CCall--healthy and successful work in call centres.

Call centre workplaces are in many ways a challenge to occupational health and safety. The occupation itself can be described as an IT information technology-supported, communication-intensive form of work with often unusual working hours and a high rate of part-time employment. Data on the employee turnover as well as absenteeism related to occupational disability is quite contradictory. Occupational safety and its proponents still have to find new ways into the corporate structures and cultures of this relatively new and rapidly growing branch of industry. In a 2-year research and development project, using a holistic approach and under consideration of all the relevant disciplines, call centre workplaces were studied, and organisational measures were developed and field tested by putting them into practice. Practical help was developed for a sustainable strategy for successful and healthy work in call centres.     

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.     

安全评价模式的建立

论述了安全评价模式建立的意义,提出了安全评价模式的概念,建立了安全评价的基本模式.建立的安全评价的基本模式主要由危险源辨识、评价和控制3部分组成.在辨识危险源之后,应分别从设备、单元危险性、作业条件危险性、职业卫生、工艺危险性5个方面入手对危险源进行定性定量评价,以便于选择合适的评价方法.职业安全卫生检测检验也是进行安全评价的重要组成部分,不同的评价对象,其职业安全卫生检测检验的内容也不同.在完成上述工作的基础上,根据评价和分析结果提出安全对策措施.指出了当前我国安全和卫生管理体制所存在的弊端,分析了把职业安全和职业卫生结合在一起由一个政府部门进行监督管理的重要性,从而便于实现安全卫生管理工作的标准化、规范化.     

中国职业安全的现实问题

中国职业安全现实引起社会关注,特别是务工农民伤亡事故的数字背后,隐含着对职业安全的认识,职业人群的安全健康理念,职业安全健康的法规基础等深层次问题。笔者指出了现代职业安全存在的现实状况;提出需要关注的难点;强调人的安全健康是职业安全的实质;给出了职业安全与安全生产的差异,分析了务工农民的安全意识与安全文化冲突,呼吁职业安全需要法律保障,建立一体化的职业安全健康法律法规体系,以《宪法》为基础,以人为本,保护从业人员的安全健康。     

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.     

一种安全分析新思路--安全薄弱环节评价

职业安全和公共安全有许多共同点,可以把公共安全技术用于职业安全,公共安全主要有3种工作方法：安全监察、风险评价（或叫设计隐患）和薄弱环节评价。后者常常最有效。公共安全的薄弱评价法可以用于职业安全分析,象“坏人”一样思考有利于辨识安全薄弱环节。安全薄弱环节评价可以为职业安全分析提供新的视角。     

轨道交通信号系统安全评估方法研究

轨道交通系统作为大容量公共交通工具,其安全性直接关系到广大乘客的生命安全,信号系统作为保证列车安全、正点、快捷、舒适、高密度不间断运行的重要技术装备在轨道交通系统中有着举足轻重的地位。为了保证轨道交通系统的安全运营,应当在信号系统投入使用之前,对其安全性进行评估和认证。国外已有比较成熟的信号系统安全标准和评估体系,应当吸收其先进经验,结合国内信号系统应用的环境,积极探索适合我国国情的轨道交通信号系统安全评估方法和体系。系统的安全评估并不是一味强调绝对的安全,而更为重要的是把安全意识和新理念体现在系统设计开发全过程中。首先根据系统总体的安全要求,确定各个子系统可以容忍的故障率,进而采用相应的安全技术和方法来达到预计的故障率目标,最后通过系统安全评估来保证系统达到安全性要求。笔者就信号系统安全评估提出了相应的方案,重点介绍了编写安全证明文件的要点,最后,以哥本哈根地铁信号系统的安全评估为例,说明国外进行信号系统安全设计与评估的基本内容和步骤。     

Training courses for specialists in working conditions: Some survey results

Initial results are presented of a survey in 14 countries into the training of six professional groups in the area of working conditions. The groups are occupational physicians, occupational hygienists, safety advisors/engineers, ergonomists, occupational health nurses and health and safety/labour/ (social) insurance inspectors.The paper concentrates on the diversity of the professional groups involved in working conditions, the level, length and certification of their training, and, for a limited number of the countries surveyed, the overlap in training content between groups.Conclusions are drawn in respect of the potential for sharing of training content and materials.     

An assessment of health and safety management within working groups in the UK manufacturing sector

Problem: In response to the demands of competitiveness, there has been a proliferation of management delayering in order to move responsibility to those people carrying out the operations and to focus on working as a team. Teams can be managed in different ways: using supervisors, team leaders, or self-managed. The management of health and safety and other business risks is dependent on the way in which the team is managed. Method: This study has assessed, through the use of semistructured interviews, how UK manufacturing companies have addressed a range of health and safety management issues (i.e., the setting, communication, and measurement of company objectives, employee participation and empowerment, and risk assessment) in relation to different styles of group working (i.e., supervised groups, groups with team leaders, and self-managed groups). Discussion: Although the differences are not always significant, it is noticeable that within organizations using supervised work environments, there is a lack of communication of specific health and safety information, little involvement and participation in safety activities, and a greater reliance on the safety function. However, in organizations using team leaders and self-managed groups, there is evidence of greater management involvement, more open communication, and greater employee involvement in health and safety, although empowerment in its true sense was still limited in these organizations. Impact on industry: The results obtained illustrate the impact of different working groups on the management of health and safety in the UK manufacturing sector.     

