A qualitative investigation of factors affecting school district administrators’ decision to adopt a national young worker curriculum

Introduction: Even though the majority of youth in the U.S. work, and workers under the age of 18 are seriously injured on the job at higher rates when compared to adults, most adolescents lack instruction on workplace safety and health. Method: This qualitative study examines the extent to which selected U.S. school districts provide workplace safety and health instruction to students and explores the factors that influence districts’ decision to adopt a free, foundational occupational safety and health (OSH) curriculum. Results: Results from key informant interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 34 school administrators revealed that only a third of the districts have at least 75% of their students receive some instruction on workplace safety and health, while 15% indicated they provide no instruction on this topic. District staff who indicated that they provide OSH instruction stated that it is most often taught through career and technical education (CTE; 65%) and/or health classes (26%). They believed the benefits of providing this instruction include assisting students to get jobs (38%) and helping students learn about safety (32%), while competing demands (44%) and time constraints (41%) were identified as barriers to providing OSH education to students. Conclusions: Given the importance of work to teens and their increased risk of work injury, interested stakeholders—including parents, teachers, employers, and the public health community—should promote the inclusion of workplace safety and health instruction in U.S. secondary schools. Practical Applications: This research fills a gap in current knowledge about the extent to which OSH is currently taught within U.S. secondary schools, enumerates barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of workplace safety and health instruction in schools, presents a free, foundational curriculum in workplace safety and health, and provides directions for future research on the vital role schools can play in preparing the future workforce for safe and healthy employment.     

Behaving safely under pressure: The effects of job demands,resources, and safety climate on employee physical and psychosocial safety behavior

Introduction: Previous research has shown that employees who experience high job demands are more inclined to show unsafe behaviors in the workplace. In this paper, we examine why some employees behave safely when faced with these demands while others do not. We add to the literature by incorporating both physical and psychosocial safety climate in the job demands and resources (JD-R) model and extending it to include physical and psychosocial variants of safety behavior. Method: Using a sample of 6230 health care employees nested within 52 organizations, we examined the relationship between job demands and (a) resources, (b) safety climate, and (c) safety behavior. We conducted multilevel analyses to test our hypotheses. Results: Job demands (i.e., work pressure), job resources (i.e., job autonomy, supervisor support, and co-worker support) and safety climate (both physical and psychosocial safety climate) are directly associated with, respectively, lower and higher physical and psychosocial safety behavior. We also found some evidence that safety climate buffers the negative impact of job demands (i.e., work–family conflict and job insecurity) on safety behavior and strengthens the positive impact of job resources (i.e., co-worker support) on safety behavior. Conclusions: Regardless of whether the focus is physical or psychological safety, our results show that strengthening the safety climate within an organization can increase employees' safety behavior. Practical implication: An organization's safety climate is an optimal target of intervention to prevent and ameliorate negative physical and psychological health and safety outcomes, especially in times of uncertainty and change.     

The contribution of qualitative analyses of occupational health and safety interventions: An example through a study of external advisory interventions

With this study, we endeavoured to develop a model to explain both the processes leading to preventive-based changes during occupational health and safety interventions performed by external advisors, and the effect of the workplace context on these interventions and on the implementation of change proposals. The study concerns seven interventions carried out by advisors from four joint occupational health and safety sector-based associations. This longitudinal study entailed observing external advisor/workplace actors interactions and various interviews with the advisor and workplace actors. Each proposal for change was followed to see if it would be accepted, modified, and implemented or not. The research strategy and results presented herein illustrate the potential explanatory value of a qualitative, longitudinal study. For this purpose, we extracted six methodological principles from the eight criteria (further broken down into 17 questions) set forth in an article by Shannon et al. [Shannon, H.S., Robson, L.S., Guastello, S.J., 1999. Methodological criteria for evaluating safety intervention research. Safety Science 31, 161–179]. This article was chosen for its explicit, succinct presentation of a series of methodological criteria, some of which have been cited by other authors. The principles we selected are those that qualitative research could particularly be useful in attaining, among all the criteria defined by Shannon et al. (1999). The study results illustrate how a qualitative intra- and inter-case study could contribute to fulfillment of each selected principle, and towards a better understanding of the conditions for preventive intervention effectiveness.     

