The effect of globalization on occupational accidents

This paper discusses the results of studies, which were carried out in the Institute of Occupational Safety Engineering at Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) during 2001–2004. The objective was to estimate the number of occupational accidents that caused death or at least three days’ absence from work. The estimates were based on the figures gathered from selected ILO member states. This paper discusses also how globalization has affected occupational accidents trend in developing and developed regions.     

A survey on occupational accidents’ reporting and registration systems in the European Union

This paper presents the results of a survey on the procedures for reporting occupational accidents in the EU countries. It focuses particularly on the reporting and registration systems, as well as on the main characteristics of National Databases being used for the production of official statistics. The survey shows that many European countries have different methods and procedures for collecting and compiling data on occupational accidents, which inevitably pose problems when comparing accident statistics between the EU member states.The paper includes a brief review of the main goals and achievements of the European Project ESAW (European Statistics on Accidents at Work), which was launched in 1990 by the Eurostat (European Statistics), for the harmonisation of occupational accidents’ statistics among the member states. It is believed that the new variables being introduced by the harmonised methodology will quickly affect the way in which managers and insurance companies carry out their current procedures in several EU member states.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendations and the future trends are also analysed. In conclusion, the study identifies opportunities for further development and research in the reporting and registration systems of occupational accidents.     

ILO成立九十年——致力于自由、平等、安全、体面工作

国际劳工组织（International Labour Organization,简称ILO）成立于1919年,是联合国专门机构之一,致力于在自由、平等、安全和具备人性尊严的条件下,使男性和妇女获得体面而有价值的工作机会。它的主要目标是倡导工作中的基本权利,创造体面的就业机会,加强包括职业安全卫生在内的社会保护,并就有关问题加强社会对话。中国是国际劳工组织的创始成员国之一。     

Using lagging and leading indicators for the evaluation of occupational safety and health performance in industry

Improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH) management is closely related to the development of OSH performance measurement, which should include OSH outcomes (e.g., occupational accidents), OSH inputs (including working conditions) and OSH-related activities. The indicators used to measure the OSH outcomes are often called lagging indicators, and the indicators of inputs and OSH activities are leading indicators. A study was conducted in 60 companies in order to determine what kinds of indicators were used for OSH performance measurement by companies with different levels of OSH performance. The results reveal that the indicators most commonly used in all of the companies are those related to ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements. At the same time, the leading indicators are much more often adopted in companies with a higher performance level. These companies also much more often monitor on a regular basis the indicators adopted for the evaluation of their OSH performance.     

Managing occupational injuries records in Slovenia from 1948 to 2008

The aim of this study is to examine and compare all publicly accessible data on occupational injuries in Slovenia in the period from 1948 to 2008, obtained either from archives or websites. The data obtained from five different sources which have been formally collecting and presenting data on occupational injuries in Slovenia (Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia – LIRS, Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia – IPHRS, International Labour Organization – ILO, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia – SORS, and issues of the Journal of Occupational Safety and Fire Safety) were reviewed and managed. Since the early 1960s, there has been a significant decrease of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries in Slovenia. Problems related to gathering and interpreting data on occupational injuries are also discussed with special emphasize on diversity of models used for occupational injuries data collecting. The results of the 60-year-long retrospective study can also be of assistance for professionals involved in planning, implementing and controlling the national policy and/or regional policies on safety and health at work.     

ILO职业安全卫生标准体系现状综述

为了解国际组织职业安全健康标准状况,收集了国际劳工组织职业安全卫生标准有关资料,对国际劳工组织职业安全卫生标准进行了梳理,按照标准属性、适用对象和范围,对标准进行了分类归纳,梳理形成了国际劳工组织职业安全卫生标准体系的整体框架,并对标准体系构成要素的主要内容作了简要的阐述,总结了国际劳工组织职业安全卫生标准及标准体系的特点。     

Differences in the lethality of occupational accidents in OECD countries

International comparisons of the frequency of occupational accidents are rare because figures reported by each country are influenced by factors other than differences in the occurrence of actual accidents. In this study, we performed an international comparison of occupational accidents which distinguishes between fatal cases and all reported accidents, in order to control for the effects of other factors in accident reporting. Annual data on the numbers of fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) between 1993 and 1998 were obtained from the Labour Statistics Database, which is operated by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The average incidence of all accidents across OECD countries ranged from 17 to 4608 per 100,000 persons in the labor force, whereas the incidence of fatal accidents across OECD countries ranged from 1 to 12 per 100,000 persons in the labor force. Lethality rates per 10,000 total accident cases ranged from 9 (Germany) to 3252 (Turkey). When comparing countries using the same statistical definition of accidents, three or more absence days, the difference in lethality of reported accidents within the same industrial sector is reduced to a sixfold difference (49 for the United Kingdom versus 333 for Ireland). Furthermore, the difference in lethality decreased to about twofold (18 for Spain versus 35 for Czech Republic) in the group using definitions with a criteria of one absent day. The results suggest that reported differences in lethality can reflect artificial administrative factors rather than the harmful factors that cause actual occupational accidents. To make more valid comparison of occupational accident between countries, harmonization of accident statistics is required.     

