Values-in-action that support safe production

Introduction: Safe production is a sustainable approach to managing an organization’s operations that considers the interests of both management and workers as salient stakeholders in a productive and safe workplace. A supportive culture enacts values versus only espousing them. These values-in-action are beliefs shared by both management and workers that align what should happen in performing organizational routines to be safe and be productive with what actually is done. However, the operations and safety management literature provides little guidance on which values-in-action are most important to safe production and how they work together to create a supportive culture. Method: The researchers conducted exploratory case studies in 10 manufacturing plants of 9 firms. The researchers compared plant managers’ top-down perspectives on safety in the performance of work and workers’ bottom-up experiences of the safety climate and their rates of injury on the job. Each case study used data collected from interviewing multiple managers, the administration of a climate survey to workers and the examination of the plant’s injury rates over time as reported to its third party health and safety insurer. Results: The researchers found that plants with four values-in-action —a commitment to safety, discipline, prevention and participation—were capable of safe production, while plants without those values were neither safe nor productive. Where culture and climate aligned lower rates of injury were experienced. Discussion and conclusion: The four value-in-actions must all be present and work together in a self-reinforcing manner to engage workers and managers in achieving safe production. Practical application: Managers of both operations and safety functions do impact safety outcomes such as reducing injuries by creating a participatory environment that encourage learning that improves both safety and production routines.     

The perceived compatibility of safety and production expectations in hazardous occupations

INTRODUCTION: Safety hazards are unavoidable in many work environments. Employees must be both productive and safe, however, conflicting safety and production demands can negatively affect safety, production, or both. The employee's perception of the compatibility of management's safety and production expectations is a possible predictor of such consequences. This paper defines "safety-production compatibility" and describes how measures of safety-production compatibility, as well as safety pressure and production pressure, were developed. METHOD: We used LISREL structural equation modeling to test the influences of safety-production compatibility, safety pressure, and production pressure on safe work behavior and interference with performing other work tasks. The 239 study participants were workers employed in diverse but hazardous occupations. RESULTS: Pressure to work safely was positively associated with safe work behavior. The perceived compatibility of safety and production demands positively influenced safe work behavior and reduced the interference of safety hazards performing other tasks. Safety-production compatibility was also found to mediate the relationship between trust in management and safe work behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this field study suggest increased compatibility, and thus less conflict, between safety and production demands influences safe work behavior and the interference of safety hazards with performing other work tasks. More broadly, the worker's reaction to multiple work demands is a safety and performance influence. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Safety management efforts that focus only on the hazards fail to eliminate many accidents because accidents arise from many factors including technology, safety climate, social influences, production, and safety demands. This study suggests that workers differ in their perception of the compatibility of safety and production demands. These differences will show up in safe work behavior, influencing the effectiveness of safety management efforts and the trust workers have in management's concern for safety.     

我国与主要国家温石棉安全使用政策和法规对比研究

我国作为温石棉的生产和使用大国,在温石棉及其制品的危害及防控方面开展了较为系统的研究,但对于其他主要国家在温石棉安全使用政策和法规方面的研究则相对较少。本文简要介绍温石棉安全使用的理论基础,对美国、加拿大等主要国家在温石棉安全生产和使用方面的主要政策和法规进行研究,并对我国温石棉产业政策以及相关法规进行梳理,通过对比发现,我国与美国、加拿大等国家在温石棉及其制品的安全使用法规、标准建设等方面存在一定差距。最后,基于相关对比分析结果,对我国温石棉产业职业病防治、环境保护以及温石棉制品等方面的法规标准的建设提出建议。     

Cultural and socio-demographic predictors of car accident involvement in Norway,Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda

