Effects of Manual Handling,Posture, and Whole Body Vibrations on Low-Back Pain

To determine the effect of occupational stress on low-back pain (LBP), a cross-sectional study has been carried out, by interviews, on workers exposed to 3 stresses: manual handling (MH, 82 women and 264 men), whole body vibrations (WBV, 274 men), and static postures (278 women). Anthropometric data, occupational stress, LBP severity and frequency, and a psychological evaluation of these groups were compared to those of a control population of 208 workers (104 men and 104 women).

The results show that 30% of the population had never suffered from LBP. Age and the body mass index of the workers were the parameters most closely associated with LBP. Women involved in MH had higher frequency and severity of LBP than their reference population. Men involved in MH or exposed to WBV had higher frequency of painful episodes than their reference population. Workers exposed to one of the stresses were on sick leave for LBP more often, and for longer periods, than workers in the reference group. The results show that individual factors are often decisive in the onset of LBP. Nevertheless, in the more serious LBP cases, occupational stress is an aggravating factor for LBP and its consequences.     

Key factors influencing management decisions concerning safety equipment selection

The construction industry involves many hazardous activities that may expose workers to a wide variety of health hazards. Selection of construction safety equipment is crucial in ensuring workers’ safety. This article aims to examine key factors influencing management decisions concerning safety equipment selection, utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A questionnaire survey is conducted in the construction companies in Bangkok, Thailand. The factor analysis extracts 103 sets of data into six key factors – namely supplier agreements, supplier support, personal, equipment design, safety-related policies and cost value factors – with a total of 20 associated items. The AHP results conclude that the safety-related policies, equipment design and personal factors are the most important factors when selecting construction safety equipment. A construction company can use the study results as a checklist to help assess different safety equipment, and to select the best equipment.     

A methodology for assessment of long-term exposure to whole-body vibrations in vehicle drivers to propose preventive safety measures

Introduction: The appearance of musculoskeletal disorders (MDs) in professional drivers due to exposition to whole-body vibration (WBV) makes it relevant to assess this exposure. The European Directive 2002/44/EC has two methods to evaluate exposure to WBV (defined in ISO2631-1:2008). These methods evaluate the exposure associated with an 8-hour working day; however, MDs due to WBV could also be caused by accumulated exposure to vibrations over long term, and hence, the methods defined in the European directive may be limited in their ability to ensure the safety of workers exposed to WBV throughout their years of employment. Method: A detailed comparison and discussion of methods defined in the European Directive and the ISO2631-5:2018 was used as a starting point of the main results of this paper. On this basis, a new methodology for the management and organization of preventive measures is proposed to consider the assessment of ISO2631-5:2018 standard and the full working life of workers. Experimental data to assess exposure to WBV in heavy equipment vehicle (HEV) drivers under different road surface conditions and range of velocities were considered to illustrate the process of the proposed methodology. Results: The methods defined in the standards provide different assessments leading to a different possible consideration of safe operations when the risks associated with them may actually be high. The proposed methodology can be used with the aim of ensuring safety of workers throughout their working lives and providing an easy implementation of the calculations of ISO2631-5:2018 standard. Conclusions: A procedure to assess the health risk probability to which the HEV worker is exposed in terms of the exposure years and a different range of operational vehicle speeds is proposed and exemplified with a study case. Practical applications: This study provides a practical tool for the management of WBV exposure related to work-tasks in HEV drivers. Safety managers should consider the global exposition to WBV throughout their working life, and this research provides an easy tool to accomplish it.     

Impact of individual resilience and safety climate on safety performance and psychological stress of construction workers: A case study of the Ontario construction industry

IntroductionThe construction industry has hit a plateau in terms of safety performance. Safety climate is regarded as a leading indicator of safety performance; however, relatively little safety climate research has been done in the Canadian construction industry. Safety climate may be geographically sensitive, thus it is necessary to examine how the construct of safety climate is defined and used to improve safety performance in different regions. On the other hand, more and more attention has been paid to job related stress in the construction industry. Previous research proposed that individual resilience may be associated with a better safety performance and may help employees manage stress. Unfortunately, few empirical research studies have examined this hypothesis. This paper aims to examine the role of safety climate and individual resilience in safety performance and job stress in the Canadian construction industry.MethodThe research was based on 837 surveys collected in Ontario between June 2015 and June 2016. Structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to explore the impact of individual resilience and safety climate on physical safety outcomes and on psychological stress among construction workers.ResultsThe results show that safety climate not only affected construction workers' safety performance but also indirectly affected their psychological stress. In addition, it was found that individual resilience had a direct negative impact on psychological stress but had no impact on physical safety outcomes.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the roles of both organizational and individual factors in individual safety performance and in psychological well-being.Practical applicationsConstruction organizations need to not only monitor employees' safety performance, but also to assess their employees' psychological well-being. Promoting a positive safety climate together with developing training programs focusing on improving employees' psychological health — especially post-trauma psychological health — can improve the safety performance of an organization.     