Impact of human development on safety consciousness in construction

The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that the risk of fatal occupational injuries in developing countries is almost twice as high as in developed countries, indicating a potential relationship between the fatality rates and the development level. The human development index (HDI), based on life expectancy, knowledge level and purchasing power parity, endorsed by the United Nations Development Programme, is a widely accepted measure of the development level. This study investigates the relationship between the HDI and the fatality rates reported by the ILO. A 23-country data set is used to demonstrate the general trend of the relationship followed by country-specific analyses for Australia, Spain, Hungary and Turkey. The study conducted is limited to fatal occupational injuries in construction, where the accidents are notoriously high. The results demonstrate a statistically significant inverse relationship between the fatality rates and the HDI.     

Workers' involvement--a missing component in the implementation of occupational safety and health management systems in enterprises.

Effective implementation of occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation based on European Union directives requires promotion of OSH management systems (OSH MS). To this end, voluntary Polish standards (PN-N-18000) have been adopted, setting forth OSH MS specifications and guidelines. However, the number of enterprises implementing OSH MS has increased slowly, falling short of expectations, which call for a new national policy on OSH MS promotion. To develop a national policy in this area, a survey was conducted in 40 enterprises with OSH MS in place. The survey was aimed at identifying motivational factors underlying OSH MS implementation decisions. Specifically, workers' and their representatives' involvement in OSH MS implementation was investigated. The results showed that the level of workers' involvement was relatively low, which may result in a low effectiveness of those systems. The same result also applies to the involvement of workers' representatives and that of trade unions.     

Workers’ Involvement—A Missing Component in the Implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems in Enterprises

Effective implementation of occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation based on European Union directives requires promotion of OSH management systems ( OSH MS). To this end, voluntary Polish standards (PN-N-18000) have been adopted, setting forth OSH MS specifications and guidelines. However, the number of enterprises implementing OSH MS has increased slowly, falling short of expectations, which call for a new national policy on OSH MS promotion. To develop a national policy in this area, a survey was conducted in 40 enterprises with OSH MS in place. The survey was aimed at identifying motivational factors underlying OSH MS implementation decisions. Specifically, workers’ and their representatives’ involvement in OSH MS implementation was investigated. The results showed that the level of workers ‘ involvement was relatively low, which may result in a low effectiveness of those systems. The same result also applies to the involvement of workers’ representatives and that of trade unions.     

Cost and benefits of implementing an occupational safety and health management system (OSH MS) in enterprises in Poland

This article presents a method of assessing the economic outcome of implementing an occupational safety and health management system (OSH MS). Developed at the Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute (Poland), this method focuses on identifying the economic expenses comprising bookkeeping and alternative cost incurred to implement and improve an OSH MS. The method was next used in a study in 20 enterprises. While varying greatly among those enterprises, the alternative cost of implementing and maintaining an OSH MS was much higher than the bookkeeping cost, which was also much lower than the cost of statutory prevention measures. The implementation of an OSH MS resulted in both tangible and intangible benefits, including reduced premiums for work accident insurance.     

A comparative study of vocational education and occupational safety and health training in China and the UK

In order to enhance Chinese workers’ occupational safety awareness, it is essential to learn from developed countries’ experiences. This article investigates thoroughly occupational safety and health (OSH) in China and the UK; moreover, the article performs a comparison of Chinese and British OSH training-related laws, regulations and education system. The following conclusions are drawn: China’s work safety continues to improve, but there is still a large gap compared with the UK. In China a relatively complete vocational education and training (VET) system has been established. However, there exist some defects in OSH. In the UK, the employer will not only pay attention to employees’ physiological health, but also to their mental health. The UK’s VET is characterized by classification and grading management, which helps integrate OSH into the whole education system. China can learn from the UK in the development of policies, VET and OSH training.     

Electronic version of the encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety as a source of definitions

PROBLEM: Continuous progress in the occupational safety and health field, as well as social-economic development, generates a need for access to definitions. Definitions are usually scattered in many sources and not easy to find. Electronic documents give new opportunity to information access. METHOD: As an experiment, the feasibility of automatic full-text searching of definitions was examined using the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, edited by the International Labour Organization (ILO), on CD-ROM. DISCUSSION: The results were compared with the traditional index search by subject, using the paper version of the encyclopedia. The automatic search appeared successful; about 100 definitions were excerpted the automatic way. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: As in most industries, finding accurate information is a necessity in the safety industry. The electronic document seems to be a powerful instrument as a source of definitions and can be quite easy to use by specialists as well as safety personnel in information processing.     