The prevalence of road traffic accidents is increasing towards endemic proportions in developing countries. The present study investigated cultural and demographic predictors of car accident involvement in a developed country in Europe and three developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The comparison was carried out with questionnaires among a randomly obtained representative sample of the Norwegian population (n = 247) as well as stratified samples in Accra and Cape-Coast in Ghana (n = 299), Dar-es-Salaam and Arusha areas in Tanzania (n = 599), and the central Kampala and the Mbarara district in Uganda (n = 415). Measurement instruments of culture as symbol exchange and destiny orientation were used to predict self-reported road traffic accident involvement by car among the respondents. Demographic characteristics, such as gender, age and education, were also included as predictors of car accidents. The results showed that male gender was the only significant predictor of accident involvement in Norway. Introverted and extroverted culture, destiny orientation and written culture were associated with accident involvement in the African countries. Male gender also predicted accidents in these countries. Non-technical injury preventive countermeasures in developing countries could focus on cultural practice and fatalistic beliefs. Countermeasures in both developed and developing countries should target male drivers.     

Safety climate factors and its relationship with accidents and personal attributes in the chemical industry

Safety in the chemical industry is a major issue in a thickly populated country like India. The study was carried out to determine the safety climate factors in the chemical industry in Kerala, India. A survey using a questionnaire was conducted among 2536 employees in eight major accident hazard chemical industrial units in Kerala. The study population included workers and first line supervisors at the lowest end of the management. 75% of the data collected was subjected to principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation using SPSS program. This revealed 8 factors which together explained 52.15% of the total variance. Internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha) across items in each of the 8 factors and that of the total scale were found acceptable. The model was tested with the remaining data by running confirmatory factor analysis using the AMOS 4.0 structural equation modeling program and was found to produce a good fit. The safety climate scores calculated were found to have significant negative correlation with self-reported accident rates revealing good predictive validity. One way ANOVA results show that companies’ mean safety climate scores differ significantly from each other indicating that organizations have different safety climate levels. Tests were also conducted to find out the effects of qualification, age, job category and experience of respondents on their perceptions and attitudes about safety.     

Noise exposure as related to productivity, disciplinary actions, absenteeism, and accidents among textile workers

A sample of 2458 workers exposed to average noise levels ranging from 80 to 99 dBA in different operations of three textile mills was studied with respect to their productivity, work rule violations, absenteeism, and accidents. The three mills were in rural, suburban, and urban locations. Noise exposure levels were measured in individual departments of the mills, and workers were interviewed to ascertain socioeconomic background, work history data, and health status. Workers' job attitude was rated by their supervisors, and data about their productivity, disciplinary reports, absenteeism, and accidents were collected from plant records. Results of the study suggested that workers in departments with high noise levels (above 90 dBA) had more disciplinary actions and absenteeism and lesser productivity than those in departments with low noise exposure (below 90 dBA). Disciplinary actions showed the greatest difference between the high-noise and low-noise departments followed by production incentives, production efficiency, and absenteeism. Noise appeared to affect the quality of work as reflected by disciplinary actions for material damage, and this effect was higher in weaving and spinning operations which involved vigilance tasks. The frequency and severity rates of accidents in highnoise departments were greater than in low-noise departments. Certain personal and socioeconomic factors affected high vs. low noise exposure differences found among workers for the investigated variables. These effects were most apparent for absenteeism and, to a lesser extent, productivity. Disciplinary actions did not appear to be influenced by any such individual factors. It was concluded that noise abatement in the textile industry could be beneficial to worker productivity and well being and contribute to more economically effective operation.     

The management of the new and emerging musculoskeletal and psychosocial risks by EU-28 enterprises

Introduction: Although the strategic framework of the European Union in the field of Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020 considers as one of its main challenges to improve the prevention of diseases related to NERs (New and Emerging Risks) (European Commission, 2014) there are still not many studies in the literature related to them. Method: An exploratory study was carried out in order to get a picture of the NERs management in the UE-28 countries. The sample was extracted from the ESENER-2 datasets. ESENER-1 was carried out in 2009 and ESENER- 2 in 2014. This survey explores managers’ and workers representatives’ opinions on health and safety management. It surveyed over 49,000 enterprises in 36 countries. Results: The results obtained confirm that there are significant differences between the EU-28 countries in terms of the identification and the management of NERs. Conclusions NERs are becoming an increasingly studied phenomenon due to the changes that are taking place in the labour market: the percentage of temporary workers is increasing, the demands to the workers due to the globalization of the market are more complex and all this with an aging working force. Pratical A pplications It would be necessary to rethink the management of OHS, so that managers are aware that the combination of musculoskeletal and psychosocial risks should have a global approach in order to reduce accident and disability rates.     

