A fuzzy multi-attribute model for risk evaluation in workplaces

Risk assessment constitutes a critical phase of the safety management process. It basically consists of evaluating the risks involved in the execution of working activities, so as to provide the managers with information suitable to address intervention measures. The most important activity in risk assessment is the risk evaluation task but, despite its importance, national and international regulations have never formalized a standard methodology for addressing it, leaving companies complete freedom to adopt the approach they consider appropriate. As a consequence, companies generally settle on the use of simple methodologies which frequently are not able to emphasize all the main aspects affecting risk in the workplace and to produce a precise ranking of hazardous activities. In this paper, a new methodology for risk evaluation is then proposed with the aim to overcome limitations of the classical approaches. In particular, new factors are introduced to take into account effects of human behavior and environment on risk level, other than the classical injury magnitude and occurrence probability of an accident. The proposed methodology also integrates an estimative approach based on the fuzzy logic theory, which permits more coherence in the evaluation process, producing a very suitable final rank of hazardous activities. Finally, an actual case study is reported to show the capabilities of the new risk evaluation model.     

Multicriteria ranking of workplaces regarding working conditions in a mining company

Ranking of workplaces with respect to working conditions is very significant for each company. It indicates the positions where employees are most exposed to adverse effects resulting from the working environment, which endangers their health. This article presents the results obtained for 12 different production workplaces in the copper mining and smelting complex RTB Bor – ‘Veliki Krivelj’ open pit, based on six parameters measured regularly which defined the following working environment conditions: air temperature, light, noise, dustiness, chemical hazards and vibrations. The ranking of workplaces has been performed by PROMETHEE/GAIA. Additional optimization of workplaces is done by PROMETHEE V with the given limits related to maximum permitted values for working environment parameters. The obtained results indicate that the most difficult workplace is on the excavation location (excavator operator). This method can be successfully used for solving similar kinds of problems, in order to improve working conditions.     

Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate

PROBLEM: Although there has been considerable interest in safety climate, relatively little attention has been given to the factors that determine safety climate or to testing the hypothesized mediating role of safety climate with respect to safety-related outcomes. METHOD: Questionnaire responses were obtained from 2,208 employees of a large national retail chain in 21 different locations. RESULTS: After controlling for demographic variables, three factors: environmental conditions, safety-related policies and programs, and general organizational climate, accounted for 55% of the variance in perceived safety climate. Interestingly, organizational climate made a significant contribution to safety climate, even after controlling for the other more safety-relevant variables. Partial correlations showed that safety policies and programs had the largest observed correlation with safety climate, followed by two of the dimensions of organizational climate (communication and organizational support). Using Baron and Kenny's (J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51 (1986) 1173) procedures, the principal effects of the various work situation factors on perceived safety at work were found to be direct rather than mediated by safety climate. Safety climate influenced perceived safety at work, but its role as a mediator was limited. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: These results are discussed in terms of other recent findings on safety climate and the growing interest in understanding management and organizational factors in the context of workplace safety.     

存在多种化学有害物质作业场所危害性评价

作业场所同时存在多种化学有害物质的情形并不少见,如何对这类作业场所的危害性进行科学合理的综合评价是一个重要的课题。本文针对这类作业场所提出了一种简便可行的危害性评价方法,该方法以危害物质自身的危害特性如毒性、危害器官、吸收途径、致癌性和检测浓度为评价依据,较全面地反应了有害物质的危害性,对同时存在多种化学有害物质的作业场所的危害性评价与职业危害治理具有一定的现实意义。     

Trends in occupational hygiene in Finland

The aim of this work is to evaluate and describe the current status of, and prospects for, the future of occupational hygiene in Finland. The main sources of information include a seminar held in the annual meeting of Finnish Occupational Hygiene Society and interviews with different stakeholders. Nanotechnology and other new materials, changing work environments, circular economy including green jobs, new medical methods and advances of construction methods were recognized as future challenges. Future work opportunities for occupational hygiene experts included exposure assessments in indoor air surveys, private consulting and entrepreneurship in general, international activities and product safety issues. Unclear topics needing more attention in the future were thought to be in new exposures, sensitive persons, combined effects, skin exposures and applicability of personal protective equipment. Occupational hygiene should broaden its view; occupational hygienists should have to cooperate with other specialists and grasp new challenges.     

