M = HO₂ + M. The minimum extinguishing concentration (MEC) of water vapor and nitrogen was predicted by Senecal formula and perfectly stirred reactor (PSR) model respectively. The MECs predicted by PSR model agree with the MECs calculated by Fluent, which shows that 1) the flame extinction is controlled by the flame base, and 2) radiation absorption is negligible. The measured MECs are in a reasonable agreement with the values calculated by Fluent, which demonstrates the accuracy of the CFD model. A simple model was used to investigate the relative importance of extinguishing mechanisms of water vapor. The results show that in a co-flow configuration the thermal cooling and chemical inhibition effect are the main extinguishing mechanisms in suppressing hydrogen diffusion cup burner flame.     

Reaction hazard and mechanism study of H2O2 oxidation of 2-butanol to methyl ethyl ketone using DSC,Phi-TEC II and GC-MS

Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) oxidation via H₂O₂ with tungsten-based polyoxometalate catalysts has gained much attention with an ever-growing body of knowledge focusing on the development of environmentally benign processes in chemical industry. In this study, two calorimetry techniques, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Phi-TEC II adiabatic calorimetry, were employed to analyze the thermal hazards associated with the 2-butanol oxidation reaction system. Hydrogen peroxide was the oxidant and a tungsten-based polyoxometalate as the catalyst. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for identification of the organic products. Important thermal kinetic data were obtained including “onset” temperature, heat of reaction, adiabatic temperature rise and self-heat rate. From DSC results, three exothermic peaks were detected with a total heat generation of approximately 1.26 kJ/g sufficiently to induce a thermal runaway. Possible reaction pathway for three stages were proposed based on both DSC and GC-MS results. One exotherm was detected by Phi-TEC II calorimeter and the pressure versus temperature profile together with the DSC and GC-MS data demonstrate the complexity of 2-butanol reaction system under both thermal screening and adiabatic conditions.     

Non-occupational injuries caused by transport packaging: Residential and retail hazards

BackgroundBackground: Pallets are key components of domestic supply chains, and yet present unique hazards when used by homeowners and retailers for unintended uses. No previous works have investigated non-occupational injuries that occur due to unintentional contact with pallets. This study sought to describe the incidence and epidemiology of non-occupational pallet-related injuries as seen in United States emergency departments (EDs). Method: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was used to derive national, weighted estimates of pallet-related injuries by age, sex, injured body part, and location where injury occurred. Data for the years 2014 to 2018 were analyzed with all relevant narratives reviewed. Results: From 2014 to 2018, there were an estimated 30,493 persons who visited an ED for a pallet-related injury. The yearly incidence of pallet injuries rose during this period. The 35–44 age group (n = 5,481) was most likely to be injured, but about 3,000 children and youth under 18 years of age were injured and more than 4,000 persons 65 years of age or older suffered injuries. The elderly were especially likely to suffer injuries from slip, trip and fall incidents. The lower extremities were the most commonly injured body parts. An estimated 3,964 persons, accounting for approximately 14% of all pallet-related injuries, were treated for injuries incurred while at a retail establishment. African Americans, Hispanics, and the elderly appeared to be disproportionately more likely to have pallet-related injuries in retail locations. Conclusions: Non-occupational pallet-related injuries affect a wide range of patients and cause a variety of injuries, with the elderly being especially vulnerable to tripping incidents. Retailer prevention strategies should focus on the misuse of pallets for merchandising purposes. Industry should maintain control of pallets so they are not used for unintended purposes. Practical applications: Retailers should limit the use of pallets for floor-level merchandising purposes and remove pallets from customer-facing locations where unintentional contact could occur. Owners of pallets should maintain them in a controlled supply chain so that they don’t leak out into the hands of homeowners. Policy-makers should educate the public about the dangers of used pallets.     