Safety climate in Finnish- and Swedish-speaking companies.

The aim of this study was to compare assessments made by Finnish- and Swedish-speaking workers in Finland about the safety climate in their companies, because an earlier study showed that the accident frequency of Swedish-speaking workers was one third lower than that of Finnish-speaking workers. 148 Finnish-speaking and 138 Swedish-speaking workers from 14 small and medium-sized companies participated in this study. They filled out a Finnish safety climate questionnaire, the reliability of which was above the acceptable level. There were no differences between the language groups in the total variables of safety climate and safety action. Based on the differences in single items, we interpreted that Swedish-speaking workers stressed collective safety more, whereas Finnish-speaking workers put more emphasis on their personal responsibility for safety.     

Safety Climate in Finnish- and Swedish-Speaking Companies

The aim of this study was to compare assessments made by Finnish- and Swedish-speaking workers in Finland about the safety climate in their companies, because an earlier study showed that the accident frequency of Swedish-speaking workers was one third lower than that of Finnish-speaking workers. 148 Finnish-speaking and 138 Swedish-speaking workers from 14 small and medium-sized companies participated in this study. They filled out a Finnish safety climate questionnaire, the reliability of which was above the acceptable level. There were no differences between the language groups in the total variables of safety climate and safety action. Based on the differences in single items, we interpreted that Swedish-speaking workers stressed collective safety more, whereas Finnish-speaking workers put more emphasis on their personal responsibility for safety.     

Hazard Perception Based on Safety Words and Colors: An Indian Perspective

Globalization and trade among developed and developing countries has increased the need of risk communication at the workplace. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in risk communication and perception in various countries. It looked at hazard perception associated with colors and safety words among Indian industry workers. Fifty workers participated in the study focused on hazard rating of 9 safety words and 7 colors. In one part of the study the participants were asked to associate colors with safety words through recalling them from their long-term memory; in another they were asked to associate safety words with given colors. The results showed that certain words and colors implied different hazard rating at the workplace. The rank ordering of safety words and colors varied significantly in different countries. Hence population factors should be taken into consideration when designing standards for hazard communication.     

“蛇形”带式输送机转向稳定性研究

“蛇形”带式输送机在转弯过程中,失稳情况十分常见,对其转弯稳定性的研究可以避免生产事故,提高生产效率。根据实际工况中“蛇形”带式输送机的受力情况,得到转弯过程中各小车的运动方程,结合转向油缸对于小车转弯的影响,得到油缸和小车转弯角度之间的关系,建立起转弯过程动力学模型。运用实验设备进行实车实验,利用MATLAB/Simulink软件对“蛇形”带式输送机系统转弯过程进行了仿真分析,研究了“蛇行”带式输送系统在不同转向条件下的工作状态。将实验结果和仿真结果进行对比分析,得出“蛇形”带式输送机转弯的临界条件,为“蛇形”带式输送机稳定域估计提供依据。     

Benchmarking road safety performances of countries

In order to obtain political interest in road safety problems and to learn from other countries’ ‘good practices’, it is often helpful to compare one’s own safety situation with that of other countries. In a number of projects tools have been developed for such comparisons. These tools range from simple ratings of countries on their safety outcomes, such as the annual number of fatalities per capita or per kilometre driven by (motor)vehicles to more comprehensive comparisons.These comparisons not only show differences in safety between countries, but to a certain extent also explain such differences in terms of their safety background and measures taken. Finally, tools have been defined to support road safety policy makers in developing possible safety measures or actions. Procedures for such complex safety comparisons have been developed and tested in several so-called SUNflower studies.This promising approach can be further developed into standard procedures for safety comparisons between all countries in the European Union, and other countries worldwide. This paper wishes to outline the development of such standards for the benchmarking of road safety and safety trends as well as procedures for quantifying safety performances of countries.Starting point of this conceptual framework is the so-called SUNflower-pyramid in which three types of indicators are distinguished. The first one of these, the road safety performance indicator, is called an outcome indicator and is based on the number of killed and injured road users. The second indicator type indicates the quality of the implementation of road safety policies: the implementation performance indicators. The third type of indicator indicates the quality of response in policy documents to improve road safety (policy performance indicator). The three types of indicators are embedded in a policy context: the structure and culture of a country, which are considered as background variables.This paper sets out to describe the framework for the development of a comprehensive set of indicators to benchmark road safety performances of countries or of sub-national jurisdictions. The paper also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of combining such indicators and if combined, how to aggregate how different indicators in one composite performance index. It is argued to group countries in different classes with more or less comparable countries. Different procedures are used for this grouping. The results are promising and it is recommended to work with classes of countries.     