Investigation into qualitative discourses of the occupational safety and health inspectors in order to promote enforcement

The aim of this study is to conduct an ex-post evaluation of the OSH Enforcement Act. The focus of the study was to collate the views of occupational safety and health (OSH) inspectors on how the OSH Enforcement Act and the practices of the governmental OSH inspectorate operate from an effectiveness perspective. The questionnaire included open questions addressed to OSH inspectors. The results indicated that there is a tension between the quantitative performance targets, e.g., the number of inspections and the effectiveness of the practical enforcement work. Harmonizing the enforcement practices should be implemented at two levels: OSH local agencies and individual inspectors. OSH inspectors believe that developing the professional skills of OSH inspectors and the monitoring of OSH management systems are important ways of promoting the effectiveness of OSH enforcement.     

国际职业安全卫生信息中心中国国家中心的建设与发展

信息工作在当代社会各个领域中都占有很重要的位置。有效而充分地发挥国际职业安全卫生信息中心(CIS)中国国家中心的作用,加强国内外在职业安全卫生方面的合作与交流,实现信息资源共享,对进一步做好我国职业安全卫生工作必将产生巨大的促进作用。简要介绍了CIS和CIS中国国家中心的成立和发展情况及其主要工作,着重从它们的发展轨迹中探讨如何充分发挥CIS中国国家中心的作用,进一步做好我国职业安全卫生工作。     

从尊重生命谈企业安全教育培训

某种程度上,工作场所承担一定的风险是不可避免的,如果危害不能被替代或消除,就要采取措施使员工的接触风险降到最小,如制定安全操作规程、训练员工安全作业、提供健康安全教育。国际劳工组织的体面劳动议程中阐述,体面的工作必须是安全的工作。让企业员工安全地工作,必须做到意识在先、教育在先。由此,笔者提出搞好安全培训,提升企业员工的安全理念,应顺应时代的发展,弘扬尊重生命的理念、引入新的培训模式。首先要从尊重生命的角度,将人文关怀引入到培训中,引导员工理解生命的意义,从而提高安全教育的效果。另外探索适合成年人的培训模式,实现以行动为中心的学习方式。当员工愿意思考培训中的一些问题并做出积极的反应时,我们则有理由相信,培训已经对他们产生了影响。     

Drivers for OSH interventions in small and medium-sized enterprises

The debate concerning occupational safety and health (OSH) interventions has recently focused on the need of improving the evaluation of interventions, and in particular on the need for providing information about why the intervention worked or not, under what circumstances and in which context. Key concepts in the analysis of the context are the drivers, i.e., those factors enabling, fostering or facilitating OSH interventions. However, the concept of driver for an OSH intervention is both confused and contested. Although the term is widely used, there is little consensus on how drivers should be understood, how important they are in different contexts and how they can facilitate interventions. This exploratory study based on interviews with the owner-managers and the safety officers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gives an overview of the most characteristic drivers for OSH interventions. The results will be used to make an initial evaluation of SMEs' needs, and will help orient interventions and future research.     

Risk for household safety hazards: Socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors

IntroductionMany unintentional injuries to young children occur in the home. The current study examines the relation between family socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors and risk factors for home injury.MethodsPresence of household hazards was examined in 80 families with toddler-aged children. Parental ability to identify household hazards in pictures was also assessed. ANOVAs and Pearson product–moment correlations examined the relationship between presence of household hazards, knowledge to identify hazards, and factors of yearly family income, parental age, parental education, parental marital status, child ethnicity, and the number of children living in the home.ResultsA greater number of hazards were found in the homes of both the lowest and highest income families, but poorer knowledge to identify household hazards was found only among parents of the lowest income families and younger parents. Across family socioeconomic status, parent knowledge of hazards was related to observed household hazards.ConclusionsThe relationship between family income and risk for injury is complex, and children of both lower and higher SES families may be at risk for injury.Practical applicationsWhile historically particular focus has been placed on risk for injury among children in low income families, injury prevention efforts should target reducing presence of household hazards in both high and low SES families.     

The regional emergency plan requirement: Application of the best practices to the Brazilian case

The objective of this study is to define new requirements for a Brazilian regional emergency plan based on the best practices used in countries such as the USA, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia. Therefore, the risk analysis methodologies and emergency frameworks used in these countries will be taken into account and a critical analysis will be carried out in order to customize and apply their best practices to Brazilian case. In addition, other issues will be looked at, such as the number of accidents and environmental impact in some areas, related to environmental sensitivity in order to define the environment reliability of the whole system in a specific area. Currently in Brazil resources are not optimized in an emergency offshore plan, rather company has to implement its own emergency plan without any kind of coordination. Despite the existence of some procedures, there are no national or regional frameworks to coordinate emergency plans in Brazil.