The reality of “Revitalizing Health and Safety”

Problem: Workplace health and safety remains an important international socioeconomic issue, but the progressive declines in reported incidents may be slowing. The British Government has responded by launching a new policy initiative aimed at “Revitalizing Health and Safety” by establishing targets for improvement, strategies, and a series of action points, mainly targeting employers and organizational issues. This paper critically assesses the realities of implementing this policy with respect to the scientific base for each of the strategies. Method: Literature meta-analysis; analysis of policy. Results: Empirically proven determinants of workplace health and safety provide baselines for compensation and conditions of work, workforce characteristics, workplace characteristics, health and safety environment, political and economic factors, and industry characteristics. Support for different policy elements is varied and there are some significant gaps. Summary: An impressive body of research was found that offers a firm foundation for future developments. However, the need for work that is interdisciplinary, ordered, and collaborative is pressing. The need to move away from elegant but simplistic pictures of occupational health and safety (OHS) management practice, and to reflect true complexity is imperative. The reality of health and safety at work is that it is an issue that is taken lightly by those who do not practice or research safe and healthy working, and a serious issue for victims or relatives of victims of shoddy management. It remains one of the bastions of inequality of work worldwide. Impact on industry: The intent of governments in attempting to reinvigorate the suppression of workplace injury and illness is motivated by both social and economic imperatives. Motivation for organizations is not fully understood as there is no obvious business imperative. If organizations can further understand and provide a scientific justification for investment in OHS management, then governments' task will be made easier. By proving the value of OHS to management, we will demonstrate that organizations continue to present considerable hazards to their employees.     

A new training specification for workplace health promotion

The field of workplace health promotion has seen developments of concepts, practice and interest in recent years. However, recent EC wide research has pointed to problems which constrain its development. These include a lack of awareness amongst the major players who are in a position to implement workplace health promotion, difficulties in transmitting the concept of and organising genuine inter-disciplinary approaches to workplace health promotion, and a lack of training courses in the area.This paper describes a project to develop a training specification for workplace health promotion targeted at a range of professional and non-professional groups. These include occupational physicians and nurses, safety engineers, personnel managers, health and safety representatives and others.The project has developed a modular training specification — each trainee group can undertake all modules to an appropriate level of detail. It focuses on two broad areas — the health promotion process and the roles necessary to support that process. The first area defines an idealised health promotion process, which has been divided into 7 phases, while the second area outlines 6 principal roles in relation to interacting with that process. Future work will see the implementation of the training specification in a number of test sites.     

Workers' compensation insurer risk control systems: Opportunities for public health collaborations

IntroductionWorkers' compensation (WC) insurers offer services and programs for prospective client selection and insured client risk control (RC) purposes. Toward these aims, insurers collect employer data that may include information on types of hazards present in the workplace, safety and health programs and controls in place to prevent injury/illness, and return-to-work programs to reduce injury/illness severity. Despite the potential impact of RC systems on workplace safety and health and the use of RC data in guiding prevention efforts, few research studies on the types of RC services provided to employers or the RC data collected have been published in the peer-reviewed literature.MethodsResearchers conducted voluntary interviews with nine private and state-fund WC insurers to collect qualitative information on RC data and systems.ResultsInsurers provided information describing their RC data, tools, and practices. Unique practices as well as similarities including those related to RC services, policyholder goals, and databases were identified.ConclusionsInsurers collect and store extensive RC data, which have utility for public health research for improving workplace safety and health.Practical applicationsIncreased public health understanding of RC data and systems and an identification of key collaboration opportunities between insurers and researchers will facilitate increased use of RC data for public health purposes.     

The many benefits of employee well‐being in organizational research

We undertake three objectives in this Incubator. We begin with a discussion of how well‐being has been considered in organizational research. Second, we provide an overview of the relationship between employee well‐being and such workplace outcomes as job performance, employee retention, and cardiovascular health. Third, we introduce exciting research directions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The productivity assessment tool: computer-based cost benefit analysis model for the economic assessment of occupational health and safety interventions in the workplace

INTRODUCTION AND MEthod: This paper describes the concepts behind cost benefit analysis in occupational health and safety and introduces the Productivity Assessment Tool, a method by which an analysis may be performed relatively easily in a service or manufacturing workplace. The advantage of using such analyses is to show the important financial role that safe and efficient workplaces play in the workplace. RESULTS: By using analytical tools, the effectiveness of an intervention (workplace change) may be estimated prior to its introduction. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This places occupational health and safety on the same financial footing as other proposed workplace changes and thus places occupational health and safety in a strong position to attract scarce resources.     