现代生物医学模式与作业场所职业危害控制

进行医学模式研究的目的是利用科学的医学模式来指导医学实践，借鉴“生物-心理-社会”现代生物医学模式，结合职业危害控制的具体内容和主要环节。本文提出“作业环境-作业人员（群体）特征-劳动组织与管理”的职业危害控制模式，并初步探讨了该模式与与法规、部门职能及人-自然-社会和谐发展的关系。     

Occupational Safety and Health in Finland

In Finland, occupational safety is the responsibility of the employer, while the occupational safety and health laws are enforced by the Labour Inspection Service, an organization of the state. The Labour Inspection is divided in 11 administrative districts, and it employs 360 professionals. They are mandated to carry out site visits without prearranged appointments to inspect safe work situations, working hours, construction safety, or any aspect of accident risks. The inspectors are also mandated to verify the existence of sufficient occupational health services as prescribed by the Occupational Health Services Act for all employees. The occupational health services are typically provided by enterprise-owned medical departments, by mutually owned health care centers, by private practitioners, or by municipal health care centers. The latter are required by law to provide all services as prescribed by the legislation to anyone who comes to the facility. This situation is prevalent in the countryside, where there are very few private caregiving centers. Declaring occupational accidents and disease cases is mandatory, and the Inspection districts examine all accidents to establish causes and consequences, and to initiate prosecution in case of criminal negligence. Labour Inspection Districts are also notified of the new occupational disease cases as they are declared to insurance companies. Insurance for occupational disease, accidents, and death is an obligation of the employer, although they can choose the insurance company. The medical confidentiality between the workers and their occupational health care providers is very strict. Official statistics are maintained by the state Statistics Finland organization, and they may be used, for example, for research purposes by scientific institutes like the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. Construction industry accounts for 25% of all fatal accidents (120 cases per 1 million working hours), followed by mechanical, wood, metal, machinery, and pulp and paper industry (10% each of fatal accidents) with rates ranging from 100–160 cases per 1 million working hours. There are some 5,000 occupational disease cases per year (rate 22/10,000 employed). The major disease categories include repetitive strain injuries (1,300 cases), respiratory allergies (600 cases), occupational skin diseases (1,000 cases), and 900 cases of noise-caused hearing loss. In 1998, 589 cases of asbestos-related diseases were reported.     

作业场所职业危害风险综合评价研究

在引入超标倍数、超标率等指标研究粉尘、毒物和噪声作业职业危害风险评价方法的基础上,综合考虑不同类型职业危害因素致病风险的差异,职业危害接触人数以及职业卫生管理情况,建立了多种类型职业危害因素并存作业场所的风险评价方法,进行了实际应用并取得良好效果,对于管理部门实施作业场所职业危害分级监管以及企业自我分级管理等都具有借鉴意义。     

Work-Related Accidents Among Young Workers in Finland

The aim of this study was to discover accident factors specific to young workers, using two accident data sets gathered at the same time but with different methods. The first data set consisted of 99 serious occupational accidents, which occured in Southern Finland in 1988 and 1989. The second data set was based on the interview study of over 13,000 people of whom 792 were involved in an accident at work. Both data sets showed consistently that the accident frequency of young workers was higher than that of older workers. The accidents of young workers, however, were less severe. Young accident victims hurt themselves more often when feeding or cleaning machines. Incautiousness contributed more often to accidents of young workers. In order to prevent occupational accidents of young workers, companies should introduce training programmes for new employees.     

A path analysis model for explaining unsafe behavior in workplaces: the effect of perceived work pressure

Background. Unsafe behavior is closely related to occupational accidents. Work pressure is one the main factors affecting employees’ behavior. The aim of the present study was to provide a path analysis model for explaining how work pressure affects safety behavior. Methods. Using a self-administered questionnaire, six variables supposed to affect safety employees’ behavior were measured. The path analysis model was constructed based on several hypotheses. The goodness of fit of the model was assessed using both absolute and comparative fit indices. Results. Work pressure was determined not to influence safety behavior directly. However, it negatively influenced other variables. Group attitude and personal attitude toward safety were the main factors mediating the effect of work pressure on safety behavior. Among the variables investigated in the present study, group attitude, personal attitude and work pressure had the strongest effects on safety behavior. Conclusion. Managers should consider that in order to improve employees’ safety behavior, work pressure should be reduced to a reasonable level, and concurrently a supportive environment, which ensures a positive group attitude toward safety, should be provided. Replication of the study is recommended.     

