The effects of a mandatory motorcycle helmet law on helmet use and injury patterns among motorcyclist fatalities

BACKGROUND: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that motorcycle helmets are 37% effective in preventing death and 65% effective in preventing brain injuries in a crash. Unfortunately, in 1995 Congress lifted federal sanctions against states without helmet laws and since then there have been a number of primary motorcycle helmet laws repealed or weakened. More lives could be saved and serious injuries avoided if there was increased helmet use throughout the United States. METHODS: This study analyzed helmet use and injury patterns among motorcycle riders in the United States involved in fatal crashes from 1995 through 2003 and compared the results between states with and without a primary helmet law. Age, sex, injury severity and helmet use are some of the variables obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). RESULTS: In the 20 states and the District of Columbia, which currently have a primary helmet law, 84.0% of fatally injured riders were wearing a helmet. In the 27 states with a secondary helmet law, 36.2% of fatalities used a helmet, and in the remaining three states with no law at all, helmet use dropped to 17.6%. In the two states (Arkansas and Texas) that changed from a primary helmet law to a secondary helmet law in 1997, helmet use decreased from 78.2% in 1996 to 31.7% in 2000. CONCLUSION: If all states were to enact a primary motorcycle helmet law, helmet use would dramatically increase while decreasing the number of motorcyclist head injuries and fatalities. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The results of this study will hopefully persuade law makers to enact primary helmet laws in all states throughout the nation. Helmet manufacturers can use this data to design more comfortable helmets while also improving upon the protective qualities of these safety devices.     

Factors associated with occupational injury severity in the New South Wales underground coal mining industry

The relationship between a large number of mine and mine worker characteristics and injury severity was examined using multiple regression techniques. The study was based on data extracted from the New South Wales (N.S.W.) Joint Coal Board's computer based accident/incident reporting system describing 21,372 non-fatal, lost-time injurious incidents that occurred in the N.S.W. underground coal mining industry during the 4 year period from 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1990. The number of days lost as a result of an injurious incident was the best available proxy measure of injury severity. Over the study period, the number of days lost per 100,000 tonnes of raw coal production declined by 73%. Over the same period, injurious incidents involving more than 20 days off work, which constituted only 16% of all injurious incidents in underground mines, resulted in 75% of the total days lost for the whole N.S.W. underground coal mining industry. Factors that had practical importance and that were significantly associated with injury severity included mine worker's age, part of the body injured, type of accident, agency of accident, and mine worker activity. Factors not important or not significant in their relationship with injury severity were: time into shift, previous hours worked, mine location of incident, occupation, work experience, frequency of task, shift, and mining region. This study suggests that factors related to the susceptibility of a mine worker's body tissue to damage or repair, and factors related to the concentration of energy on the mine worker by vehicle and environmental characteristics are important determinants of injury severity.     

Data mining for occupational injuries in the Taiwan construction industry

There is a higher rate of occupational injury in the construction industry than most other industries on average. However, steps can be taken to reduce worker risk through effective injury prevention strategies. In this article, association rule mining is employed in identifying the characteristics of occupational injuries in the construction industry. Accident reports during the period 1999–2004 are extracted from case reports of the Northern Region Inspection Office of the Council of Labor Affairs of Taiwan. In addition to general factors, several factors related to weather conditions are included in this article. The results show that there are some patterns of occupational injuries in the construction industry. The effect of rain on the occurrence of fatalities is of great significance. Proposed inspection plans should be in accordance with the type of construction and environmental evaluation. The findings identified in this article provide a direction for more effective inspection strategies and injury prevention programs.     

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.     

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.     

Time of day effects on railroad roadway worker injury risk

IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to examine how time of day affects injury risk of railroad maintenance of way employees and signalmen (roadway workers). Railroads reported 15,654 serious roadway worker injuries between 1997 and 2014. Roadway workers primarily work outdoors on or near railroad tracks and frequently encounter hazardous conditions. To avoid closing an active rail line during peak hours, railroads sometimes require roadway workers to work at night. Previous studies of roadway worker injury have not adequately accounted for exposure to time of day effects, nor have they investigated the human factors issues contributing to roadway worker injury.MethodThe Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) database of injury reports provided data for circadian rhythm models of the odds of fatal and nonfatal injuries. The FRA database and fatal injury investigation reports also permitted an analysis of the circumstances and the human factors issues associated with injuries that occur at different times of day.ResultsOdds of injury increased during nighttime work. The odds of nonfatal injury for both roadway worker crafts rose above 9:1 in the early morning hours. The relative odds of a fatal injury also increased significantly at night. A human factors analysis suggested that during all three shifts most nonfatal injuries involve workload, but workload was not identified as a factor in fatal injuries.ConclusionsNighttime work is more hazardous for roadway workers than daytime work. Several factors related to fatigue and other conditions appear to increase the risk of injury during the outdoor, nighttime work required of roadway workers.Practical applicationFor practical reasons, nighttime roadway work is sometimes unavoidable. Therefore, new practices for nighttime work must be developed to adequately address fatigue and protect roadway workers from harm.     

