An investigation of safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified and non-certified organizations

Many organizations worldwide have implemented Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 in their premises because of the assumed positive effects of this standard on safety. Few studies have analyzed the effect of the safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified organizations. This case–control study used a new safety climate questionnaire to evaluate three OHSAS 18001-certified and three non-certified manufacturing companies in Iran. Hierarchical regression indicated that the safety climate was influenced by OHSAS implementation and by safety training. Employees who received safety training had better perceptions of the safety climate and its dimensions than other respondents within the certified companies. This study found that the implementation of OHSAS 18001 does not guarantee improvement of the safety climate. This study also emphasizes the need for high-quality safety training for employees of the certified companies to improve the safety climate.     

Manual Material Handling Assessment Among Workers of Iranian Casting Workshops

Manual material handling (MMH) tasks can be found in most workplaces and they may constitute a risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of WMSDs and to compare MMH loads with the acceptable weight and force limits among Iranian casting workers. Data were collected from 50 workers of casting workshops who performed MMH tasks. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and the Snook tables were used as tools for data collection. Hand/ wrist symptoms were the most prevalent problems among the workers (84%). The results of the Snook tables showed that the loads in lifting (84%), lowering (86%), carrying (66%), pushing with initial (43%) and sustained force (59%), and pulling tasks with initial (48%) and sustained force (93%) exceeded recommended limits. WMSDs occurred in high rates among the workers and, thus, ergonomics interventions should focus on decreasing WMSDs and redesigning MMH tasks.     

OHSAS 18001 certification and work accidents: Shedding light on the connection

Introduction: The implications of OHSAS 18001 for substantive Occupational Health and Safety outcomes such, as a reduction in work accidents, have been under-researched in the scholarly literature. The impact of this standard on other aspects of performance, such as profitability and productivity, has attracted more attention. Method: This article aims to fill this gap by shedding light on the relationship between OHSAS 18001 certification and the rates of minor, serious, and fatal accidents per employee at work experienced in certified and non-certified companies. Results: Based on an analysis of a sample of 5,147 Spanish firms, the findings show that OHSAS 18001 certification is only loosely related with better occupational health and safety performance measured in terms of rate of accidents at work. A propensity for OHSAS 18001 certification to be found in economic sectors of activity with worse occupational health and safety outcomes in terms of rate of work-related accidents is identified. There is evidence of a negative selection-effect of the main international management standard for occupational health and safety. Potential distortions and biases that may be related to these and other findings in the scholarly literature are analyzed. Managerial implications of the main findings, implications for policy makers, and avenues for future research are discussed.     

What does ‘safe’ look and feel like?

In this paper, the authors answer the question and help readers to form a view of ‘what does safe look and feel like’? Five important aspects of safety are addressed logically: Safety Culture, Safety Awareness, Safety Function, Processes, and Training. In each part, rather than just address what elements are involved and the importance of every element, this paper also provides general ideas and examples to help improve the level of safety. While safety culture is to a large extent influenced by the leadership; a best-in-class safety culture can be self-perpetuating particularly if the initial journey to best-in-class safety culture embeds the concepts of safety awareness, safety functions, processes and training in the organization. The paper provides an overview of safety related actions, tools, and processes that High Reliability Organizations follow, and should serve as a benchmark for other organizations of all sizes in search of safety improvement.     

Organizational practices and workplace health and safety: A cross-sectional study in manufacturing companies

We report the results of a mail questionnaire for 312 manufacturing firms in the province of Ontario (Canada). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of workplace level health and safety policies, practices and attitudes. Analyses were conducted across firm categories based upon lost-time frequency rate (LTFR) data. Lower LTFRs were associated with paternalistic initiatives, recording of occupational health and safety (OHS) measures, greater involvement of workers in decision-making, and better managerial attitudes concerning the importance of OHS. The composition of the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC), a committee mandated in all workplaces we sampled, differed according to injury rate: the mean number of worker (vs. management) members on the JHSC was higher for lower injury sites, and the mean number of worker members attending JHSC meetings was also higher for lower injury worksites. In addition, workplaces with lower LTFR benefitted by having JHSCs with more executive functions and greater worker involvement. In conclusion, managerial and worker participation in OHS initiatives characterizes safer workplaces. Also, general concern of management towards OHS—illustrated by both attitudes and concrete actions—is also associated with lower injury rates.     