Adversarial safety analysis: borrowing the methods of security vulnerability assessments

INTRODUCTION: Safety and security share numerous attributes. The author, who heads the (Security) Vulnerability Assessment Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory, therefore argues that techniques used to optimize security might be useful for optimizing safety. OPTIMIZING SECURITY: There are three main ways to attempt to improve security-security surveys, risk assessment (or "design basis threat"), and vulnerability assessments. The latter is usually the most effective. SAFETY ANALOGS: Vulnerability assessment techniques used to improve security can be applied to safety analysis--even though safety is not ordinarily viewed as having malicious adversaries (other than hazards involving deliberate sabotage). Thinking like a malicious adversary can nevertheless have benefits in identifying safety vulnerabilities. SUGGESTIONS: The attributes of an effective safety vulnerability assessment are discussed, and recommendations are offered for how such an adversarial assessment might work. CONCLUSION: A safety vulnerability assessment can potentially provide new insights, a fresh and vivid perspective on safety hazards, and increased safety awareness.     

桥梁工程规划设计阶段施工安全风险评估的研究

研究表明,有相当大比例的工程事故原因可以追溯到规划设计的不当。将工程的规划设计纳入施工安全管理全过程,就是将事故防控的"关口前移"和"源头管理"的创新思路。本研究以桥梁工程领域为例,探讨了我国在规划设计阶段进行施工安全风险评估的发展思路,包括:完善基础理论、将工程实践和立法推动相结合、从在建工程的施工安全现状反推其规划设计等,为提升我国工程建设施工安全提供借鉴。崇启大桥及泰州大桥工程实践表明,安全是可"构建"的,通过施工风险评估,能够改善规划设计,降低施工安全的风险,从而减少施工过程人员的伤亡或健康危害。     

Trend analysis of machinery safety for globalization: From the Japanese point of view

In Japan, the work of translation to JIS faced many obstacles. Support groups in Western countries have submitted comments on technical problems. The movement to standard harmonization in safety has rapidly developed in international standardization. The movement for global standardization is developing throughout all the economic areas of the EU. The aim of the Machine Directive that comes into effect in stages is to provide an international formula for a type of qualification in machine safety. EN292 is a nucleus for related standards, which are like a group of planets in a universe. It is a European standard as well as a guideline for implementation, showing practical safety requirements for machines. Horizontal standards, such as EN954 and IEC61508, apply in actual practice.     

The need for detailed gender-specific occupational safety analysis

IntroductionThe female work in population is growing in the United States, therefore the occupational health and safety entities must start to analyze gender-specific data related to every industry, especially to nontraditional occupations. Women working in nontraditional jobs are often exposed to extreme workplace hazards. These women have their safety and health threatened because there are no adequate policies to mitigate gender-specific risks such as discrimination and harassment. Employers tend to aggravate this situation because they often fail to provide proper reporting infrastructure and support. According to past studies, women suffered from workplace injuries and illnesses that were less prominent among men. Statistics also confirmed that men and women faced different levels of risks in distinct work environments. For example, the rates of workplace violence and murders by personal acquaintances were significantly higher among women.MethodsIn this paper, the authors analyze prior public data on fatal and nonfatal injuries to understand why we need to differentiate genders when analyzing occupational safety and health issues.ResultsThe analyses confirmed that women dealt with unique workplace hazards compared to men.ConclusionsIt is urgent that public agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor, record gender-specific data in details and by occupations and industries.Practical applicationThe reader will become aware of the current lack – and need – of data and knowledge about injuries and illnesses separated by gender and industry. Finally, safety and health researchers are encouraged to investigate the gender-specific data in all industries and occupations, as soon as they become available.     

Student and faculty issues in distance education occupational safety and health graduate programs

PROBLEM: There is increasing interest in delivering degree programs without requiring students to attend traditional classroom-based classes. There are many differences between classroom and distance courses that must be addressed to have effective distance programs. METHOD: Occupational safety and health faculty and occupational safety and health professionals were surveyed to determine the need for graduate occupational safety and health programs, delivered by means of distance education, and the best means to deliver the program from the perspective of faculty and working occupational safety and health professionals. RESULTS: Adequate time is the largest problem issue for potential students and the distance student's needs must be considered when developing program policies and procedures. Faculty must be sufficiently trained in pedagogy, technology, and communications so that they have the same comfort level with this method of instruction as they do for the more familiar classroom, and technical and instructional support personnel need to be readily available to work with the faculty and support course development. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Findings indicate that there is interest in a distance education-based program and it is believed that industry will be positively impacted as educational opportunities expand for working professionals.     