12-Year longitudinal study linking within-person changes in work and family transitions and workplace injury risk

Introduction: Despite the rich tradition of research on predictors of workplace injury, most studies rely on cross-sectional, between-person designs. Furthermore, prior research has often overlooked the possibility that factors outside the work domain can influence the occurrence of actual injuries at work. To address these limitations, the current study examined the effects of work and family demands on the occurrence of workplace injury. Drawing on the intuition of the work-home resources model (W-HR), we investigated how within-person level changes in demands and resources from both domains influence work injuries over a 12-year period. Method: We used 12 years of longitudinal data (N = 7,820) to study the long-term within-person changes in work and family domains and to capture the event of low frequency incidence such as workplace injury. Specifically, we conducted multilevel analyses to study the links between within-person change in time and energy resources both in work and family domains and within-person change in the likelihood of experiencing a workplace injury. Results and conclusion: The findings showed that within-person changes in work hours, spousal work hours, income and number of children, were significantly associated with changes in the likelihood of experiencing a workplace injury. We conclude with a discussion of implications for theory and future research of workplace injuries. Practical application: The research provided useful insights on the intimate association between work and family domains in the context of safety management.     

Communication in the workplace: Defining the conversations of supervisors

Background: Communications plays a central role in promoting the health and wellbeing of workers. Although much literature has shown the positive benefits of safety communication in the workplace, research has yet to explore the nature of these communication practices within supervisor–worker relationships. This study overcomes this gap in the literature through objectively monitoring communication within the daily working lives of work-group supervisors in one organization. Aims: The aims of the research were to: (a) categorize communication in the workplace into three categories, namely task-related communication, relationship-related communication, and safety-related communication; and (b) explore the frequency of these dialogs. Method: We periodically recorded brief snippets of ambient (acoustic) sounds in supervisors' workplace environment by using an Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). The EAR was run on an Apple iPod, with an application downloaded for free on iTunes (i.e., iEAR). The EAR was programmed to record for 30 s every three minutes for eight working hours a day of a five-day working week. Results: A total of 12.38 h of acoustic sounds from five workgroup supervisors was useable for coding. The results found examples of task-related (productivity, efficiency, workflow, and human resources) communication, as well as relationship-related (greetings, personal life discussions, workplace relations), and safety-related communication. We also found that the majority of the communication recorded was task-related communication compared with relationship-related and safety-related communication. Practical applications: This research provides preliminary insights into communication practices in the workplace and avenues for future research.     

Psychosocial safety climate: Conceptual distinctiveness and effect on job demands and worker psychological health

Psychosocial safety climate is an emerging construct that refers to shared perceptions regarding policies, practices, and procedures for the protection of worker psychological health and safety. The purpose of the research was to: (1) demonstrate that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures (i.e., physical safety climate, team psychological safety, and perceived organizational support); and (2) test the proposition that organizational psychosocial safety climate determines work conditions (i.e., job demands) and subsequently worker psychological health. We used samples from two different cultures; an Australian sample (N = 126 workers in 16 teams within a primary health care organization) and a Malaysian sample (N = 180 workers in 31 teams from different organizations and diverse industries). In both samples confirmatory factor analysis verified that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures. Using hierarchical linear modeling, psychosocial safety climate was superior to other team level climate measures in its negative relationship to both job demands and psychological health problems. Results supported a mediation process, psychosocial safety climate → job demands → psychological health problems, corroborating psychosocial safety climate as a preeminent stress risk factor, and an efficient target for intervention. We found both physical and psychosocial safety climates were stronger in the Australian, compared with the Malaysian work context. Levels of psychosocial safety climate were significantly lower than those of physical safety climate in both countries indicating a ‘universal’ lack of attention to workplace psychological health.     

The effect of contextual information on professional judgment: Reliability and biasability of expert workplace safety inspectors

Introduction: A critical aspect of occupational safety is workplace inspections by experts, in which hazards are identified. Scientific research demonstrates that expectation generated by context (i.e., prior knowledge and experience) can bias the judgments of professionals and that individuals are largely unaware when their judgments are affected by bias. Method: The current research tested the reliability and biasability of expert safety inspectors’ judgments. We used a two-study design (Study 1, N = 83; Study 2, N = 70) to explore the potential of contextual, task-irrelevant, information to bias professionals’ judgments. We examined three main issues: (1) the effect that biasing background information (safe and unsafe company history) had on professional regulatory safety inspectors’ judgments of a worksite; (2) the reliability of those judgments amongst safety inspectors and (3) inspectors’ awareness of bias in their judgments and confidence in their performance. Results: Our findings establish that: (i) inspectors’ judgments were biased by historical contextual information, (ii) they were not only biased, but the impact was implicit: they reported being unaware that it affected their judgments, and (iii) independent of our manipulations, inspectors were inconsistent with one another and the variations were not a product of experience. Conclusion: Our results are a replication of findings from a host of other professional domains, where honest, hardworking professionals underappreciate the biasing effect of context on their decision making. The current paper situates these findings within the relevant research on safety inspection, cognitive bias and decision making, as well as provides suggestions for bias mitigation in workplace safety inspection. Practical Application: Our results have implications for occupational health and safety given that inspection is an integral aspect of an effective safety system. In addition to our findings, this study contributes to the literature by providing recommendations regarding how to mitigate the effect of bias in inspection.     