Estimating the effectiveness of ergonomics interventions through case studies: implications for predictive cost-benefit analysis

PROBLEM: Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can help to justify an investment in ergonomics interventions. A predictive CBA model would allow practitioners to present a cost justification to management during the planning stages, but such a model requires reliable estimates of the benefits of ergonomics interventions. METHOD: Through literature reviews and Internet searches, 250 case studies that reported the benefits of ergonomics programs and control measures were collected and summarized. RESULTS: Commonly reported benefits included reductions in the number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) or their incidence rate, as well as related lost workdays, restricted workdays, and workers' compensation costs. Additional benefits reported were related to productivity, quality, turnover and absenteeism. DISCUSSION: Benefits reported were largely positive, and payback periods for ergonomics interventions were typically less than one year. SUMMARY: The results of this review could be used to develop predictive CBA models for ergonomics programs and individual control measures. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Cost-justifying ergonomics interventions prior to implementation may help to secure management support for proposed changes. Numbers used for the benefits side of a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) need to be based on "real world" data in order to be credible. The data presented in this paper may help in the development of simple cost-benefit models for ergonomics programs and control measures.     

An airport occupational health and safety management system from the OHSAS 18001 perspective

Occupational health and safety represents a set of technical, medical, legal, psychological, pedagogical and other measures with the aim to detect and eliminate hazards that threaten the lives and health of employees. These measures should be applied in a systematic way. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review occupational health and safety legislation in Serbia and the requirements that airports should fulfill for Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series certification. Analyzing the specificity of airport activities and injuries as their outcomes, the article also proposes preventive measures for the health and safety of employees. Furthermore, the airport activities which are the most important from the standpoint of risks are defined, as the goals for occupational health and safety performance improvement.     

基于柯氏理论的安全培训效果评估模型研究

开展安全培训是提升人员安全意识与技能的有效手段,是减少不安全行为、保障企业安全生产的重要途径。柯氏理论是培训评估中应用最广的方法之一,结合安全管理领域的特点,基于柯氏理论构建了反应层、学习层、行为层、结果层的评估模块,并整合成安全培训效果评估模型,建立了模型的双向循环模式,便于企业查找安全培训存在的不足、制定针对性改进措施。     

A Draft of a System of Teaching Occupational Safety and Ergonomics at Universities in Poland

The aim of the study was to develop a set of curricula for teaching Occupational Safety and Ergonomics at colleges and universities of various types, aimed at equipping students with knowledge and skills and at shaping active attitudes towards the practical application of the acquired knowledge in their future working lives. On the basis of the analysis of the curricula at Polish and foreign colleges and universities, a set (canon) of educational contents constituting a common practice in the academic teaching of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics was established. Then, a convenient for teaching this subject classification of university specialisations in Poland was introduced. This led to identifying and defining a taxonomic unit called here an educational profile. Next, curriculum minima for the developed profiles were defined objectively. To achieve this aim, the set of educational contents was ranked by university teachers and specialists in occupational safety and ergonomics. Each part of the educational contents (subject) was ranked on a 10-point scale in relation to each educational profile. The results of this ranking led to formulating sets of educational contents for each educational profile. On this basis, a repertoire of curricula (6 curricula, in 2 hour-by-hour versions each) was prepared, with methodological guidelines for lecturers. The results of the study were presented in the form of a manual for academic authorities.     

列车运行控制系统安全保障与认证方法研究

为了保证轨道交通系统的运行安全性,系统必须在其投入运行之前进行安全认证,只有取得相应的安全授权才能投入运行。结合CENELEC国际标准和我国应用实践,提出以安全验证和确认为基础的安全保障与认证方法,将安全验证和确认的方法贯穿于系统研制开发生命周期内的每一个阶段,监控系统研制开发的每一个活动,评审系统研制开发的每一个文档,保证相关文档之间的追溯性,针对系统的所有需求进行完备性和充分性测试,才能够确保列车运行控制系统能安全、可靠地投入使用。列车运行控制系统是轨道交通系统的重要组成部分,关系其运行安全和效率2,010年底采用安全验证和确认的方法成功地将LCF-300型列车运行控制系统应用于北京轨道交通亦庄线和昌平线,并顺利通过英国劳氏公司的第三方安全认证。     

Occupational safety and health in Spain

Occupational Health and Safety in Spain has improved considerably over the last decade, most likely due to a new concept where an overall concept of safety culture is defined. Important changes in industrial safety, hygiene, and psychosocial factors present an optimistic panorama for the future of Spain. Despite this general improvement, according to the European Convergence Program, Spanish statistics still offer far from good safety results. In fact, according to 1997 official statistics, Spain had the highest incidence rate for nonfatal occupational accidents of all European Union (EU) countries, and occupied third place for fatal accidents. This paper summarizes the organizational structure of the Spanish National System of Health & Safety at Work, its effective health and safety laws, and statistics on the Spanish work environment obtained from III Spanish National Survey on Work Conditions (1997). The researchers hope that the findings of this work will have an impact on Spanish industry that will subsequently bring about improvements in work conditions and develop assessment and intervention models in occupational health and safety, from a theoretical position integrating environmental, human, and organizational factors.     