中小企业作业场所有毒有害物质危险评价方法

针对中小企业职业卫生管理中专业人员、技术及资源缺乏的特点建立了一种作业场所有毒有害物质危险评价分级的简便方法。该方法建立在物质的毒性评估和暴露评估基础之上,能对有毒有害物质的危害性进行科学、客观的评价,而且该方法实用性很强,无需太多的专业知识和技术的要求,很好满足了中小企业在有毒有害物质危险评价方面的需求。此外,在危险评价分级基础上,对不同的危害等级提出了相应的控制策略,为中小企业制定作业场所有毒有害物质的控制措施提供有价值的参考。     

Understanding “communication gaps” among personnel in high-risk workplaces from a dialogical perspective

Our primary aim in this paper is to argue for a discourse analytical take on questions of how risk and safety are managed by personnel in high-risk workplaces, with a special focus on constructions of “us” and “them”. Thus, we approach the same issue investigated in many other studies, i.e., diverging safety-related understandings between people representing various occupational groups. We choose to examine so-called communication gaps as they are “talked into being” in discourse, meaning that we treat them as primarily socially constructed. A case analysis based on interviews will be used to illustrate how we can understand this phenomenon from a communicative perspective inspired by Linell’s (1998a) dialogue theory. While previous discourse and safety culture research emphasizes broad patterns and differences between entire professions and departments, we argue that researchers should hesitate to reinforce the notion of homogeneous groups. Instead, there is great value in demonstrating collective social construction processes and commonalities so as to facilitate inter-group solidarity and possibly productive change.     

常用高、低温防护服着装舒适性研究

防护服装的全面评价通常涉及安全性、工效学特性等多个方面。在常用高、低温防护服隔热性能研究基础上,对服装的舒适性进行了初步研究,以期为高低温防护服的选用和设计改进等提供依据。本研究应用热平板仪、人工气候室等研究设备以及真人着装实验,对高低温作业典型工种常用的耐高温防护服和低温防护服的舒适性能进行了研究。研究结果显示,不同类型高、低温防护服的透气性、透湿性、着装压力、肢体活动角度等均表现出一定差异,防护服的面料、结构和工艺等均影响到其整体舒适性,并提出了相应的改善建议。     

工作场所职业工效相关因素及其管理初探

为了探讨工作场所职业工效管理的基本策略和方法,在概述职业工效相关因素类别、相互关联及评价方法等基础上,提出基于职业病危害防治要求、风险管理理念和管理体系建设模式的职业工效不良因素干预管理的初步策略及实施要点。研究结果表明:工作场所职业工效相关因素包括个体特征、工艺设备及其布局、工作系统设计、作业环境、作业管理和社会心理因素等,不同因素间存在直接或间接的相互影响,并最终影响到微观层面劳动者职业活动的工效特点及宏观层面工作场所整体的职业工效特征;实施有效的职业工效管理,在于科学辨识、评估不良职业工效因素的基础上,进一步在职业病危害预防控制的不同阶段采取合理可行的管理方法进行干预,并持续改进。     

Sex segregation of work in Finland and the quality of women's work

The Finnish labor market is sharply segregated by sex. This is a statistically well-documented fact and holds true for all Western European market economies. The aim of this article was to find out whether women profit (regarding the quality of their work) from performing the same sort of work as men. The qualitative aspects of work were the following: autonomy at work; lack of routinization of work; the compulsory rhythm of work; and the demands for social skills. We also analyzed monthly pay and its variation according to functional segregation of work. The empirical data came from the Finnish Study on Working Conditions (1984) which is a representative sample of the Finnish wage-earning population with 4502 persons of whom 48 per cent were women and 52 per cent men. Our results indicate that women often profit from the fact that they perform the same sort of work as men. This profit was more apparent for white-collar than for blue-collar women. For men the effects of segregation on job characteristics were the opposite. They often profit from sex segregated work. Social status played a major role regarding the qualitative aspects of work.     