The need for detailed gender-specific occupational safety analysis

IntroductionThe female work in population is growing in the United States, therefore the occupational health and safety entities must start to analyze gender-specific data related to every industry, especially to nontraditional occupations. Women working in nontraditional jobs are often exposed to extreme workplace hazards. These women have their safety and health threatened because there are no adequate policies to mitigate gender-specific risks such as discrimination and harassment. Employers tend to aggravate this situation because they often fail to provide proper reporting infrastructure and support. According to past studies, women suffered from workplace injuries and illnesses that were less prominent among men. Statistics also confirmed that men and women faced different levels of risks in distinct work environments. For example, the rates of workplace violence and murders by personal acquaintances were significantly higher among women.MethodsIn this paper, the authors analyze prior public data on fatal and nonfatal injuries to understand why we need to differentiate genders when analyzing occupational safety and health issues.ResultsThe analyses confirmed that women dealt with unique workplace hazards compared to men.ConclusionsIt is urgent that public agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor, record gender-specific data in details and by occupations and industries.Practical applicationThe reader will become aware of the current lack – and need – of data and knowledge about injuries and illnesses separated by gender and industry. Finally, safety and health researchers are encouraged to investigate the gender-specific data in all industries and occupations, as soon as they become available.     

Workplace incivility: A review of the literature and agenda for future research

A growing body of research explores workplace incivility, defined as low‐intensity deviant workplace behavior with an ambiguous intent to harm. In the 15 years since the theoretical introduction of the workplace incivility construct, research in this domain has taken off, albeit in a variety of directions. We review the extant body of research on workplace incivility and note the multitude of samples, sources, methodologies, and instrumentation used. In this review article, we provide an organized review of the extant body of work that encompasses three distinct types of incivility: experienced, witnessed, and instigated incivility. These three types of incivility serve as the foundation for a series of comprehensive models in which we integrate extant empirical research. In the last part of this review article, we suggest directions for future research that may contribute to this growing body of work. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The unequal distribution of occupational health and safety risks among immigrants to Canada compared to Canadian-born labour market participants: 1993–2005

ObjectivesTo examine the prevalence of occupational health and safety risk factors among immigrants to Canada compared to Canadian-born labour force participants.MethodsUsing data from Statistic Canada’s Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, we examined the differential probabilities of six different occupational health and safety risks: non-membership in a union or collective bargaining agreement; employment in physically demanding occupations; employment in a workplace with less than 20 employees; regular shift work; irregular shift work; and having non-permanent employment. Our main independent variables were length of time in Canada, visible minority status, mother tongue, and location where highest level of education was attained. Models were adjusted for age, gender, education, marital status, province of residence, living in an urban or rural location, and industry group.ResultsOf the six occupational health and safety risks examined we found that our main independent variables describing aspects of immigration status were associated with five; the exception being irregular shift work. Adjustment for industry did not attenuate these relationships to a large extent.ConclusionsImmigrants to Canada are faced with many occupational health and safety risks compared to Canadian-born respondents. These risks may be heightened among immigrants as they may not have knowledge of workplace rights and protections or have problems communicating health and safety risks or concerns. The timely provision information on occupational health and safety to immigrants before they start working should be a priority as they integrate into the Canadian labour market.     

The effect of first aid training on Australian construction workers' occupational health and safety motivation and risk control behavior

METHOD: A 24-week experiment was conducted to assess how first aid training affects the motivation of small business construction industry employees in avoiding occupational injuries and illnesses and its effect on their occupational health and safety behavior. A simplified multiple baseline design across workplace settings was used to evaluate the effects of first aid training. Participants' motivation to control occupational safety and health risks was explored during in-depth interviews before and after receipt of first aid training. Objective measurement of occupational safety and health behavior was conducted by a researcher directly observing the workplace before and after participants received first aid training. RESULTS: The observations at participants' worksites suggested that, for the most part, the first aid training had a positive effect on the occupational safety and health behavior of participants. First aid training appeared to reduce participants' "self--other" bias, making them more aware that their own experience of occupational safety and health risks is not beyond their control but that their own behavior is an important factor in the avoidance of occupational injury and illness. First aid training also appeared to reduce participants' willingness to accept prevailing levels of occupational safety and health risk and increase the perceived probability that they would suffer a work-related injury or illness. Participants expressed greater concern about taking risks at work after receiving first aid training. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: It appears that first aid training enhances participants' motivation to avoid occupational injuries and illnesses and improves their risk control behavior. The implications of this are that first aid training can have a positive preventive effect and could complement traditional occupational health and safety training programs. As such, there may be benefit in providing first aid training to all employees rather than limiting this training to a small number of designated "first aiders."     