Competency requirements for process hazard analysis (PHA) teams

Process hazard analysis (PHA) is a cornerstone of process safety management programs. The quality of the PHA performed directly affects the level of risk tolerated for a process. The lower the quality of a PHA, the more likely higher risk will be tolerated. There are few requirements for PHA team members in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's process safety management regulations. More detailed requirements for participation in a PHA are desirable.A competency management program should be used to ensure PHA practitioners and teams are appropriately qualified. Criteria for selecting PHA team leaders, or facilitators, and other team members are key to such a program and are described in this paper. The criteria cover both technical and personal attributes. Application of the criteria is described and team performance metrics, which can be used to correlate performance with the assessment of competency to validate the criteria and methods used, are discussed.Owing to the importance of the role played by team leaders, certification of their competency is desirable. Criteria for certification are described and their application is discussed.     

Using ergonomics in engineering design to improve health and safety

This paper outlines the importance of ergonomics in engineering design. It describes some of the cost benefits and principles underlying the application of ergonomics. The practical impact of the latter has become increasingly important in the light of European directives which are likely to have a substantial impact on the way engineers design. Three ergonomics case studies are described, the first two illustrate ways of identifying costs of poor ergonomics and the cost benefits of redesign using ergonomics principles. The third illustrates work which led to engineers redesigning assembly line workstations and ergonomics becoming an important part of manufacturing design. The background to this was concern about an increase in cases of Upper Limb Disorders (ULDs) and recognition that ergonomic advice was needed to find the source of problems and help in finding design options. Ergonomists were brought in and helped in identifying problems with workstations and tools. Final designs were developed by the company's own engineers based on the ergonomic study and reduced incidence of ULDs has been reported. Photographs showing examples before and after redesign can be found in the Health and Safety Executive's notes of guidance published in 1990, and some issues surrounding the nature of the detailed design solutions are discussed here. The impact of the ergonomics contribution resulted in engineers being trained in ergonomics so that it could be implemented on a routine basis throughout the site.     

浅析如何制定企业职业安全健康方针

制定适合企业自身发展的职业安全健康方针至关重要,然而目前这方面的研究相对较少。本文收集了国内27家、国外10家知名企业的职业安全健康方针,统计分析了国内外职业安全健康方针在形式和内容上的区别与联系。通过定性分析和定量研究,得出国外企业职业安全健康方针的共性特点和国内企业职业安全健康方针的最常见组合模式。理论联系实际,将我国《职业安全健康管理体系规范（》GB/T28001-2004）中方针的编写要求与研究结论相结合,探讨在新形势下,如何制定企业职业安全健康方针的方法。     

员工对企业建立职业健康安全管理体系反应调查研究

为了解和评价企业建立OSHMS后,员工的主观反应和正、负两方面评价意见,对已建OSHMS 64家企业中的1602名职工(观察组)和未建OSHMS 的 61家企业中的1517名职工(对照组)做了标准化问卷调查,调查采用随机抽样、标准化问卷、统一调查程序和系统质量控制等技术方法.问卷中设置了经过专家筛选的12个问题,分A、B两组每组6个问题,其中5个为正面,1个为负面反应问题,依据回答问题的程度不同划出a、b、c和d四个级别,分别赋予不同分值.问卷调查结果表明:观察组在企业职工全员参与、职业安全卫生教育培训、作业环境整改和搞好安全生产信心与能力等多个方面都得到明显改善与提高,与未建OSHMS企业的对照组相比较,差异非常显著.同时分析结果也提示:企业推行OSHMS过程中可能增加员工心理压力和给工作带来一些不便,一小部分职工对职业安全健康管理工作发生的一些变化还不能完全适应,应引起注意.作者认为,企业通过建立和运行OSHMS可以提高企业安全生产管理水平和获得显著职业安全卫生绩效,企业职工在OSHMS建立后安全生产的意识能力和自信心都得到了明显加强.建议应进一步在企业推行应用并在实际工作中不断改进和完善.政府对于企业自主采取的先进的管理体系应予一定的支持和鼓励,如给与某些政策上的支持.     