Cycle helmets and road casualties in the UK

OBJECTIVES: Bicycle helmets have been advocated as a means of reducing injury among cyclists. This assertion, derived from a number of case controlled studies carried out in hospitals, conflicts with results from population level studies. In the Western countries where these case control studies have been performed, it appears that cycling morbidity is dominated by sports and leisure users. The generalizability of studies on helmet effectiveness in relation to utilitarian transport cycling is not clear. This study therefore considers population level data for reported road traffic injuries of cyclists and pedestrians. METHODS: Generalized linear and generalized additive models were used to investigate patterns of pedestrian and cyclist injury in the UK based on the police reported "Stats 19" data. Comparisons have been made with survey data on helmet wearing rates to examine evidence for the effectiveness of cycle helmets on overall reported road casualties. While it must be acknowledged that police casualty reports are prone to under-reporting, particularly of incidents involving lower severity casualties the attractive feature of these data are that by definition they only concern road casualties. RESULTS: There is little evidence in UK from the subset of road collisions recorded by the police corresponding to the overall benefits that have been predicted by the results of a number of published case controlled studies. In particular, no association could be found between differing patterns of helmet wearing rates and casualty rates for adults and children. CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence that cycle helmets reduce the overall cyclist injury burden at the population level in the UK when data on road casualties is examined. This finding, supported by research elsewhere could simply be due to cycle helmets having little potential to reduce the overall transport-related cycle injury burden. Equally, it could be a manifestation of the "ecological fallacy" where it could be conceived that the existence of various sub-groups of cyclists, with different risk profiles, may need to be accounted for in understanding the difference between predicted and realised casualty patterns.     

安全生产违章行为的人口因素影响模型研究——基于省级面板数据的协整方法

为了探讨人口因素对安全生产违章行为的影响,基于省级面板数据,构建安全生产违章行为数量与作业人员人口因素之间的固定效应变系数模型。实证研究,从业者的受教育程度、第二产业在岗职工平均工资以及人员数量规模等因素,影响违章行为方式及程度。结果表明:受教育程度的提高将显著抑制违章行为的发生;提高作业人员工资将增加违章行为的成本进而遏制违章行为的产生,但这一效果会受到作业人员所持有的风险态度的影响;作业人员规模的增加将提高工伤事故率。建议从提供受培训教育机会、提高违章成本、降低第二产业比重、减少高危行业作业人员数量等方面采取措施遏制违章行为。     

Work-related injuries of educational support staff in schools

This study aims to describe the characteristics of occupational injuries to educational support staff (service worker) in schools. In this research, 803 injured workers registered in 2015 were analyzed in terms of their gender, age, work experience, school type, work type, accident type, agency of accident, nature of injury and injured part of the body for each occupation. The workers were classified into after-school instructor, custodian and cooking staff. Accidents occurred mainly due to slips (35.6%) on floor/stair or contact with high temperature (18.1%). Also, the workers mostly fractured (41.2%) or had burns (19.3%) on their leg/foot (37.1%) or arm/hand/finger (29.8%). The results showed the difference in characteristics and injury pattern of injured persons for each occupation type, addressing the need for customized preventative measures for each situation. The results of this study can be a baseline in devising policies and guidelines for preventing accidents of service workers in schools.     

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.     

Worker training and education in occupational safety and health: A report on practice in six industrialized western nations : Part three of a four-part series

During 1980–1981, a study was conducted of worker training and education in occupational safety and health in Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States. This article is the third in a four-part series of the findings of this study. Part one discussed the genesis of the study and the study design, reported on the training requirements of the occupational safety and health legislation in each of the six countries, and considered the implications of this legislation for worker training and education. Part one also included information on how each country is organized to carry out worker training and education in occupational safety and health. Part two discussed the role perceived for worker training and education as an occupational injury and illness countermeasure and identified and described the major components of the occupational safety and health training infrastructure in each country in the study. Part three reports on strategies for worker training including course design, construction, delivery, evaluation, and costs. Part four will provide synopses of worker training and education for selected subsets of the worker population, e.g., migrant workers, nonorganized workers, employees of small business establishments, and employees of the federal or central government. Worker training and education programs will also be discussed for the following industries: construction, marine cargo handling (longshoring), and petroleum refining and related industries.     

Car drivers with dementia: Different complications due to different etiologies?

Objective: Older drivers with dementia are an at-risk group for unsafe driving. However, dementia refers to various etiologies and the question is whether dementias of different etiology have similar effects on driving ability.

