Projections of hospitalised fall-related injury in NSW, Australia: impacts on the hospital and aged care sectors

Projections of the number, rate and cost of fall-related hospitalised injuries for individuals aged 65 years and older in New South Wales (NSW), Australia were estimated to 2051 for two scenarios: (1) demographic change only using 2008 admission rates; and (2) modelled change using negative binominal regression taking into account current trends in admission rates. Based on demographic change alone, the number and cost of fall injury hospitalisations among older people is expected to increase almost three-fold by 2051. Transfers to permanent residential aged care will also increase 3.2 fold. However, if the fall-related hospitalisation rate sustains its current trend, these increases are projected to be more than ten-fold by 2051. Even with demographic change alone, there will be a significant impact on the resources required to care for older people suffering a fall injury hospitalisation over the next forty years in NSW. The impact on the hospital and aged care sectors will be considerable unless significant improvements occur in the prevention and treatment of fall-related injury in older people.     

加强职业卫生监督管理减少员工职业中毒

近年来,我国南方经济发展迅速,在许多发达地区均出现了群发职业危害事件,导致劳动者身体健康受到损害,并造成不良的社会影响。据卫生部统计,70%涉外企业存在职业危害因素,其中50%的工人在工作中接触有机溶剂。据调查,导致中毒的物质主要为正己烷等化学品。     

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.     

我国职业装及其发展对策

职业装是各行业工作者为适应工作需要而穿着的服装。现有记载的资料表明．中国是世界上最早的形成职业装制度与文化的国家之一，它随着社会的发展而发展，是社会进步的一个重要标志。     

英国的职业安全与健康（二）

安全与健康的改善措施和活动措施进行风险评估对风险进行评估是保证健康和安全的重要方法。如果被评估的工作存在很大危害或风险,不能降低到可容忍的水平,就需要予以取消。安全与健康执行局公布了题为“风险评估5个步骤”的指南,帮助雇主和个体户评估风险。5个步骤是寻找危险点;确定可能的受害人以及可能如何受害;评估由此危险引起的风险,确定现有预防方法是否足够;记录评估结果;审查风险评估结果。     

英国的职业安全与健康（一）

英国是最早实现工业化的国家,早在150多年前,就制定了有关生产安全与健康的规章。1974年,在总结以往有关生产安全与健康法律法规的基础上,英国颁布了《职业安全与健康法》,其现有的生产安全与健康的管理系统、制度和科研框架就是根据这个法律建立健全的。从本期开始,本栏将陆续介绍英国的重振安全与健康战略、职业安全与健康管理机构、民间组织和中介机构、改善职业安全与健康的措施与活动、职业安全与健康研究院等,供读者了解和借鉴。     

Occupational safety and health in Spain

Occupational Health and Safety in Spain has improved considerably over the last decade, most likely due to a new concept where an overall concept of safety culture is defined. Important changes in industrial safety, hygiene, and psychosocial factors present an optimistic panorama for the future of Spain. Despite this general improvement, according to the European Convergence Program, Spanish statistics still offer far from good safety results. In fact, according to 1997 official statistics, Spain had the highest incidence rate for nonfatal occupational accidents of all European Union (EU) countries, and occupied third place for fatal accidents. This paper summarizes the organizational structure of the Spanish National System of Health & Safety at Work, its effective health and safety laws, and statistics on the Spanish work environment obtained from III Spanish National Survey on Work Conditions (1997). The researchers hope that the findings of this work will have an impact on Spanish industry that will subsequently bring about improvements in work conditions and develop assessment and intervention models in occupational health and safety, from a theoretical position integrating environmental, human, and organizational factors.     

关注焊接行业中的职业危害

随着我国经济增长速度的加快,各类工程建设项目数量剧增,焊接技术及应用范围得到快速发展,焊接作业工作量成倍增加。据资料统计,1995年我国焊接材料消耗量约70万吨,到2003年焊接材料消耗量达到200万吨,其中仅手弧焊焊条达150万吨,8年中净增长近两倍。但是,应当看到在焊接技术及应用快速发展的同时,我国的焊接技术还比较落后,焊接生产的机械化、自动化程度不高,具有严重职业危害的手工焊接和半自动焊接占焊接工作总量的比例仍然很大（80％以上）;     

职业病目录

《中华人民共和国职业病防治法》自2002年5月1日起施行。根据《中华人民共和国职业病防治法》有关规定,卫生部和劳动保障部下发了关于印发《职业病目录》的通知。新的《职业病目录》出台后,1987年由卫生部、劳动人事部、财政部和全国总工会联合下发的《职业病范围和职业病患者处理办法的规定》中的职业病名单同时废止。     

Occupational accident rate in olive oil mills

Problem

This paper aims at examining the occupational accident rate in Spain in the olive oil mill industry. These mills produce olive oil by physical or mechanical, but not chemical procedures. Although Spain is the leading olive oil producer in the world with 1,200,000 tons/year and over 25% of the world olive farming area, the occupational accident rate in this sector has been little studied in the relevant scientific literature.

Method

Our study analyses all occupational accidents which occurred during 2004-2009, with or without sick leave, at 90 Andalusian olive oil mills covered by one of the biggest state insurance companies for accidents at work and occupational diseases (within the Spanish Social Security system).