中美职业安全健康法对比

通过对中美职业安全健康立法目的和背景的考察,对比分析职业安全健康法涉及的6项具体内容,即体例结构、适用范围、监管方式、监管体制、教育与培训、法律责任,并指出国情不同是造成中美职业安全健康法立法巨大差异的原因之一。经对比分析,可得出几点结论:从中国国情出发,走逐步完善的职业安全健康立法路径,建立独立的职业安全健康法律体系,是我国安全生产的治本之策;对从业人员的职业安全健康保护具有首要性,须明晰保护劳动者的上层法律要求,《安全生产法》并不能代替《职业安全健康法》;完善中国职业安全健康法律制度须走一体化整合的道路。     

香港注册安全主任制度对注册安全工程师执业资格制度的启示

注册安全工程师执业资格制度在我国实施仅有4年的历史,仍处于起步阶段,存在很多亟待解决的问题。香港特别行政区自1978年实施注册安全主任制度以来,已形成完善的资格管理体系,并实现在工业经营场所按规定配备一定数量的安全主任。笔者通过探讨香港注册安全主任制度的发展历程,提出可借鉴的运作方法和管理经验,对完善注册安全工程师执业资格制度法律体系、探索企业合理配备注册安全工程师原则并对其继续教育方式等问题提出建议。     

Leadership skills for strengthening jobsite safety climate

Introduction: Construction foremen may lack the leadership skills needed to create a strong jobsite safety climate. Many construction companies address this by sending their lead workers to the OSHA 30-h course; however the course does not include a leadership training module. This article describes the development and pilot testing of such a module and evaluation surveys designed to address this training gap. Methods: A 17-member curriculum development team, numerous subject matter experts, and an instructional design company helped us develop a comprehensive set of teaching resources and a set of survey instruments for evaluating the materials' effectiveness on improving safety leadership and safety climate. All materials and surveys were pilot tested with representative members of the target population. Results: Pilot surveys showed high reliability and data collected on the resulting Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) module indicated that the majority of foremen thought the training was helpful or valuable, particularly the discussion questions. The majority said they intended to use the skills on the jobsite. With the exception of the role-play activities, the trainers rated highly all other components, especially the videos and discussion questions. Modifications were made to the training materials and surveys based on pilot test findings. The most important result of the development and pilot testing efforts is that the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) included the FSL as an elective in the OSHA 30-h course. Conclusions: The FSL module fills a needed skills gap by providing safety leadership training to all foremen who might otherwise not have access to it through their company or union. The continued success of the FSL training will be ensured by dissemination via the OSHA 30-h course, an established nationwide safety training program. Practical applications: The FSL training module has already been widely accepted by the construction industry as a useful approach for providing construction foremen/See new abstract lead workers with the knowledge and skills they need to become more effective jobsite safety leaders.     

Quality and safety management practices: The theory of quality management approach

Introduction: Safety management is frequently treated as non-essential and incidental to core business functions. Accordingly, the importance of safety management is often underestimated. The Theory of Quality Management was investigated in this study to find the degree of linkage between the management of quality and safety. Method: Data derived from a 40-item online survey were used to test the Theory of Quality Management model factors among quality and safety professionals. The surveys were distributed to quality and safety professionals represented by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), for a total of 144 completed surveys, with the largest number coming from manufacturing organizations. Results: the findings suggest good internal consistency for the variables and good correlations between the quality and safety professional responses. Conclusions: This study offers evidence that the organizational functions of safety and quality can follow the same management model, broadening the understanding of the Theory of Quality Management from focusing only the management of quality, to embracing the management of safety. Practical Application: The finding could help establishments improve overall worker safety and health using quality tools and techniques.     

Application of a Screening Method in Assessing Occupational Safety and Health of Computer Workstations

Employers and workers need concrete guidance to plan and implement changes in the ergonomics of computer workstations. The Näppärä method is a screening tool for identifying problems requiring further assessment and corrective actions. The aim of this study was to assess the work of occupational safety and health (OSH) government inspectors who used Näppärä as part of their OSH enforcement inspections (430 assessments) related to computer work. The modifications in workstation ergonomics involved mainly adjustments to the screen, mouse, keyboard, forearm supports, and chair. One output of the assessment is an index indicating the percentage of compliance items. This method can be considered as exposure assessment and ergonomics intervention used as a benchmark for the level of ergonomics. Future research can examine whether the effectiveness of participatory ergonomics interventions should be investigated with Näppärä.