The protective effect of job satisfaction in health,happiness, well-being and self-esteem

The purpose of this article is to analyze the possible effects of job satisfaction on mental and physical health, happiness, subjective well-being and self-esteem. A total of 971 Portuguese-speaking adults participated in this study. Most participants reported high rates of satisfaction with their colleagues, the nature of their work and leadership, while reporting dissatisfaction with regard to salaries and promotions. Results indicated the existence of the protector effect of job satisfaction for health, happiness, subjective well-being and self-esteem, in addition to reinforcing the importance of maintaining a positive evaluation of one’s work. As a practical implication, the results may suggest that the effects of personnel management policies which emphasize job satisfaction could potentially lead to improvements in levels of health, happiness, subjective well-being and workers’ self-esteem, all of which are factors that can potentially improve organizational performance. The study also considered its limitations and the possibility for future investigation.     

Prevalence of low back pain in three occupational groups in Shanghai, People's Republic of China

PROBLEM: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent work-related conditions affecting employed populations in developed countries, yet little is known about this condition among the world's largest, single-nation labor force: The People's Republic of China. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study of the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among garment workers, battery/kiln workers, and teachers in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Data were collected by personal interview and physical examination at six work sites. The overall response rate was 78%. RESULTS: The overall (N=383) self-reported annual prevalence of LBP symptoms lasting 24 hours or more was 50%. Garment workers had a higher annual prevalence of LBP (74%) than teachers (40%), prevalence ratio (PR=1.9, 95% CI=1.4-2.4). DISCUSSION: The overall annual prevalence of self-reported LBP (50%) was higher than that reported among 50 other Chinese employed study populations (30%). Healthy worker effects may have limited the conclusions from this cross-sectional study. SUMMARY: These results suggest that LBP is a prevalent condition in Chinese workers and that more work should be done to estimate its impact on the Chinese workforce. The findings for garment workers were consistent with increased risk of LBP among persons doing work in fixed, sedentary postures.     

Identifying elements of poor construction safety management in China

Construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to its unique nature. Measured by international standards, construction site safety records in China are poor. This paper aims to examine the status of safety management in the Chinese construction industry, explore the risk-prone activities on construction sites, and identify factors affecting construction site safety. The findings reveal that the behavior of contractors on safety management are of grave concern, including the lack of provision of personal protection equipment, regular safety meetings, and safety training. The main factors affecting safety performance include ‘poor safety awareness of top management’, ‘lack of training’, ‘poor safety awareness of project managers’, ‘reluctance to input resources to safety’ and ‘reckless operations’. The study also proposes that the government should play a more critical role in stricter legal enforcement and organizing safety training programs.     

建筑工人不安全行为影响因子分析及控制措施研究

为有效的控制建筑工人的不安全行为,从而减少事故,须分析出建筑工人不安全行为主要影响因素,并提出针对性控制措施。从各种不安全行为中提取13个影响因子,在此基础上通过访谈和调研获得直接影响矩阵,借助决策试验和评价实验室方法(DEMATEL)计算出每个因子的影响度、原因度和中心度,由此分析出安全态度、安全技能、安全认知和安全培训在影响因素体系中最为重要,领导的重视对建筑工人的不安全行为也有很大影响。结果表明:个人因素是影响工人安全行为的主要因素,环境因素和管理因素通过影响个人因素影响工人的安全行为。最后,针对个人影响因素,提出了合理开展安全培训、加强现场行为管理、加强安全心理干预、完善用工制度等措施。     

An assessment of safety climate,job satisfaction and turnover intention relationships using a national sample of workers from the USA

The association between safety climate, job satisfaction and turnover intention has not been thoroughly researched. This research is needed so that safety researchers and practitioners can begin to delineate the impact of safety on organizational and business outcomes. A path analysis was completed using data from a national sample of workers from the USA (n?=?1525). The overall fit of the model was excellent and analyses determined that both training and resource adequacy positively affected safety climate and job satisfaction. Safety climate also positively influenced job satisfaction. Both safety climate and job satisfaction were negatively associated with respondents’ turnover intention. In the study, the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention is reiterated in a sample of workers across many industries. This study is novel because it is one of the first studies to confirm that turnover intention is reduced with increased safety climate in a diverse sample of workers.     