Head injuries in child pedestrian accidents--in-depth case analysis and reconstructions

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate head injuries, injury risks, and corresponding tolerance levels of children in car-to--child pedestrian collisions. METHODS: An in-depth accident analysis was carried out based on 23 accident cases involving child pedestrians. These cases were collected with detailed information about pedestrians, cars, and road environments. All 23 accidents were reconstructed using the MADYMO program with mathematical models of passenger cars and child pedestrians developed at Chalmers University of Technology. The contact properties of the car models were derived from the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP) subsystem tests. RESULTS: The accident analysis demonstrated that the head was the most frequently and severely injured body part of child pedestrians. Most accidents occurred at impact speeds lower than 40 km/h and 98% of the child pedestrians were impacted from the lateral direction. The initial postures of children at the moment of impact were identified. Nearly half (47%) of the children were running, which was remarkable compared with the situation of adult pedestrians. From accident reconstructions it was found that head impact conditions and injury severities were dependent on the shape and stiffness of the car front, impact velocity, and stature of the child pedestrian. Head injury criteria and corresponding tolerance levels were analyzed and discussed by correlating the calculated injury parameters with the injury outcomes in the accidents. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing head injuries should be set as a priority in the protection of child pedestrians. HIC is an important injury criterion for predicting the risks of head injuries in child pedestrian accidents. The tolerance level of head injuries can have a considerable variation due to individual differences of the child pedestrians. By setting a suitable speed limit and improving the design of car front, the head injury severities of child pedestrians can be reduced.     

Foundational workplace safety and health competencies for the emerging workforce

IntroductionYoung workers (aged 15–24) suffer disproportionately from workplace injuries, with a nonfatal injury rate estimated to be two times higher than among workers age 25 or over. These workers make up approximately 9% of the U.S. workforce and studies have shown that nearly 80% of high school students work at some point during high school. Although young worker injuries are a pressing public health problem, the critical knowledge and skills needed to prepare youth for safe and healthy work are missing from most frameworks used to prepare the emerging U.S. workforce.MethodsA framework of foundational workplace safety and health knowledge and skills (the NIOSH 8 Core Competencies) was developed based on the Health Belief Model (HBM).ResultsThe proposed NIOSH Core Competencies utilize the HBM to provide a framework for foundational workplace safety and health knowledge and skills. An examination of how these competencies and the HBM apply to actions that workers take to protect themselves is provided. The social and physical environments that influence these actions are also discussed.ConclusionsThe NIOSH 8 Core Competencies, grounded in one of the most widely used health behavior theories, fill a critical gap in preparing the emerging U.S. workforce to be cognizant of workplace risks.Practical applicationsIntegration of the NIOSH 8 Core Competencies into school curricula is one way to ensure that every young person has the foundational workplace safety and health knowledge and skills to participate in, and benefit from, safe and healthy work.     

Moisture effects in heat transfer through clothing systems for wildland firefighters.

Wildland firefighters work in unfavourable environments involving both heat and moisture. Moisture in clothing systems worn by wildland firefighters may increase or decrease heat transfer, depending on its source and location in the clothing system, location on the body, timing of application and degree of sorption. In this experiment, 4 outerwear/underwear combinations were exposed to 1 of 5 different conditions varying on amount and location of moisture. The fabric systems were then exposed to either a high-heat-flux flame exposure (83 kW/m(2)) or a low-heat-flux radiant exposure (10 kW/m(2)). Under high-heat-flux flame exposures, external moisture tended to decrease heat transfer through the fabric systems, while internal moisture tended to increase heat transfer. Under low-heat-flux radiant exposures, internal moisture decreased heat transfer through the fabric systems. The nature and extent of such differences was fabric dependent. Implications for test protocol development are discussed.     

An analysis of occupational stair accident patterns

This report describes an analysis of existing occupational injury data concerning stairway-related falls. Injury data based on reports obtained from the Ohio and California workers' compensation agencies were analyzed to identify common stair injury patterns. Frequency tabulations are provided for the following factors: (a) location (indoors vs. outdoors, on vs. off employer's premises, site category); (b) task (ascending vs. descending, body movement on the stair, task being attempted); and (c) events (precipitating actions and conditions). One of the most outstanding findings is that 92 % of the injuries occurred when the worker was descending the stair, i.e., 636 of the 688 cases in which direction of travel was indicated. Additionally, injury records from the New York and Ohio workers' compensation agencies were used to rank industries in terms of combined frequency and severity rates of stairway-related injuries.