Managing active cultural differences in U.S. construction workplaces: Perspectives from non-Hispanic workers

IntroductionCurrent census reports indicate a growing shift toward workforce diversity in the U.S. construction industry, which is largely the result of increasing participation from the Hispanic community. The data also suggest that the Hispanic workforce suffers a higher rate of fatal injuries compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop and utilize new management tools and strategies to accommodate the differences in language and culture of this incoming labor force.MethodThe absence of these tools and strategies poses several challenges including cost overrun, schedule delay, and more importantly, higher workplace injury rates. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the contribution of cultural diversity as a factor that may influence the overall site safety.ResultsAs a result, this study provides further evidence that indicate that the current findings regarding the influence of active cultural differences are reliable, valid, and needs attention. Furthermore, the study provides sub-analysis results of cultural values among Hispanic workers, which suggest that workers from Mexico are less likely to speak up on safety issues when compared to other Hispanic workers. Therefore, this study has both practical and theoretical implications for managing workforce diversity and related safety performance in the U.S. construction industry. The results of the study can be used by employers and managers to adopt responsive strategies and tools to reduce the likelihood of fatal and nonfatal injuries among Hispanic workers.     

作业场所职业危害分级监管模式及其实施

作业场所职业危害分级监管工作涉及到监管决策、监管实施以及分级监管配套规章制度的建设等多个环节。本文从上述几个方面对如何有效实施作业场所职业危害分级监管工作进行了探讨,提出了综合监管决策、现场监管实施与制度建设等内容的基于作业场所职业危害风险评价分级的监管模式。其中,监管决策应当考虑确定区域、作业场所的监管优先顺序、监管资源与技术服务资源的合理配置,并对不同职业危害风险等级企业具体主体责任的落实提出要求;现场监管应在分析与掌握现状的基础上,通过风险评估实施分级管理,分级监管有关制度建设应当确定分级监管原则并包含上述有关内容。     

Diseases and motor vehicle fatalities in Finland in 2001 and 2002

OBJECTIVES: The possible connection between diseases among drivers and traffic accidents was examined for traffic safety purposes. METHODS: We studied medical conditions of drivers and passengers in all motor vehicle crashes with fatalities in Finland in 2001 and 2002 by using reports of road accident investigation teams, including autopsy reports. We analyzed a total of 542 crashes with 640 fatalities. Findings were also compared with available epidemiological data in Finland. RESULTS: An insignificant difference in the number of reported diseases was present between the different parties involved in crashes. However, among killed key drivers, so-called A-parties, psychiatric diseases, especially alcoholism, depression, and unspecific mental disorders, were diagnosed more often than in the groups of other drivers or passengers. In addition, A-parties were reported to more frequently suffer from cerebral arteriosclerosis and arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Drivers' diseases can be a risk factor for traffic accidents. Fitness to drive should therefore be considered in medical practice, particularly in patients with alcoholism and other psychiatric disorders.     

General and public opinion about the general speed limits in Finland in 1973–1974

This article analyzes the general opinion (of the population) and the public opinion (of the press) about the general speed limits in Finland during the speed limit experiment of 1973–1976, as well as background and changes of opinions. The results showed: (1) The public opinion on speed limits has been more negative than the general opinion. (2) Negative attitudes toward speed limits are connected to at least three side issues — right-wing ideology, motoring as sport, and speed limits as a threat to one's own traffic behavior. (3) The significant decrease in traffic accidents during the speed limit experiment acted as a pressure of facts that rapidly increased the number of supporters of speed limits. (4) Comparison with other studies showed no great differences in support of speed limits among the countries of Europe. In West Germany, however, the public opinion about speed limits was more negative than in Finland.     

常用高、低温防护服隔热性能研究

为评价常用类型高、低温防护服的防护性能,本研究应用热平板仪、人工气候室和暖体假人等研究设备,对高低温作业典型工种常用的耐高温防护服和低温防护服的隔热性能进行了研究。研究结果显示,不同类型高、低温防护服的服装面料、服装整体的隔热性表现出一定差异,模拟环境下的着装生理学测试结果也存在不同,防护服的面料、结构和工艺等均影响到其整体隔热性能。防护服装的全面评价通常涉及安全性、工效学特性等多个方面,有必要从服装的舒适性、工效学特性等方面进一步研究,并开展大规模的现场人体穿着实验,从而为高低温防护服的选用和设计改进等提供依据。