Implementing and evaluating novel safety training methods for construction sector workers: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: The construction industry is regarded as one of the most unsafe occupational fields worldwide. Despite general agreement that safety training is an important factor in preventing accidents in the construction sector, more studies are needed to identify effective training methods. To address the current research gap, this study evaluated the impact of novel, participatory safety training methods on construction workers’ safety competencies. Specifically, we assessed the efficacy of an immersive virtual reality (VR)-based safety training program and a participatory human factors safety training program (HFST) in construction industry workplaces. Method: In 2019, 119 construction sector workers from eight workplaces participated in a randomized controlled trial conducted in Finland. All the study participants were assessed using questionnaires at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at one-month follow-up. We applied generalized linear mixed modeling for statistical analysis. Results: Compared to lecture-based safety training, VR-based safety training showed a stronger impact on safety motivation, self-efficacy and safety-related outcome expectancies. In addition, the construction sector workers who participated in the VR-based safety training showed a greater increase in self-reported safety performance at one-month follow-up. Contrary to our study hypotheses, we found no significant differences between the study outcomes in terms of study participants in the HFST training condition and the comparison condition without HFST training. Conclusion: Our study indicates that VR technology as a safety training tool has potential to increase safety competencies and foster motivational change in terms of the safety performance of construction sector workers. In the future, the efficacy of participatory human factors safety training should be studied further using a version that targets both managerial and employee levels and is implemented in a longer format. Practical implications: Safety training in virtual reality provides a promising alternative to passive learning methods. Its motivating effect complements other safety training activities.     

Safety climate differences among job positions in a nuclear decommissioning and demolition industry: Employees’ self-reported safety attitudes and perceptions

This study examined group differences in safety climate among job positions in a nuclear decommissioning and demolition industry in the United States. Safety climate surveys were conducted at 10 locations. Survey responses totaled 1587 out of an available population of 3296 workers for an overall response rate of 48.1%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) in mean safety climate scores, factor scores, and item scores among job positions were observed. Most notably, foremen’s self-reported safety attitudes and perceptions indicate a lower safety climate and suggest the need to target safety improvements at this key organizational level.     

工作满意度对建筑工人不安全行为的矫正机制研究*

为探讨工作满意度对建筑工人不安全行为矫正机制,基于文献调研构建工作满意度对建筑工人不安全行为矫正机制理论模型,并通过验证性因子分析和结构方程模型分析,对理论模型进行实证检验。结果表明:工作满意度对建筑工人安全不服从行为和安全不参与行为有显著矫正作用,敬业度在工作满意度和建筑工人安全不服从行为与安全不参与行为间起完全中介作用。对于新生代建筑工人,工作满意度通过敬业度对安全不服从行为矫正效应小于对安全不参与行为的矫正效应,对于老一代建筑工人,矫正效应则相反。研究结果可为广大建筑施工企业矫正其工人的不安全行为提供依据。     

Action-Oriented Support for Occupational Safety and Health Programs in Some Developing Countries in Asia

Action-oriented support programs have been increasingly playing vital roles in promoting safety and health in developing countries in Asia. This paper studied achievements of 3 action-oriented support programs: the WISE program for small enterprises, the WIND program for farmers, and the POSITIVE program for workers and trade unions. Special attention was paid to how the programs have strengthened local efforts for sustainable actions in safety and health improvements. The results showed that there were significant achievements in action-oriented support programs in the region, including a large number of improvement examples, integration into government policies, and network support through employers’ and workers’ organizations. Participatory, action-oriented training tools such as action-checklists, local good example photos, and group work methods played key roles in the effective implementation of the programs. It was of note that there were a number of local efforts to extend the coverage of action-oriented support even to hard-to-reach workers such as home-based workers, rural workers, and ethnic minorities. The efforts included the equal participation in the training by female and male farmers, shortened and weekend training programs, photo sheets showing local good examples, and reasonable fee collection for better sustainability. In conclusion, action-oriented support programs provided local people with concrete means to promote safety and health improvements. The successful programs commonly focused on local initiatives and were built on local wisdom and resources.     