Employee representation and occupational health and safety: the significance of Europe

This paper considers the implementation and operation of provisions for employee representation in health and safety in a number of member states of the European Union. It describes the results of two studies undertaken in seven European countries, including the UK, between 1989 and 1993. These studies compared legislative provisions for employee representation in health and safety in different countries and analysed the information available on the implementation and operation of these provisions. With regard to the coverage and implementation of legislation, the research found a similar pattern in all of the countries studied, with Britain distinguished by a number of features, most notably the very specific rights on this subject given to trade unions. However, analysis of information on operation of the provisions in all of the countries studied pointed to the strong association between trade union workplace organization and support as a powerful influence and determinant of the effectiveness of employee representation in health and safety. Taking this finding into account, the paper discusses the present and future situation in Britain with special reference to the implications of the provisions on employee representation found in the CEC Framework Directive 89/391.     

Leader–member exchange: Moderating the health and safety outcomes of job insecurity

IntroductionJob insecurity has been repeatedly linked with poor employee health and safety outcomes. Although research on high quality leader–member exchange (LMX) has demonstrated many beneficial effects, no research to date has examined the extent to which positive LMX might attenuate those adverse health and safety-related consequences of job insecurity. The current study extends research in this area by specifically examining the buffering impact of LMX on the relationship between job insecurity and safety knowledge, reported accidents, and physical health conditions. Furthermore, the study also examines whether positive LMX mitigates the typically seen negative impact of job insecurity on supervisor satisfaction.MethodsThe hypotheses were tested using survey data collected from 212 employees of a mine located in southwestern United States.ResultsAs predicted, job insecurity was related to lower levels of supervisor satisfaction, more health ailments, and more workplace accidents, and was marginally related to lower levels of safety knowledge. Results indicated that LMX significantly attenuated these observed relationships.ConclusionsThe quality of the dyadic relationship between supervisor and subordinate has a significant impact on the extent to which job insecurity is associated with adverse health and safety outcomes.Practical applicationsPractical implications for supervisor behavior and developing high quality LMX are discussed in light of today's pervasive job insecurity.     

An illusion of objectivity in workplace investigation: The cause analysis chart and consistency,accuracy, and bias in judgments

Introduction: Investigation tools used in occupational health and safety events need to support evidence-based judgments, especially when employed within biasing contexts, yet these tools are rarely empirically vetted. A common workplace investigation tool, dubbed for this study the “Cause Analysis (CA) Chart,” is a checklist on which investigators select substandard actions and conditions that apparently contributed to a workplace event. This research tests whether the CA Chart supports quality investigative judgments. Method: Professional and undergraduate participants engaged in a simulated industrial investigation exercise after receiving a file with information indicating that either a worker had an unsafe history, equipment had an unsafe history, or neither had a history of unsafe behavior (control). Participants then navigated an evidence database and used either the CA Chart or an open-ended form to make judgments about event cause. Results: The use of the CA Chart negatively affected participants' information seeking and judgments. Participants using the CA Chart were less accurate in identifying the causes of the incident and were biased to report that the worker was more causal for the event. Professionals who used the CA Chart explored fewer pieces of evidence than those in the open-ended condition. Moreover, neither the open-ended form nor the structured CA Chart mitigated the biasing effects of historical information about safety on participants' judgments. Conclusion: Use of the CA Chart resulted in judgments about event cause that were less accurate and also biased towards worker responsibility. The CA Chart was not an effective debiasing tool. Practical application: Our results have implications for occupational health and safety given the popular nature of checklist tools like the CA Chart in workplace investigation. This study contributes to the literature stating that we need to be scientific in the development of investigative tools and methods.     

基于数据库的煤矿危险源辨识系统研究

目前,煤矿大多采用的是检查项和检查内容固定的安全检查表法,为提高煤矿危险源辨识效率和准确性,遏制煤矿事故的发生,从职业安全健康管理体系角度,探讨了煤矿危险源辨识问题,并设计了以煤矿安全信息管理系统为基础的危险源辨识系统,模拟煤矿现场实际情况;依据职业安全健康管理体系中危险源管理的模式筛选出数据库中的相关信息,动态生成与之相适应的安全检查表。同时对煤矿安全信息管理系统的结构、功能以及辨识程序进行了分析。