Results and discussion

Slips or trips are the most frequent cause of occupational accidents in this sector, accounting for 14.86% of the cases. In second position, incorrectly coordinated bodily movements account for almost 13.51% of the accidents. Falls from height, 12.2% of the cases, are also statistically noteworthy. As for the seriousness of the injuries, entrapments are particularly important, since in 2.70% of the cases they result in the traumatic amputation of a part of the body. The analysis of accidents without sick leave reveals that a high number of incidents are caused by contact of the skin and eyes with hazardous substances (20% of the cases) and 10% of them involve superficial injuries.

Impact on the industry

This paper provides a clear and updated image of the accident rate in Spanish olive oil mills and can be a useful tool for the design and adequate adjustment of the management systems implemented in these plants to guarantee a satisfactory level of occupational health and safety by means of more efficient planning and monitoring of measures intended to reduce professional risks and improve working conditions.

Recommendations

Given not only the high incidence of falls on the same level and the potential seriousness of falls from different levels, but also the small, round fruit involved, with a high oil content and a hard round stone, it is extremely important to design and implement safe working procedures and specifically train both operatives and managers in charge of the tidiness, cleanliness and regular control of the premises and operations. The analysis of the accidents not requiring sick leave (mostly cases of contact with hazardous substances on the skin or eyes, or superficial injuries) clearly reveals that the use of suitable personal protective equipment and the relevant training are crucial issues.     

我国职业卫生现状研究

从我国职业卫生的立法、监管、统计体系,以及我国职业卫生信息系统的建设几个方面,阐述了我国职业卫生现状,并针对我国的现实情况提出了自己的看法和建议.我国职业卫生工作起步较晚,研究和探讨我国职业卫生现状可以为我国的职业卫生发展提供一定依据.     

香港的职业安全健康培训

这篇文章是关于最近在香港实行的职业安全健康培训的有关政策。它描述了职业安全健康局在职业安全健康培训中的作用以及对中小企业的支持。文章还强调了为应对21世纪职业安全健康培训的挑战所需的战略。     

职业安全亟待立法保障

立法重心:从劳动安全到生产安全? 1981年,我国的《劳动安全卫生法》(《劳动保护法》)进入正式起草阶段,与之同步的有《劳动安全监察条例》.此前,《女职工劳动保护条例》、《矿山安全卫生法》已完成起草呈报国务院.鉴于《矿山安全卫生法》已完成起草,当时,国家劳动总局考虑起草《工厂安全卫生法》;后来,为了避免一事多法,国务院决定将几部法律法规合并,法名改为《劳动安全卫生法》(《劳动保护法》),由国家劳动总局牵头,化工部、冶金部、煤炭部、农业部、轻工部、全总等12个部门的负责人组成了起草领导小组.     

职业健康与个体防护

职业健康与工作环境的职业危害密切相关,职业健康风险正比于作业时间与暴露程度.个体防护就是为了降低职业健康风险、减少人们职业健康危害程度而采取的技术措施.任何作业环境““安全与健康““的状况都是相对而言的,只要作业人员暴露于作业环境中,就有接触职业健康危害的可能,就必须进行个体防护.通常,人们将““个体防护““视为安全生产的最后一道防线,但对于职业健康而言,个体防护是常设的防线.     

Occupational Health and Social Resources

There is a relationship between the changes in work-related diseases and the following factors: the transformation of the organization of work, organizational development, as well as human and social changes in the work environment. These factors also influence the maintenance of industrial health and safety standards at work. Safety technology will continue to be important, but will be reduced in significance compared to the so-called soft factors, that is, all dimensions and parameters affecting people’s health and social environment at the work place.

It seems that in the future the relationship between the social resource development and work protection will become more relevant. Social resource development influences the quality of work performance and motivation, the quality of work and work protection, the likelihood of accidents and breakdowns, and the level of self-control and capacity of change.

The consequences of work protection research will be discussed in this article with a focus on the contribution of social sciences.     

消防员职业健康测试项目的研究

本文从医学测试、体质测试和心理测试三个方面论述了消防员职业健康测试项目研究的重要性,以促进我国消防员职业健康研究水平的提高。     

Occupational safety of farmers in the vegetable industry

This study aimed to determine unsafe farming practices, nonergonomically designed equipment, and possible adverse health effects of pesticide exposure. Data were gathered with a structured survey, physical examination and blood extraction. Environmental monitoring was done for vegetables to determine multipesticide residue. Forty-eight percent of respondents reported feeling sick because of work. Vegetable residue was found in 16.67% of the samples. Vegetable profenofos of appoximately1 mg exceeded the necessary average daily intake of a maximum of 0.006 mg. Data also showed nonergonomically designed tools and unsafe work practices that increased pesticide exposure such as re-entering recently sprayed areas, a damaged backpack sprayer, spills during spraying, and no ventilation in greenhouses.     

职业噪声环境下语音增强技术的研究

介绍了一种职业噪声环境下的语音增强技术。根据职业噪声的特点,采用运算简单、实时性好、改进的减谱法,对职业噪声环境下的语音信号进行处理和提取,达到增强语音的目的。采用先进的32位ARM微处理器S3C2410,对采集的语音信号进行处理,然后回放,达到既保护人体免受噪声的危害,又不影响语言交流的目的。