Understanding risks in socially vulnerable contexts: The case of waste burning in cement kilns in Brazil

This article proposes a qualitative approach for understanding occupational and environmental risks in countries with high-social vulnerabilities. We use waste burning in cement kilns as a qualitative case study in order to illustrate how social (population and institutional) vulnerabilities influence the context of risk situations and events in a developing country such as Brazil. The vulnerability analysis was based on the reconstitution of the trajectory of this risk problem in a Brazilian State and its impacts, which mobilised several social and institutional actors. The methodology used interviews with different actors and an analysis of the documents, including mostly technical reports from various participating institutions. One objective of contextualising risk problems and vulnerabilities is to encourage professionals, decision-makers, and other social actors to discuss safety and health promotion in their different dimensions and to develop new strategies for intersectorial and participatory public policies. This point is important not only for developing countries even in more developed countries where legislation, social protection, and labour relations are more organised. We suggest that the need for knowledge integration, participation by all stakeholders, and empowerment of vulnerable groups exposed to risks are important principles to promote safety and health through the reduction of vulnerabilities.     

安全工程专业学历教育方案的中西对比研究

根据学科研究对象的异同 ,对中外不同名称的安全科学技术学科领域间对应关系的分析表明 ,我国的安全科学技术学科与美国、英国等西方国家称为公共健康的学科 ,我国的安全工程与西方国家的职业安全健康学科分别在宽泛和具体的意义上基本对应 ,相应的学历教育方案具有可比性。以此为据 ,运用案例比较研究了安全工程与职业安全健康学科专业学历教育方案中课程设置的多方面差别 ,分析了通过改善学历教育方案、加强职业安全培训途径来提高我国安全管理水平的努力方向。     

Occupational and public health and safety in a changing work environment: An integrated approach for risk assessment and prevention

During recent years the work environment has undergone significant changes regarding working time, years of employment, work organization, type of employment contracts and working conditions. In this paper, consequences of these changes on occupational and public health and safety are examined. These include the disruption of human biological rhythms, the increase of workers fatigue due to changes in patterns of working hours and years of employment, job insecurity and occupational stress, which have a serious impact on workers’ health and may result in an increase in occupational accidents. Unsafe work practices related to workload and time pressure, the impact of work changes on public safety and the deterioration of workers’ living conditions with respect to income, social-family life, health and insurance benefits, are also described. In this context, difficulties that occur due to the changing work environment in conducting effective occupational risk assessments and implementing OSH measures are discussed (for example, frequent changes between tasks and workplaces, underreporting of occupational accidents and diseases, lack of methodological tools, etc.). A fundamental criterion used while studying consequences on health and safety and the relative preventive measures is that health and safety must be approached as ‘the promotion and maintenance at the highest degree of the physical, mental and social well-being of workers’ and not only as retention of their work ability. Limits in combining “flexibility” at work and overall protection of occupational and public safety and health in a competitive market are put forward for discussion.     

采场作业环境安全灰色评价及应用

作业环境研究是人机工程学的一个重要方面,作业环境质量的好坏直接影响作业的效率,同时还关系到作业人员的人身健康与安全。在采场作业环境下,作业人员在一个受限的空间范围内作业,作业环境的安全问题成为影响作业人员人身健康甚至生命安全的重要方面,科学合理地评价其安全状况对改善室内环境安全具有重要意义。由于影响采场作业环境安全状况的因素复杂,这些因素具有模糊性、不确定性,具有典型的灰色特征,本文运用灰色理论的灰色关联分析对采场作业环境的安全状况进行综合评价,并用实例分析进行说明,从而为管理者提供辅助决策,实现采场作业环境的安全、高效。     

Occupational Safety Culture Index (OSCI)——measuring the community and employees awareness,attitude and knowledge towards workplace safety and health in Hong Kong SAR

Promoting occupational safety and health in Hong Kong,Special Administrative Region of China is an important and ongoing mission. As the major organization with statutory responsibilities,the Occupational Safety and Health Council understand the importance to strengthen and cultivate our safety culture. It is widely believed that numbers of occupational related diseases and injuries could be prevented with the improvement of the awareness and attitudes of the employees and the public. Therefore,a comprehensive and in-depth study to monitor the occupational health and safety level and status of the community and working population is needed. Objectives: Our Council has developed the Occupational Safety Culture Index ( OSCI) to measure the current level of community and workplace safety and health awareness,knowledge and attitude. Benchmarking measures of the key safety performance indicators are to be derived thereof. Methods: A territory-wide random telephone survey was conducted to assess the community and employees’awareness,attitude and knowledge in 2008. A structured questionnaire was designed with the content validity and reliability assessed before the survey administration. A series of quality control approaches were also applied to assure the quality of the fieldwork and the reliability of the data. Results: 1,531 eligible participants’data were collected and computed into 2 types of composite indices,Occupational Safety Culture Index ( Community) ( OSCIC) and Occupational Safety Culture Index (Workplace) (OSCIW) . With the maximum score of index at 100,the overall score of OSCIC is 66. 9 and the OSCIW is 61. 3 in Hong Kong. Achievements: OSCI served as an effective management tool to measure the safety culture in Hong Kong. With a representative sample and high quality study control and validated assessment approaches,the OSCI and the sub-indices are reliable indicators to assess the effectiveness of safety culture enhancement strategy and the OSH intervention measures.