Methods: The literature on the effects of dementia of various etiologies on driving ability is reviewed. Studies addressing dementia etiologies and driving were identified through PubMed, PsychINFO, and Google Scholar.

Results and Conclusions: Early symptoms and prognoses differ between dementias of different etiology. Therefore, different etiologies may represent different likelihoods with regard to fitness to drive. Moreover, dementia etiologies could indicate the type of driving problems that can be expected to occur. However, there is a great lack of data and knowledge about the effects of almost all etiologies of dementia on driving. One could hypothesize that patients with Alzheimer's disease may well suffer from strategic difficulties such as finding a route, whereas patients with frontotemporal dementia are more inclined to make tactical-level errors because of impaired hazard perception. Patients with other dementia etiologies involving motor symptoms may suffer from problems on the operational level. Still, the effects of various etiologies of dementias on driving have thus far not been studied thoroughly. For the detection of driving difficulties in patients with dementia, structured interviews with patients but also their family members appear crucial. Neuropsychological assessment could support the identification of cognitive impairments. The impact of such impairments on driving could also be investigated in a driving simulator. In a driving simulator, strengths and weaknesses in driving behavior can be observed. With this knowledge, patients can be advised appropriately about their fitness to drive and options for support in driving (e.g., compensation techniques, car adaptations). However, as long as no valid, reliable, and widely accepted test battery is available for the assessment of fitness to drive, costly on-road test rides are inevitable. The development of a fitness-to-drive test battery for patients with dementia could provide an alternative for these on-road test rides, on condition that differences between dementia etiologies are taken into consideration.     

A multinomial logit model of motorcycle crash severity at Australian intersections

Introduction: Motorcyclists are exposed to more fatalities and severe injuries per mile of travel as compared to other vehicle drivers. Moreover, crashes that take place at intersections are more likely to result in serious or fatal injuries as compared to those that occur at non-intersections. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the contributing factors to motorcycle crash severity at intersections. Method: A data set of 7,714 motorcycle crashes at intersections in the State of Victoria, Australia was analyzed over the period of 2006–2018. The multinomial logit model was used for evaluating the motorcycle crashes. The severity of motorcycle crashes was divided into three categories: minor injury, serious injury and fatal injury. The risk factors consisted of four major categories: motorcyclist characteristics, environmental characteristics, intersection characteristics and crash characteristics. Results: The results of the model demonstrated that certain factors increased the probability of fatal injuries. These factors were: motorcyclists aged over 59 years, weekend crashes, midnight/early morning crashes, morning rush hours crashes, multiple vehicles involved in the crash, t-intersections, crashes in towns, crashes in rural areas, stop or give-way intersections, roundabouts, and uncontrolled intersections. By contrast, factors such as female motorcyclists, snowy or stormy or foggy weather, rainy weather, evening rush hours crashes, and unpaved roads reduced the probability of fatal injuries. Practical Applications: The results from our study demonstrated that certain treatment measures for t-intersections may reduce the probability of fatal injuries. An effective way for improving the safety of stop or give-way intersections and uncontrolled intersections could be to convert them to all-way stop controls. Further, it is recommended to educate the older riders that with ageing, there are physiological changes that occur within the body which can increase both crash likelihood and injury severity.     

Worker training and education in occupational safety and health: A report on practice in six industrialized western nations : Part four of a four-part series

During 1980–1981, a study was conducted of worker training and education in occupational safety and health in Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States. This article is the fourth in a four-part series of the findings of this study. Part one discussed the genesis of the study and the study design, reported on the training requirements of the occupational safety and health legislation in each of the six countries, and considered the implications of this legislation for worker training and education. Part one also included information on how each country is organized to carry out worker training and education in occupational safety and health. Part two discussed the role perceived for worker training and education as an occupational injury and illness countermeasure and identified and described the major components of the occupational safety and health training infrastructure in each country in the study. Part three reported on strategies for worker training including course design, construction, delivery, evaluation, and costs. Part four provides synopses of worker training and education for selected subsets of the worker population, e.g., migrant workers, nonorganized workers, employees of small business establishments, and employees of the federal or central government. Worker training and education programs are discussed for the following industries: construction, marine cargo handling (longshoring), and petroleum refining and related industries.     

Worker training and education in occupational safety and health: A report on practice in six industrialized western nations: Part one of a four-part series

During 1980, a study was conducted of worker training and education in occupational safety and health in Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States. This article is the first in a four-part series of the findings of this study. Part one discusses the genesis of the study and the study design, reports on the training requirements of the occupational safety and health legislation in each of the six countries, and considers the implications of this legislation for worker training and education. Part one also includes information on how each country is organized to carry out worker training and education in occupational safety and health. Part two will review the role perceived for worker training and education as an injury and illness countermeasure and will identify the major training sources and the role of each. Part three will report on course design, construction, delivery, evaluation, and costs. Part four will provide synopses of worker training and education for selected subsets of the worker population, e.g., migrant workers, nonorganized workers, employees of small business establishments, and employees of the federal or central government. Worker training and education programs will also be discussed for the following industries: construction, marine cargo handling (longshoring), and petroleum refining and related industries.     