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.     

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 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.     

Psychosocial and Individual Characteristics and Musculoskeletal Complaints Among Clinical Laboratory Workers

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are an important health problem among healthcare workers, including clinical laboratory ones. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and individual and psychosocial risk factors among clinical laboratory workers. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 156 workers of 30 clinical laboratories in 3 towns of Iran. The Nordic questionnaire with individual and psychosocial risk factors was used to collect data. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. The prevalence of reported MSDs among the study population was 72.4% in the past 12 months. The most prevalent MSDs were pain in the lower back and neck; 42.7% and 33.3%, respectively. Significant relations were found between MSDs and age, gender, heavy work at home and job control (p < .05). MSDs among laboratory workers were high and associated with age, gender, heavy work at home and job control. More research into measuring these factors and workplace physical demands is suggested.     

铁路货车制造企业焊接烟尘治理探讨

为改善焊接作业环境、保护职工健康,基于某铁路货车企业的生产工艺和焊接烟尘治理难点,从完善焊接烟尘治理技术方案、优化焊接方法和焊接结构、改造厂房加强换气通风等方面总结治理措施,提出了焊接烟尘综合治理的新方向,即融入绿色设计思维、提高工艺制造水平、结合智能制造和采取综合治理方案.     

Estimation of the real number of road casualties in Europe

Within this research, the police under-reporting of non-fatal road accident casualties in eight European countries was examined by means of a common methodology applied in each country. Eight national studies were carried out using the common methodology, and this allowed to prepare valid estimates of the level of under-reporting of non-fatal road casualties in Europe in a disaggregate form (namely by country, road user type and injury severity). This provided an insight into the variation of road casualty under-reporting in Europe. Moreover, a new common definition for road casualty severity was proposed that makes use of internationally recognised medical standards. This was established by examining two different injury severity standards, the casualty’s length of stay in hospital and the casualty’s maximum AIS score. The under-reporting coefficients developed within this research were applied to estimate the real number of non-fatal serious road accident casualties, according to the new proposed common definition. For almost all countries, the actual number of serious casualties according to the new proposed definition was found lower than the number of police-recorded serious casualties. With the newly estimated number of serious casualties, the values of the ratio of serious casualties to fatalities are much less widespread across countries. These remaining differences can thus be attributed to real differences in road safety between the countries, after having controlled for the different under-reporting levels and injury severity definitions.     

Optimizing the performance of phase-change materials in personal protective clothing systems.

Phase-change materials (PCM) can be used to reduce thermal stress and improve thermal comfort for workers wearing protective clothing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PCM in protective clothing used in simulated work situations. We hypothesized that it would be possible to optimize cooling performance with a design that focuses on careful positioning of PCM, minimizing total insulation and facilitating moisture transport. Thermal stress and thermal comfort were estimated through measurement of body heat production, body temperatures, sweat production, relative humidity in clothing and subjective ratings of thermal comfort, thermal sensitivity and perception of wetness. Experiments were carried out using 2 types of PCM, the crystalline dehydrate of sodium sulphate and microcapsules in fabrics. The results of 1 field and 2 laboratory experimental series were conclusive in that reduced thermal stress and improved thermal comfort were related to the amount and distribution of PCM, reduced sweat production and adequate transport of moisture.