Making sense of invulnerability at work—a qualitative study of police drivers

This paper reports a qualitative study of 54 police drivers who were interviewed about their views on police driver training, driving strategies and their accident involvement. Study of the transcribed interviews indicated that officers constructed narratives of themselves as being highly aware of hazards presented by other road users and they used a variety of discursive devices to minimise their own culpability and attribute risk elsewhere. Rather than maintaining a straightforward ‘illusion of invulnerability’ they were formulating a ‘topography of risk’ in which they were responding to hazards presented by suspects or other road users. Their meticulously detailed accounts of the circumstances surrounding accidents serve to place them as knowledgeable and impartial participants and create a sense of expertise and authority. Training initiatives could profitably seek to challenge this ‘topography of risk’ and sense of authority so that drivers more fully appreciate the hazard they may present to themselves and the public.     

Fluoride in drinking water: A survey of expert opinions

In recent years, public debate over the standard setting process related to fluoride in drinking water and the fiuoridation of water supplies has been steeped in much controversy. Discussion of such issues has been con strained by the limited consideration of options relevant to particular problems. To examine the responses to specific issues, we presented an analysis of the problem of excessive fluoride in drinking water to a group of 120 experts. Ninety-seven of the 120 responded to a detailed mail questionnaire distributed as part of a larger exploratory survey. Definite patterns in preferences were noted with certain aspects of the problem, although in some cases significant differences were found due to such factors as the institutional affiliation, residential status, and the length of professional experience of the participants. In general, our experts preferred immediate corrective action over extensive further research into the reduction of scientific uncertainties; were willing to take personal action to obtain fluoride-free water rather than wait for official action; preferred the supplier to fluoridate the supplies, if needed; and favoured a strong local control of such issues with consumers of public water systems and private well owners shouldering much of the financial responsibility. Preliminary results from such exploratory surveys can lead to insightful research hypotheses for further testing. Verification of such hypotheses by consumers, from areas with excessive fluoride in drinking water, is a valuable area for future research.     

Self-reported job burnout among female human service professionals

A sample of 135 female human service professionals completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals (SBS), along with measures of job satisfaction, role stress, self-esteem, alienation, and locus of control. Principal components factor analysis of this battery indicates considerable covariation of self-reported burnout with job dissatisfaction and perceived role stress, and moderate overlap with more general feelings of alienation and low self-esteem. Item factor analysis of the 22 MBI items resulted in two independent factors, one defined by the Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization items, the other by the Personal Accomplishment items. Item factoring of the SBS produced one large factor which was highly correlated with the MBI exhaustion-depersonalization factor. Implications of these findings for the construct validity of the MBI and SBS are discussed.     

The risk assessment–policy gap: An example from the UK contaminated land regime

Risk-based regulation assumes that risk assessment can evaluate risks against policy objectives. However, policy goals are often ambiguous and require risk assessors to interpret them for use in risk assessment. This risk assessment-policy gap stems partly from normative and imprecise policy language but is rooted more fundamentally in society's uncertain expectations for the environment. Until this uncertainty is resolved, the democratic and regulatory effectiveness of risk regulation will be undermined by ad hoc policy decisions abdicated to risk assessors.     

Serial patterns of biodiversity change in corals across shallow reef flats in Ko Phuket,Thailand, due to the effects of local (sedimentation) and regional (climatic) perturbations

A 17-year monitoring programme of reef flats at Ko Phuket, Thailand afforded an opportunity to evaluate both univariate and multivariate measures of environmental stress in an assessment of change on coral reef ecosystems. The sites at Ko Phuket suffered the effects of dredging in 1986-1987 and then anomalously low sea levels in 1997-1998 as a result of climate-related events in the Indian Ocean. Univariate measures of species diversity and taxonomic distinctness ((*) increased across the reef flat, reflecting the greater effects of physical stresses on the inner reef flats (compared with outer reef flats) at all sites, with more congeneric species present on the inner reef and more confamilial species on the outer reef. Multivariate measures showed a clear breakdown in seriation patterns at all sites during the dredging in 1987 and in 1998, as a result of earlier negative sea-level anomalies. Recovery from environmental disturbances was obvious within 12 months in each case. The domination of the reefs by massive coral species, which are physiologically adapted to intertidal living and which display partial rather than total colony mortality, may be a factor contributing to the apparent resilience of the reef flats together with continued recruitment and survival of juvenile corals during adverse environmental conditions. Elevated sea temperatures and extensive bleaching of corals in 1991, 1995, and 1998 had no effect upon coral community measures, with many corals recovering their zooxanthellae numbers within 3-5 months of the bleaching events.     

Influence of flue-gas desulfurization systems on coal combustion by-product quality at kentucky power stations burning high-sulfur coal

Two Kentucky power plants burning similar blends of high-sulfur western Kentucky and southern Indiana coal provide a unique opportunity to examine the variations in coal combustion by-products due to differences in the method of wet flue-gas desulfurization (FGD). One plant employed carbide lime-based scrubbing for two units and a dual-alkali process for the third unit. The second plant employed a Mississippian limestone from Kentucky for all four units. This study provides an example of optical and SEM petrographic techniques, supplemented by chemical analyses, applied to the study of, at least from the geologic perspective, non-traditional materials. The coal sources comprise a blend of high volatile C and B bituminous, high vitrinite (85–90%, mmf), high-sulfur (> 3%, dry) coals. The fly ash is dominated by glassy phases (70–80%) with about 5–10% spinel (predominately magnetite), 3–10% quartz, and 4–10% isotropic coke comprising the remaining portion of the ash. SEM observations indicate that the glassy particles exhibit a bimodal size distribution with sub-micron glass spheres and a population of larger (several 10s of microns) spheres. The bottom ash has higher proportions of spinels and mullite, with negligible carbon forms, compared to the fly ash from the same units. Fly ashes were observed to be lower in Fe and higher in Al, Si, and S compared to the bottom ashes. Carbide lime, a by-product of acetylene manufacture, soda ash, and limestone were the reagents used in the flue-gas desulfurization processes. The primary FGD by-product is a calcium sulfite slurry which is vacuum filtered and mixed with fly ash and, usually, lime, to form a stable product for disposal. The FGD by-products have some potential, as yet unrealized, for utilization.     

Rehabilitation of the chernoistochinskii drinking water system,Nizhnii Tagil,Russia

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performed a reservoir diagnosis and developed low-cost recommendations to improve drinking water quality for the city of Nizhnii Tagil, Russia. Despite widespread regional pollution, water quality within the drinking water supply source can be summarized as generally good. Sampling and analysis efforts did not reveal appreciable amounts of hazardous chemicals or metals. The major water quality problem stems from an abundance of blue-green algae during the summer months, causing drinking water taste and odor problems and filter clogging at the water treatment plant. City water treatment officials also frequently experience difficulties with maintaining an effective disinfection residual in the distribution system because it spans more than 30 kilometers in length. Regrowth of microorganisms in the distribution system often causes coliform bacteria counts to exceed standards. The implementation of a watershed protection and management program, and the installation of a new disinfection system, to purify drinking water and to reduce bacterial growth in the distribution system should improve drinking water quality for the city residents.