Worker training and education in occupational safety and health: A report on practice in six industrialized western nations: Part two of a four-part series

During 1980–1981, a study was conducted of worker training and education in occupational safety and health in Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States. This article is the second in a four-part series of the findings of this study. Part one discussed the genesis of the study and the study design, reported on the training requirements of the occupational safety and health legislation in each of the six countries, and considered the implications of this legislation for worker training and education. Part one also included information on how each country is organized to carry out worker training and education in occupational safety and health. Part two discusses the role perceived for worker training and education as an occupational injury and illness countermeasure and identifies and describes the major components of the occupational safety and health training infrastructure in each country in the study. Part three will report on course design, construction, delivery, evaluation, and costs. Part four will provide synopses of worker training and education for selected subsets of the worker population, e.g., migrant workers, nonorganized workers, employees of small business establishments, and employees of the federal or central government. Worker training and education programs will also be discussed for the following industries: construction, marine cargo handling (longshoring), and petroleum refining and related industries.     

Time-dependent recordkeeping fatigue among youth completing health diaries of unintentional injuries

PROBLEM: Increasingly, investigators are asking youth to self-report daily activity patterns and health outcomes in diary studies. This study assesses recordkeeping fatigue with respect to data quality and event reporting among youth participating in a health diary study. METHOD: Unintentional injury data were collected during a 13-week longitudinal diary study of Ohio youth exposed to agricultural hazards. Two analyses were conducted using data from 2000. Analysis 1 examined trends in discernable recordkeeping errors (DREs) over the course of follow-up. Analysis 2 assessed trends in injury reporting over follow-up. RESULTS: The percentage of items containing a DRE showed a slight, non-significant decline throughout follow-up. Injury reporting declined significantly (p<0.001) over follow-up. SUMMARY: There was no compelling evidence of respondent fatigue with respect to DREs. The observed decline in injury reporting is problematic because estimates of youth injury incidence in health diary studies may vary depending upon the length of the follow-up period.     

Comparison of two fatal occupational injury surveillance systems in the United States

INTRODUCTION: Using different methods, two national systems compile fatal occupational injury data in the United States: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The NTOF uses only death certificates, while CFOI uses multiple sources for case ascertainment. METHODS: Through overall and case-by-case comparisons, this study compares these systems and evaluates counts for the nation and by state for worker and case characteristics. RESULTS: From 1992 through 1994, NTOF reported an average of 84% of the number of traumatic occupational fatalities reported in CFOI. This percentage changed somewhat when a case-by-case comparison was conducted--88% of the NTOF cases were matched directly to the CFOI cases. Although CFOI captured a larger number of fatalities annually, the additional fatalities did not follow a discernable pattern. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: By understanding the distribution of fatalities, targeted efforts to reduce them will benefit all industries.     

Worker safety and injury severity analysis of earthmoving equipment accidents

Introduction: Research on construction worker safety associated with construction equipment has mostly focused on accident type rather than injury severity and the embedded factor relationships. Significant variables and their effects on the degree of injury are examined for earthmoving equipment using data from OSHA. Four types of equipment, backhoe, bulldozer, excavator, and scraper are included in the study. Accidents involving on-foot workers and equipment operators are investigated collectively, as well as separately. Methods: Cross tabulation analysis was conducted to establish the associations between selected categorical variables, using degree of injury as a dichotomous dependent variable (fatal vs. nonfatal) and a number of independent variables having different values. Odds ratios were calculated to determine how much a certain variable/factor increases the odds of fatality in an accident, and the odds ratios were ranked to determine the relative impact of a given factor. Results: It was found that twelve variables were significantly associated with injury severity. Rankings based on odds ratios showed that inadequate safety training (2.54), missing equipment protective system (2.38), being a non-union worker (2.26), being an equipment operator (1.93), and being on or around inadequately maintained equipment (1.58) produced higher odds for fatality. Conclusion: A majority of the earthmoving equipment accidents resulted in fatality. Backhoes were the most common equipment involved in accidents and fatalities. Struck-by accidents were the most prevalent and most fatal. Non-OSHA compliant safety training, missing seatbelt, operator not using seatbelt, malfunctioning back-up alarms, and poorly maintained equipment were factors contributing to accidents and fatalities. On-foot workers experienced a higher number of accidents than operators, while fatality odds were higher for the operators. Practical applications: Safety professionals should benefit from our findings in planning and delivering training and providing oversight to workers in earthmoving equipment operations.