高处坠落事故的人因失误与干预策略研究

为系统分析导致高处坠落人因事故的产生机理,通过统计152起建筑工程高处坠落事故的调查与分析报告,从组织影响、安全监管、不安全行为前提条件和不安全行为等4个层次,辨识影响高处坠落事故的人为失误因素,修订人为因素分析与分类系统框架（HFACS）。设计高处坠落人因失误调查问卷,开展一线高处作业人员问卷调查,建立高处坠落人因失误结构方程模型,对导致高处坠落事故的人为失误因素进行路径分析。结果表明:各潜在因素间均呈正相关,且高处坠落人因失误事故的关键路径为资源管理不到位→安全监督培训不充分→班组管理不良→操作违规。综合各因素间相关性,提出了针对性的预防高处坠落事故的人因干预策略。     

Whole-body vibration knowledge survey of U.S. occupational safety and health professionals

Problem

Whole-body vibration (WBV) is an occupational issue of concern due to adverse health effects or simple discomfort and annoyance. Unlike in Europe, WBV is an emerging topic in the U.S. safety and health (S&H) professional community. We hypothesized that at least one-half of the U.S. occupational S&H professionals knew little or nothing about WBV.

Method

We conducted a cross-sectional study (survey) of WBV knowledge among members of the American Society of Safety Engineers. A Likert scale (1-none to 5-expert) was used to determine WBV topic knowledge levels (KL_1-5).

Results

Analysis of 2,764 responses revealed that 69.5% of the participants self-reported a less than basic WBV understanding. The WBV KL_1-5 mean for all participants was 1.94 ± 1.00, corresponding to an awareness of WBV without a depth of understanding.

Summary

Many at-risk U.S. workers may not be supported by occupational S&H professionals with adequate WBV knowledge.

Impact on Industry

A significant number of U.S. workers may be exposed to unhealthy levels of whole-body vibration. However, the U.S. occupational safety and health community is generally unprepared to anticipate, monitor, and control the whole-body vibration hazard.     

Safety climate dimensions,leader–member exchange,and organizational support as predictors of upward safety communication in a sample of rail industry workers

The freedom employees feel to communicate safety concerns with their supervisors, termed upward safety communication, has been shown to be related to adverse safety events (Hofmann and Morgeson, 1999). Research to date has demonstrated that good supervisor–employee relationships (leader–member exchange), a sense that the organization values an employee (perceived organizational support) and safety climate (including perceived management attitudes toward safety, job demands interfering with safety, and pressure from coworkers to behave safely) all contribute to employees’ comfort in bringing up safety issues with their supervisors. However, little is known about which specific dimensions of safety climate are most predictive of upward safety communication. Using a sample of 548 railway workers, we found that when all factors were considered simultaneously using dominance analysis, the dominant factor predicting upward safety communication was perceived management attitudes toward safety, followed by job demands interfering with safety and then leader–member exchange. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Psychosocial safety climate: Conceptual distinctiveness and effect on job demands and worker psychological health

Psychosocial safety climate is an emerging construct that refers to shared perceptions regarding policies, practices, and procedures for the protection of worker psychological health and safety. The purpose of the research was to: (1) demonstrate that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures (i.e., physical safety climate, team psychological safety, and perceived organizational support); and (2) test the proposition that organizational psychosocial safety climate determines work conditions (i.e., job demands) and subsequently worker psychological health. We used samples from two different cultures; an Australian sample (N = 126 workers in 16 teams within a primary health care organization) and a Malaysian sample (N = 180 workers in 31 teams from different organizations and diverse industries). In both samples confirmatory factor analysis verified that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures. Using hierarchical linear modeling, psychosocial safety climate was superior to other team level climate measures in its negative relationship to both job demands and psychological health problems. Results supported a mediation process, psychosocial safety climate → job demands → psychological health problems, corroborating psychosocial safety climate as a preeminent stress risk factor, and an efficient target for intervention. We found both physical and psychosocial safety climates were stronger in the Australian, compared with the Malaysian work context. Levels of psychosocial safety climate were significantly lower than those of physical safety climate in both countries indicating a ‘universal’ lack of attention to workplace psychological health.     

Expert system application for prioritizing preventive actions for shift work: shift expert

Introduction. Shift patterns, work hours, work arrangements and worker motivations have increasingly become key factors for job performance. The main objective of this article is to design an expert system that identifies the negative effects of shift work and prioritizes mitigation efforts according to their importance in preventing these negative effects. The proposed expert system will be referred to as the shift expert. Methods. A thorough literature review is conducted to determine the effects of shift work on workers. Our work indicates that shift work is linked to demographic variables, sleepiness and fatigue, health and well-being, and social and domestic conditions. These parameters constitute the sections of a questionnaire designed to focus on 26 important issues related to shift work. The shift expert is then constructed to provide prevention advice at the individual and organizational levels, and it prioritizes this advice using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model, which considers comparison matrices provided by users during the prioritization process. An empirical study of 61 workers working on three rotating shifts is performed. After administering the questionnaires, the collected data are analyzed statistically, and then the shift expert produces individual and organizational recommendations for these workers.